Posted on 03/11/2005 2:46:32 PM PST by ScaniaBoy
The US Constitution has its amendments - the EU constitutional treaty has a number of annexes. This is annex number 7, concerning priviliges and immunities of civil servants working for the EU.
I know - it is not a riveting read, but don't miss Article 11 (a) - or why not read the whole article 11.
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7. PROTOCOL ON THE PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES,
CONSIDERING that, in accordance with Article III-434 of the Constitution, the Union shall enjoy in the territories of the Member States such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the performance of its tasks,
HAVE AGREED upon the following provisions, which shall be annexed to the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community:
CHAPTER I
PROPERTY, FUNDS, ASSETS AND OPERATIONS OF THE UNION
ARTICLE 1
The premises and buildings of the Union shall be inviolable. They shall be exempt from search, requisition, confiscation or expropriation. The property and assets of the Union shall not be the subject of any administrative or legal measure of constraint without the authorisation of the Court of Justice.
ARTICLE 2
The archives of the Union shall be inviolable.
ARTICLE 3
The Union, its assets, revenues and other property shall be exempt from all direct taxes.
The governments of the Member States shall, wherever possible, take the appropriate measures to remit or refund the amount of indirect taxes or sales taxes included in the price of movable or immovable property, where the Union makes, for its official use, substantial purchases the price of which includes taxes of this kind. These provisions shall not be applied, however, so as to have the effect of distorting competition within the Union.
No exemption shall be granted in respect of taxes and dues which amount merely to charges for public utility services.
ARTICLE 4
The Union shall be exempt from all customs duties, prohibitions and restrictions on imports and exports in respect of articles intended for its official use. Articles so imported shall not be disposed of, whether or not in return for payment, in the territory of the State into which they have been imported, except under conditions approved by the government of that State.
The Union shall also be exempt from any customs duties and any prohibitions and restrictions on import and exports in respect of its publications.
CHAPTER II
COMMUNICATIONS AND LAISSEZ-PASSER
ARTICLE 5
For their official communications and the transmission of all their documents, the institutions of the Union shall enjoy in the territory of each Member State the treatment accorded by that State to diplomatic missions.
Official correspondence and other official communications of the institutions of the Union shall not be subject to censorship.
ARTICLE 6
1. Laissez-passer in a form to be prescribed by a European regulation of the Council acting by a simple majority, which shall be recognised as valid travel documents by the authorities of the Member States, may be issued to members and servants of the institutions of the Union by the Presidents of these institutions. These laissez-passer shall be issued to officials and other servants under conditions laid down in the Staff Regulations of officials and the Conditions of Employment of other servants of the Union.
The Commission may conclude agreements for these laissez-passer to be recognised as valid travel documents within the territory of third States.
CHAPTER III
MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
ARTICLE 7
No administrative or other restriction shall be imposed on the free movement of members of the European Parliament travelling to or from the place of meeting of the European Parliament.
Members of the European Parliament shall, in respect of customs and exchange control, be accorded:
a) by their own governments, the same facilities as those accorded to senior officials travelling abroad on temporary official missions;
(b) by the governments of other Member States, the same facilities as those accorded to representatives of foreign governments on temporary official missions.
ARTICLE 8
Members of the European Parliament shall not be subject to any form of inquiry, detention or legal proceedings in respect of opinions expressed or votes cast by them in the performance of their duties.
ARTICLE 9
During the sessions of the European Parliament, its members shall enjoy:
(a) in the territory of their own State, the immunities accorded to members of their Parliament;
(b) in the territory of any other Member State, immunity from any measure of detention and from legal proceedings.
Immunity shall likewise apply to members while they are travelling to and from the place of meeting of the European Parliament.
Immunity cannot be claimed when a member is found in the act of committing an offence and shall not prevent the European Parliament from exercising its right to waive the immunity of one of its members.
CHAPTER IV
REPRESENTATIVES OF MEMBER STATES TAKING PART IN THE WORK OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE UNION
ARTICLE 10
Representatives of Member States taking part in the work of the institutions of the Union, their advisers and technical experts shall, in the performance of their duties and during their travel to and from the place of meeting, enjoy the customary privileges, immunities and facilities.
This Article shall also apply to members of the advisory bodies of the Union.
CHAPTER V
OFFICIALS AND OTHER SERVANTS OF THE UNION
ARTICLE 11
In the territory of each Member State and whatever their nationality, officials and other servants of the Union shall:
(a) subject to the provisions of the Constitution relating, on the one hand, to the rules on the liability of officials and other servants towards the Union and, on the other hand, to the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union in disputes between the Union and its officials and other servants, be immune from legal proceedings in respect of acts performed by them in their official capacity, including their words spoken or written. They shall continue to enjoy this immunity after they have ceased to hold office;
(b) together with their spouses and dependent members of their families, not be subject to immigration restrictions or to formalities for the registration of aliens;
(c) in respect of currency or exchange regulations, be accorded the same facilities as are customarily accorded to officials of international organisations;
(d) enjoy the right to import free of duty their furniture and effects at the time of first taking up their post in the State concerned, and the right to re-export free of duty their furniture and effects, on termination of their duties in that State, subject in either case to the conditions considered to be necessary by the government of the State in which this right is exercised;
(e) have the right to import free of duty a motor car for their personal use, acquired either in the State of their last residence or in the State of which they are nationals on the terms ruling in the home market in that State, and to re-export it free of duty, subject in either case to the conditions considered to be necessary by the government of the State concerned.
ARTICLE 12
Officials and other servants of the Union shall be liable to a tax, for the benefit of the Union, on salaries, wages and emoluments paid to them by the Union, in accordance with the conditions and procedure laid down by a European law. That law shall be adopted after consultation of the institutions concerned.
Officials and other servants of the Union shall be exempt from national taxes on salaries, wages and emoluments paid by the Union.
ARTICLE 13
In the application of income tax, wealth tax and death duties and in the application of conventions on the avoidance of double taxation concluded between Member States of the Union, officials and other servants of the Union who, solely by reason of the performance of their duties in the service of the Union, establish their residence in the territory of a Member State other than their State of domicile for tax purposes at the time of entering the service of the Union, shall be considered, both in the State of their actual residence and in the State of domicile for tax purposes, as having maintained their domicile in the latter State provided that it is a member of the Union. This provision shall also apply to a spouse, to the extent that the latter is not separately engaged in a gainful occupation, and to children dependent on and in the care of the persons referred to in this Article.
Movable property belonging to persons referred to in the first paragraph and situated in the territory of the State where they are staying shall be exempt from death duties in that State. Such property shall, for the assessment of such duty, be considered as being in the State of domicile for tax purposes, subject to the rights of third States and to the possible application of provisions of international conventions on double taxation.
Any domicile acquired solely by reason of the performance of duties in the service of other international organisations shall not be taken into consideration in applying the provisions of this Article.
ARTICLE 14
The scheme of social security benefits for officials and other servants of the Union shall be laid down by a European law. That law shall be adopted after consultation of the institutions concerned.
ARTICLE 15
The categories of officials and other servants of the Union to whom Article 11, the second paragraph of Article 12, and Article 13 shall apply, in whole or in part, shall be determined by a European law. That law shall be adopted after consultation of the institutions concerned. The names, grades and addresses of officials and other servants included in such categories shall be communicated periodically to the governments of the Member States.
CHAPTER VI
PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF MISSIONS OF THIRD STATES ACCREDITED TO THE UNION
ARTICLE 16
The Member State in whose territory the Union has its seat shall accord the customary diplomatic privileges and immunities to missions of third States accredited to the Union.
CHAPTER VII
GENERAL PROVISIONS
ARTICLE 17
Privileges, immunities and facilities shall be accorded to officials and other servants of the Union solely in the interests of the Union.
Each institution of the Union shall be required to waive the immunity accorded to an official or other servant wherever that institution considers that the waiver of such immunity is not contrary to the interests of the Union.
ARTICLE 18
The institutions of the Union shall, for the purpose of applying this Protocol, cooperate with the responsible authorities of the Member States concerned.
ARTICLE 19
Articles 11 to 14 and Article 17 shall apply to members of the Commission.
ARTICLE 20
Articles 11 to 14 and Article 17 shall apply to the Judges, the Advocates-General, the Registrars and the Assistant Rapporteurs of the Court of Justice of the European Union, without prejudice to the provisions of Article 3 of the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning immunity from legal proceedings of Judges and Advocates-General. Articles 11 to 14 and Article 17 shall also apply to the members of the Court of Auditors.
ARTICLE 21
This Protocol shall also apply to the European Central Bank, to the members of its organs and to its staff, without prejudice to the Protocol on the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank. The European Central Bank shall, in addition, be exempt from any form of taxation or imposition of a like nature on the occasion of any increase in its capital and from the various formalities which may be connected therewith in the State where the Bank has its seat. The activities of the Bank and of its organs carried on in accordance with the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank shall not be subject to any turnover tax.
ARTICLE 22
This Protocol shall also apply to the European Investment Bank, to the members of its organs, to its staff and to the representatives of the Member States taking part in its activities, without prejudice to the Protocol on the Statute of the Bank.
The European Investment Bank shall in addition be exempt from any form of taxation or imposition of a like nature on the occasion of any increase in its capital and from the various formalities which may be connected therewith in the State where the Bank has its seat. Similarly, its dissolution or liquidation shall not give rise to any imposition. Finally, the activities of the Bank and of its organs carried on in accordance with its Statute shall not be subject to any turnover tax.
Remember that once a European politician is tired of fighting the national elections he or she are usually (if he or she has followed the party line) placed on an safe seat in the elections to the European parliamnet.
If they have been really important, or been very good little party followers they may even be considered for a post on the Commission.
Now, maybe you'll understand why most European politicians are so fond of EU, and are ready to sell out their countries and the people who were foolish enough to elect them in the first place.
It's not going to get passed...The pugs screw up..they tried to bite off too much, too soon..
Sure hope you're right.
Ping!
Utter mindlessness.
I read some of this worthless EU constitution document, but this had escaped me. What an utter disgrace.
The USA was founded on the ideal of no aristocracy.
The EU is founded on the ideal of creating a new bureaucratic based aristocracy.
no good for longevity of the Eurocrats.
I wonder if they will require the citizen/peon to kowtow.
The French and Germans are already disregarding the deficit penalty guidelines. If all membes say do as I say not as I do, the document is not worth the paper its written on.
Thanks for the ping!
Ping!
If people want on or off this list, please let me know.
I'm understanding this to be a sort of Judicial immunity for actions performed as part of doing your duty. Much like the immunity judges have here against retribution taken as a result of their decisions.
This issue recently came up in a debate concering Judge Greer and the Terri Shiavo case. The risk of abuse would be the same. Or am I interpreting this incorrectly?
Some time ago I posted this article:
Hamburg court rules against Tillack (Freedom of press dead in EU)
In short, Mr Tillack a German journalist had been investigating EU sleaze (a very rich field), but when he started to write about the EU anti-sleaze bureau OLAF he had gone too far.
He was arrested, his computer files and other notes were confiscated, and finally he was defamed by a EU bureaucrat working in the EU Commission, who, without any proofs what so ever, accused him of trying to bribe EU officials.
When Mr Tillack tried to get redress in the court, he was told that it was not possible. According to both the court and the lawyer of Mr Gross, the EU bureaucrat neither German courts nor any other national courts have jurisdiction over EU employees.
YOu are so right, the EU politika intelligencia is created the new European Soviet/Fascist Union. The two words are rather interchangable, considering that Fascists are a branch of Marx's theories. Nazism just mutated a bit more by adding racism to the people's party.
By the way, I've been to Stokholm, a very beautiful city. If only the weather was better that trip. But, we left Germany in knee deep snow and arrived to cold rain in Sweden, who would have thought it. :0)
Between this and the Loyalty Clause, oh boy oh boy. They just need a charasmatic furher to get all the politicos in one neat line.
Problem is, as the two core states they can get away with it. States like Greece or Italy get hammered when they try.
You are SO correct. The recent Athens Games will be causing problems despite their success (and kick posterior party to be there).
Remember when France, in the run up to the Iraq war, told the other nations to sit down and shut up because they sould obey France's greater widsom?
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