The European Commission has “no concerns” about Spain’s draft amnesty law, and its concerns mainly relate to the blocking of the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary, said the Spanish Minister of Justice, Felix Bolaños, on Thursday 30 November in Brussels, after meeting the European Commissioners for Justice, Didier Reynders, and the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Věra Jourová.
Referring to “cordial” talks and “loyal cooperation” with the European Commission representatives, Mr Bolaños said that the EU institution’s “major concern” was the failure to renew the General Council of the Judiciary since 2018. He renewed his call to the “main opposition party”, the People’s Party (PP), to lift the “undemocratic” blockade and apply the 2001 law which the PP, then in power with an absolute majority and the support of the Spanish socialist party, had itself adopted. “There is no longer any excuse for not respecting the [Spanish] constitution”, he stressed, expressing the hope that the future PP leadership would be aware of the damage caused to Spain’s reputation.
Once the General Council of the Judiciary has been renewed, the minister said, discussions could begin with a view to “finding a method” that is suitable for the procedure for appointing judges to this body.
With regard to the amnesty bill for Catalan independentists, presented by the socialist group in the national parliament, the Spanish minister said that the Commission had no doubt that this was an “internal matter” for Spain. And the Commission has “no concerns” about the compliance of the draft text with the country’s constitution, in particular the separation of political and judicial powers, and with EU law and related values.
According to Mr Bolaños, the aim of the law is to resolve the conflict affecting Catalonia and to help “normalise the political situation” in Catalonia by bringing the independentists back into the Spanish political mainstream.
On Wednesday, Mr Reynders indicated that the Commission would make its final conclusions on the amnesty bill once the legislative text had been finalised. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)