The alliance between the European People’s Party, the liberal group and the far-right turned the almost empty hemicycle of the European Parliament in Strasbourg yesterday afternoon into a real boxing ring between the defenders and detractors of the amnesty law.
An initiative which, according to the Spanish Government, the socialists and the European left is “an internal constitutional matter”, but which the conservatives and the far right present as the beginning of the end, not of Spain, but of europe
In the center of all eyes, the European Commission, which stood in profile and avoided advancing any conclusions about the content of the law.
Determined to carry through to the end the Popular Party’s purpose of moving the political struggle to the EU, the leader of the European Popular Group, Manfred Weber, assured that in Spain “the rule of law is being violated” with initiatives such as the amnesty law granted as a result of the “personal selfishness” of Pedro Sánchez, whom some MEPs tried to equate with the Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán or the Polish Mateusz Morawiecki.
“People in Spain expect a Europe that protects the rule of law, it is necessary to respond to all the demonstrators in Madrid”, claimed Weber to the European Commission, while accusing the socialist group and the left of being “silent” about the situation in Spain while denouncing the situation in countries governed by conservatives.
The debate, which lasted for almost two hours, was attended by nearly 40 MEPs, with a large presence of representatives of far-right and anti-European parties, who warned Brussels against “selective application” of the examination of the situation of the rule of law in the EU.
In the guest gallery, among others, Santiago Abascal, leader of Vox, with a privileged view of the seat of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont.
On behalf of Junts, Toni Comín intervened to remind Weber that the German judges saw no crime in the events that could be exonerated by the amnesty.
In statements to the Spanish press in Strasbourg shortly before the debate, Carles Puigdemont celebrated that “the great circus” organized “at the initiative of the EPP” had allowed the Catalan conflict to be discussed in Parliament.
“Where we used to say Poland and Hungary, today we say Spain”, said Adrián Vázquez, general secretary of Citizens, on behalf of the liberal European group. “Today we are debating the rule of law in Spain, a debate that I wish had never been held, but recent events leave us no choice but to denounce them here”, he argued.
The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, who was reprimanded by Spain for having asked about it before the draft was even presented, keeps his letters. Although the text neutralizes the possible points of friction with the European legislative framework, Reynders avoided lifting his foot on the accelerator, although he also did not give satisfaction to those who asked him for a clear pronouncement on – or, more specifically, on against of– the measure.
“I can assure you that the Commission will continue to deal with this issue and will be attentive to its development”, said the Belgian liberal, although he pointed out that the Catalan conflict “is an internal matter for Spain”. “We will conclude our analysis when there is a final text approved by the Spanish Parliament” and “respecting the amendments that may arise”, concluded the commissioner.
Disappointed by Reynders’ answer, Jorge Buxadé (Vox) concluded that, with his intervention, “it makes clear that right now the Spaniards are alone”.
During the debate, Iratxe García, head of the European Socialists, came out in a blog to overturn the accusations of the EPP and assured that “the most important attack on the rule of law in Europe is not the Spanish Government or the law amnesty, but “the embrace of the PP with the extreme right”.
It was advertised as a debate, but in reality it was a succession of political positions in the form of monologues delivered at times with shouts or with a strong charge of emotion.
Beyond being in favor or against the amnesty, or considering it constitutional or unconstitutional, some turned on the fan to blow away the less decent aspects of Spanish politics.
Technically, the Spanish Government was not represented in this debate, but due to the rotating presidency of the Council, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Angeles took advantage of her intervention to make it clear that “it is unequivocally a constitutional issue internal Spanish that must be debated in the Spanish Parliament”.
