The representative of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia to the European institutions Amadeu Altafaj i Tardio did not mince his words on the said institutions and, in particular, the European Commission, which he roundly criticised for the line it has adopted on the situation in Catalonia. Altafaj was speaking at a conference in the Committee of the Regions (CoR), organised by the European Alliance (EA) Group on Thursday 21 September.
Altafaj, who is a member of the EA within the CoR, spoke as tensions are running high in Spain and the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, following the arrest the previous day of 13 high-ranking officials of the Catalan regional government. Former Commission spokesperson for economic and monetary affairs Altafaj was scathing of his old institution.
“This is not only about the relationship between Catalonia and Spain. This is beyond this debate, it is actually about democratic standards in the European Union”, he said. “I know the official line to take of the European Union, the European Commission in particularly … the official line is basically this is a domestic issue, this is an internal issue, it is related to the constitutional order of Spain and therefore the Commission doesn’t want to interfere”, he stated, adding that “this is not acceptable”.
In his view, the Commission, as the guardian of the treaties and of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, must defend the interests of all European citizens and that means the interests of Catalans, too. There cannot, to his mind, be a multi-speed Europe when it comes to fundamental rights.
“I sadly miss more constructive, more responsible engagement by the EU institutions, and in particular from the European Commission because of the function that it has”, he went on to say, indicating, too, that he regretted the lack of respect the Commission was showing for the Catalan authorities. “What we have seen over the past two years is pretty sad in terms of dialogue, or non-dialogue, that has taking place which is quite shocking to me”, he lamented. What is missing, he said, is “a positive message to encourage the parties at least to engage in political dialogue”.
Speaking to EUROPE, Altafaj said he regretted the lack of formal and informal channels between the European Commission and the Catalan authorities. For example, he said he was still waiting for a reply from Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Vice-President Frans Timmermans to the email he had sent them the previous day following the incidents in Spain. “I simply wanted to inform them. I didn’t ask them to support the referendum”, he said.
In Spain on Thursday 21 September, President of the Catalan government Carles Puigdemont made an appeal to the Commission, taking the view that it was “its duty” to act.
Commission sticks to its position. On the same day, the Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas reiterated the institution’s positions, stressing the importance of respecting Spain’s constitutional order, despite the calls from journalists for a political positioning from the Commission. Last week President Jean-Claude Juncker caused confusion in appearing to change the Commission’s position in an interview with Euronews when he stated that the will of the people of Catalonia had to be respected (see EUROPE 11863).
Agitation in the European Parliament. On Wednesday 20 September, a number of Catalan MEPs belonging to the Greens and ALDE Groups, Jordi Solé, Josep-Maria Terricabras and Ramon Tremosa, called on the Spanish government to put an end to the repression and on all the European institutions to “stand up for the rights of the Catalan people”. The Catalan MEP Ernest Urtasun (Greens) circulated an email internally asking his colleagues to speak out against the actions of the Mariano Rajoy government, and asking the European institutions to act as mediator in this dispute. A letter to that end will shortly be sent to Frans Timmermans, the email stated.
In Committee of the Regions, separation of Catalonia from Spain considered. Committee of the Regions President Karl- Heinz Lambertz (RES, Belgium) expressed regret in an interview with la Libre Belgique in July that “neither party is listening to the other”. “Everything possible must be done to reach agreement but we must also calmly think about separation”, he stated.
On Thursday 21 September, the leader of the European Alliance Group, Karl Vanlouwe, called in a press release for the European institutions to condemn the “oppressive tactics” of the Spanish government. “No EU member state should be allowed to erode civil rights and democratic principles which are the basis of our common European project”, the press release states. Among the member states, silence reigns. A diplomatic source said on Thursday that it was with the “the greatest concern” that they were monitoring the situation on the Catalan referendum. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)