The President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, announced on Thursday 23 July that Jordi Solé i Ferrando will fill the vacant seat of the Catalan ERC party leader, Oriol Junqueras, with retroactive effect from 3 January 2020.
This date corresponds to the decision of the Spanish Electoral Commission that Mr Junqueras, who is serving a prison sentence in Spain for sedition, cannot sit in Parliament, despite the fact that the Court of Justice of the European Union has recognised his status as an MEP (see EUROPE 12397/6).
“We will continue to defend my rights and those of all those who voted for me and I am confident that European justice will prove me right and give me back my seat”, said Mr Junqueras via social networks.
The Catalan leader has appealed against the March decision of the EU General Court, which had dismissed Mr Junqueras' action for annulment of the European Parliament's decision of 13 January declaring his seat vacant as of 3 January (see EUROPE 12438/23).
On Thursday, the ERC party welcomed the fact that 1.2 million Catalan voters who have placed their trust in the party are now represented by two MEPs, Mr Solé i Ferrando and Diana Riba, in the European Parliament. However, it considers the solution found as transitional, convinced that Mr Junqueras can recover his seat through judicial channels.
Mr Solé i Ferrando has already served in the European Parliament between 2017 and 2019. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)