On 2 July 2026, the European Parliament voted to waive the immunity of MEP Siegbert Frank Droese, allowing German criminal appeal proceedings against him to continue. The decision follows a request from the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection, transmitted via a letter dated 15 January 2026, which itself relayed a request from the Higher Regional Court in Dresden dated 2 December 2025. The request was announced in plenary on 11 February 2026.
The case stems from Droese's conviction by the Dresden Local Court on 26 April 2024 on two counts of insult, for which he was fined. He lodged an appeal on 3 May 2024. At the time of both the conviction and the appeal, Droese was not an MEP; he was elected to the European Parliament in June 2024. The acts for which he was convicted occurred before he became an MEP and do not relate to opinions expressed or votes cast in the exercise of his parliamentary duties, as defined by Article 8 of Protocol No 7 on the privileges and immunities of the European Union.
Under German law, Article 46 of the Basic Law requires parliamentary permission for criminal proceedings to be initiated or continued against a member of the Bundestag; the same principle applies to members of the European Parliament. The Committee on Legal Affairs, which examined the request, adopted its report on 2 July 2026 by 21 votes in favour, 1 against, and 0 abstentions. The committee found no evidence of fumus persecutionis — that is, no indication that the request was politically motivated to damage Droese's parliamentary activity.
The waiver is limited to the specific appeal proceedings and does not affect Droese's parliamentary mandate. The decision allows the Higher Regional Court in Dresden to proceed with the appeal against the 2024 conviction.