The European Commission’s first vice-president and a spokesperson attempted on Friday 15 September to clarify comments by the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, on 14 September on the referendum in the autonomous region of Catalonia in Spain, explaining that the Commission remained true to the Prodi line. Catalonia’s permanent representative to the EU, however, says that the Commission’s line has changed.
Speaking in French, the president of the Commission said on Euronews that the Commission would be monitoring the debate about the Catalan referendum, respecting the rulings of the Spanish Constitutional Court and Parliament. He said it was clear that if there were a yes vote for independence of Catalonia, the Commission would respect the vote. He said it was an acceptable democratic debate.
Continuing his comments on a hypothetical yes vote, Juncker warned about the process of an independent Catalonia applying to join the EU. Catalonia would not be able to join overnight and become a member of the EU the day after the vote, but would be subject to an accession process like the member states that have joined the EU since 2004.
These comments led to an explosion of social media, especially in Spain. On Friday 15 September, the first vice-president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, and the Commission’s chief spokesperson, Margaritis Schinas, tried to clarify Juncker’s comments, saying that nothing had changed. The president still takes the Prodi view (see EUROPE 11858). Contacted by this newsletter, the Spanish Permanent Representation had the same opinion.
Catalonia’s permanent representative sees a ‘more political’ shift in the European Commission’s view
Juncker’s comments, however, were interpreted differently by Catalonia’s permanent representative to the European Union, Amadeu Altafaj i Tardio. In discussion with this newsletter, he said he saw Juncker’s comments as ‘more balanced’ than his predecessors. He said the president of the Commission was not simply making a legal assessment of the situation, but examining its political level since this is above all a political issue.
Altafaj said the Commission’s president, unlike the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, was considering the actual holding of a referendum and even a possible win for the yes vote. Moreover, Catalonia’s representative said that Juncker recognised the debate as ‘democratic’ and ‘acceptable.’ Altafaj said these were important words since many elected officials in Catalonia have been taken to court for agreeing to hold a referendum.
As for the accession process, Altafaj said that talks could take place very quickly since Catalonia has already incorporated the EU acquis and has all the powers required to join the European Union. In addition, he said that Article 11 of the Spanish constitution allowed citizens of Catalonia to keep their Spanish citizenship and therefore also their European citizenship. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)