REPORT on the request for the waiver of the immunity of Daniel Obajtek

REPORT on the request for the waiver of the immunity of Daniel Obajtek

2.10.2025 - (2025/2029(IMM))

• PROPOSAL FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION
• INFORMATION ON ADOPTION BY THE COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

PROPOSAL FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION

on the request for the waiver of the immunity of Daniel Obajtek

(2025/2029(IMM))

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the request for the waiver of the immunity of Daniel Obajtek sent on 19 December 2024 by the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Poland, forwarding a request submitted by the Warsaw divisional public prosecution service in connection with criminal proceedings to be brought against Daniel Obajtek and announced in plenary on 20 January 2025,

- having heard Daniel Obajtek on 23 April 2025, in accordance with Rule 9(6) of its Rules of Procedure, and having regard to the documents submitted by him,

- having regard to the additional information provided by the Warsaw divisional public prosecutor on 7 May 2025,

- having regard to Articles 8 and 9 of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union, and Article 6(2) of the Act of 20 September 1976 concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage,

- having regard to the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 21 October 2008, 19 March 2010, 6 September 2011, 17 January 2013, 19 December 2019 and 5 July 2023[1],

- having regard to Article 105(2) and (5) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland,

- having regard to Rule 5(2), Rule 6(1) and Rule 9 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A10-0179/2025),

A. whereas, by letter dated 19 December 2024, the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Poland forwarded a request for the waiver of the immunity of Daniel Obajtek, submitted by the Warsaw divisional public prosecution service, in connection with an alleged offence under Article 18(1), read in conjunction with Article 296(1), of the Polish Criminal Code;

B. whereas it is alleged that Daniel Obajtek, in his capacity as President of the Management Board of the company Polski Koncern Naftowy ORLEN Spółka Akcyjna ('PKN ORLEN S.A.'), gave instructions with a view to the conclusion of two contracts - one dated 7 July 2021 and a second dated 7 October 2021 - worth a total of PLN 393 600, for the provision of investigation services concerning the physical and economic security of PKN ORLEN S.A.; whereas it is alleged that those contracts served Daniel Obajtek's private interests, that they were of no economic significance, and that they did not concern the physical or economic security of PKN ORLEN S.A.; whereas it is alleged that the investigation services ordered and provided were not consistent with the subject matter and purpose of the contracts; whereas it is alleged that Daniel Obajtek thus caused PKN ORLEN S.A. significant financial harm totalling PLN 393 600; whereas the actions he is alleged to have taken constitute an infringement under Article 18(1), read in conjunction with Article 296(1), of the Polish Criminal Code; whereas Daniel Obajtek served as the President of the Management Board of PKN ORLEN S.A. from 6 February 2018 to 5 February 2024;

C. whereas it is understood that the legal representative of PKN ORLEN S.A. reported on 11 April 2024 that a criminal offence may have been committed; whereas, following an analysis of that report, a criminal investigation was opened on 3 June 2024;

D. whereasDaniel Obajtek was elected to the European Parliament in the June 2024 European elections; whereas he was not a Member of the European Parliament when the alleged offence was committed, nor when the criminal investigation into the alleged offence was opened;

E. whereas the alleged offence and the subsequent request for the waiver of his immunity are not related to opinions expressed or votes cast by Daniel Obajtek in the performance of his duties within the meaning of Article 8 of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union;

F. whereas Article 9, first paragraph, point (a) of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union provides that Members of the European Parliament are to enjoy, in the territory of their own State, the immunities accorded to members of their parliament;

G. whereas, pursuant to Article 105(2) and (5) of the Polish Constitution, from the day the election results are announced until the day their mandate expires, deputies cannot be subjected to criminal accountability without the consent of the Sejm, and can be neither detained nor arrested without the consent of the Sejm, except in cases where they have been apprehended in the commission of an offence and in which their detention is necessary to secure the proper course of proceedings;

H. whereas the purpose of parliamentary immunity is to protect Parliament and its Members from legal proceedings in relation to activities carried out in the performance of parliamentary duties and which cannot be separated from those duties;

I. whereas, in accordance with Rule 5(2) of the Rules of Procedure, parliamentary immunity is not a personal privilege of the Member but a guarantee of the independence of Parliament as a whole and of its Members;

J. whereas, in this case, Parliament found no evidence of fumus persecutionis, which is to say factual elements indicating that the intention underlying the legal proceedings in question is to undermine the Member's political activity in his capacity as a Member of the European Parliament;

K. whereas Parliament cannot assume the role of a court, and whereas, in a waiver of immunity procedure, a Member cannot be regarded as a defendant[2];

1. Decides to waive the immunity of Daniel Obajtek;

2. Instructs its President to forward this decision, and the report of its committee responsible, immediately to the appropriate authority of the Republic of Poland and to Daniel Obajtek.

INFORMATION ON ADOPTION BY THE COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE