On Wednesday 8 November, the Spanish Constitutional Court unanimously annulled the Catalan unilateral declaration of independence that was approved by the Catalan Parliament at the end of October. The court's ruling came as the region of Catalonia was partly paralysed by a movement of general strike called by Catalan separatists.
"The Parliament of Catalonia assumes powers inherent in sovereignty above those that derive from the autonomy recognised by the (Spanish) constitution", the court ruled, describing the initiative as a "serious attack" on the rule of law.
Speaking before the Belgian Parliament in Brussels the same day, Belgium's Prime Minister Charles Michel told parliamentarians that the Belgian government should not intervene in the ongoing judicial procedure to examine the European arrest warrant issued for the former Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont. Puigdemont has now been in Brussels for a week (see EUROPE 11899). In Michel's view, Puigdemont, like any European citizen, will have to answer for his actions before a court of law.
"There is a political crisis in Spain and not in Belgium", Michel stated, when questioned by parliamentarians about the pro-Catalan declarations of certain Belgian ministers from the Flemish nationalist party N-VA. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)