In today’s ruling (Wednesday), the Court of Justice of the EU annuls the European Parliament’s decision to deny access to documents relating to amounts paid by the Parliament to the Ioannis Lagos.

According to the decision of the Court of Justice of the EU, the European Parliament must, in the interest of public scrutiny, provide access to information related to an MEP who has been convicted by the courts.

On 7 December 2021, three citizens – Luisa Izuzquiza, Arne Semsrott and Stefan Wehrmeyer – submitted to the Parliament a request for access to documents relating to the compensation and reimbursement of expenses paid to I. Lagos. Their purpose was to obtain information about the specific sums paid by Parliament to I. Lagos, in order to establish whether these sums, including parliamentary assistance expenses, had contributed directly or indirectly in the financing or continuation of criminal or illegal activities.

The Parliament informed the citizens in question that it had located documents relating to the following categories of amounts paid: I. Lagos’ salary, his subsistence allowance, the reimbursement of his travel expenses, the salaries of his accredited and local parliamentary assistants and the reimbursement of travel expenses of his accredited and local parliamentary assistants. However, citing the regulation on access to documents, as well as the regulation on the protection of natural persons against the processing of personal data by the institutions and other institutions and bodies of the Union and on the free movement of such data, the Parliament decided not to grant those citizens access to the requested documents. Following this, the citizens in question appealed to the Court of Justice of the EU.

With today’s decision, the General Court annuls the decision of the European Parliament of 8 April 2022in so far as it denies the citizens in question access, on the one hand, to the documents concerning the reimbursement of travel expenses and subsistence allowances paid by the Parliament to Ioannis Lagos and, on the other hand, to the documents concerning the reimbursement of travel expenses to his parliamentary assistants .

The Court of Justice of the EU considers that, in this case, even if the legitimate interest of protecting the privacy and integrity of the individual is affected, the right of public access to the documents of the institutions prevails. Indeed, the application is intended to facilitate increased public scrutiny and increased accountability regarding I. Lagos’ access to public funds, as well as to contribute to transparent information regarding the amounts paid by Parliament to I. Lagos and as to his own costs and those of his assistants, having regard to the exceptional circumstances of the particular case.

Despite his conviction for serious offences, and even after his arrest and imprisonment, I. Lagos remained an MEP and, therefore, continued to receive compensation corresponding to the performance of the relevant duties. In this context, it must be considered legitimate for the interested parties to find out for what purpose and to which destinations I. Lagos and his parliamentary assistants made trips, the expenses of which were reimbursed by the Parliament, during the period in which he himself he had been convicted but not yet imprisoned.

On the contrary, the Court of Justice of the EU rejects the appeal in the part concerning the documents containing personal data regarding the salary and reimbursement of general expenses of I. Lagos, as well as regarding the salary of his parliamentary assistants. Indeed, information related to these amounts is freely accessible to the public, inter alia, on the website of the European Parliament. In contrast to the documents relating to the reimbursement of travel expenses and subsistence allowances, the documents relating to the salary and reimbursement of general expenses do not allow control over the use of these amounts, since they are paid automatically or in a lump sum.

It is recalled that on July 2, 2019, Ioannis Lagos assumed the duties of MEP after his election in Greece. On October 7, 2020, the Court of Appeal of Athens (Greece) sentenced him to thirteen years and eight months in prison and a fine, inter alia, for participating in a criminal organization and directing a criminal organization. On April 27, 2021, the European Parliament lifted the immunity of I. Lagos at the request of the Greek authorities. Despite his criminal conviction, the removal of his immunity and his incarceration, I. Lagos did not resign from the office of MEP nor was the Greek authorities notified to the Parliament of any possible removal from the parliamentary office after the conviction .