On Friday 10 November, the President of the S&D group in the European Parliament, Iratxe García Pérez from Spain, said she was “surprised” by the attitude of the European Commission, which has intervened with the Spanish authorities regarding preparatory discussions on an amnesty law for Catalan nationalists, one of the conditions set by the latter for participating in a future government led by the Socialist Pedro Sánchez.
“Of course I am surprised”, said Ms García Pérez, replying to a question from EUROPE at the Party of European Socialists congress in Malaga. She says that a fortnight ago, the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, told the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties that he could not comment on the issue.
Earlier this week, however, the European Commissioner sent a letter to the acting government requesting information on the proposed amnesty law, including who would be affected, how it would work and when, echoing concerns expressed by many citizens. He points out that the amnesty law in preparation “has become a matter of considerable importance in the public debate”.
See the Commission’s letter: https://aeur.eu/f/9ii
“The problem is that he changed his position. I am not sure why he did it”, said Ms García Pérez. There is no Spanish government in place and no law in due form, since the text still has to be prepared by the political groups and then passed by the national parliament.
The day before, negotiators from the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) and the Catalan independence party Junts announced in Brussels that they had reached an agreement paving the way for a government led by Pedro Sánchez for the duration of the legislature. This agreement includes a dialogue between stakeholders and an international mediator on Junts’ request to organise a public referendum compatible with the Spanish Constitution, an initiative rejected by the PSOE, which is instead envisaging a reform of relations between the Spanish State and Catalonia.
Condemning “the attacks” perpetrated against civilians such as the former European Parliament Vice-President and founder of the Vox party, Alejo Vidal-Quadras, Ms García Pérez also pointed out that the Spanish Constitution provides for the possibility of granting amnesty, a provision that has been used several times in the history of Spain, she added.
On Thursday, at the European Parliament plenary session, the Vice-President of the EPP group, Spain’s Dolors Montserrat, denounced the socialists’ move to grant amnesty to Catalan separatists who have been “convicted by the courts and are fugitives” in exchange for support to form a government in Spain. Europe cannot remain silent in the face of “this demolition of the rule of law”, she said.
The EPP group would like the issue of the formation of government in Spain to be debated at the next Parliament plenary session at the end of November. It may even be inclined to initiate an ‘Article 7’ procedure on respect for the rule of law in Spain.
The President of the S&D group retorted that a majority of Spaniards had made it clear at the last general election that “they do not want a government formed by the Christian democrats and the far right”. In Málaga, the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni, said that Mr Sánchez’s approach to providing his country with a government was “completely consistent with the European model”.
In his letter, Mr Reynders urges Spain to make progress on the renewal of the National Council of the Judiciary and to reform the procedure for appointing judges to this body, a request made by the Commission as long ago as 2020. The deadlock on these issues is having a negative impact on the independence of the judiciary in Spain, according to the EU institution in its annual report on the rule of law in the EU (see EUROPE 13216/8).
Following the announcement of the agreement between PSOE and Junts, a number of Spanish judges’ associations have also expressed concern about a provision in the agreement which they felt could lead to the parliamentary power reviewing judicial decisions. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Solenn Paulic)