The European Parliament today voted to start the procedure to lift the parliamentary immunity of French centre-right MEP Jérôme Lavrilleux, who is accused of involvement in a campaign funding scandal during the 2012 French presidential election.
Lavrilleux, 44, was at the time director of the private office of Jean-François Copé, then the leader of the centre-right UMP party of Nicolas Sarkozy. He was also deputy head of Sarkozy’s presidential campaign. He is accused of making false invoices to avoid the limits set on campaign financing.
Lavrilleux was expelled from the UMP delegation in November, but remained part of the centre-right EPP group in the European Parliament.
The legal affairs committee will now investigate and draft a report on the need to lift the immunity. After conducting its investigation, the committee will propose an opinion to the full Parliament. If this opinion is approved by a majority of MEPs, Lavrilleux’s parliamentary immunity will be lifted. The whole process will take several months.