Brussels, 13/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 12 December, the regional president of Catalonia (Spain) Artur Mas announced that a referendum on the self-determination of Catalonia will take place on 9 November 2014. Mas has been able to achieve consensus between the parties of his regional government on this issue so that the Catalans can be asked about whether they want their region to become a state and if this should become independent from Madrid.
The same day, Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy swept the issue aside, believing that the referendum would not take place and was not negotiable. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, who was in Madrid the same day, said he was in favour of a “united Spain”, and stated that a new and independent state would not be subject to the European Treaties.
On Friday 13 December, the European Commission did not want to comment on the announcement of the referendum. The Commission's spokesperson, Pia Ahrenkilde, said that this was first and foremost a domestic issue in Spain, relating to national institutional arrangements. Currently, two European regions, Scotland and Catalonia, are working on a referendum on their independence, Ahrenkilde said, recalling that scenarios such as the separation of a part of a member state or the creation of a new member state would not have a neutral effect on the Treaties of the EU. She confirmed that a new independent state would certainly become “a third state as regards the EU and the Treaties would no longer apply to its territories from the day of its independence”. The Commission seems reluctant to take position on these cases, not speaking about preparations for the eventuality of a state becoming independent. Ahrenkilde simply stated that the Commission would express its opinion “on the legal consequences” to a member state's request and on the basis of a more precise scenario. Such a request has certainly not yet been formulated by the Spanish government (our translation throughout). (MD/transl.fl)