In December 2019, in a ruling on the case of Junqueras, another independentist leader jailed in Spain because of the illegal referendum and the unilateral declaration of independence, the CJEU established that an elected MEP has parliamentary immunity from the moment the results are declared. (2/)

But that was an immunity that the MEP-elect had to use to complete the procedures established by national law: in the case of Spain it is to abide by the Constitution before the Central Electoral Board (JEC). That was not the reading of Mr Sassoli, then President of the European Parliament. (3/)