On Wednesday 6 May, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urged the European Commission to protect members of the International Criminal Court and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, from US government sanctions, by immediately activating the blocking statute, which neutralises the effects of sanctions on European territory.
On 7 May, Commission spokesperson Siobhan McGarry said that the institution had “studied concrete and feasible solutions to enable ICC staff to continue their work”, without mentioning the blocking statute, and that it was remaining in contact with the Member States.
In its press release, the Spanish government stated that it was working to obtain the support of other Member States for its request, and that it wanted to put this issue on the agenda of the European Council on 18 and 19 June “so that its conclusions include an explicit political mandate for the Commission”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)