“Zero concern” about the amnesty bill currently being debated in Congress but “maximum concern” about the persistent blockade of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ). This is the summary conveyed to the press by the Minister of the Presidency and Justice, Félix Bolaños, at the end of his official visit to Brussels, where he met with the vice president of the European Commission, Vera Jourová, and with the head of the portfolio of Justice, Didier Reynders. The meetings have lasted around an hour each, according to sources from both parties. The community executive has avoided reporting on the discussions held but Reynders has indicated on social networks that it has been “a good meeting” and that “the dialogue will continue”, while Jourová has limited herself to listing the issues regarding the health of the rule of law in Spain discussed at its meeting, including the situation of the power body of judges and the amnesty law.
“I once again call on the PP to come to its senses, comply with the Constitution, comply with the law and renew the CGPJ,” Bolaños claimed in a press conference, insisting that most of the discussions have focused on This issue and not about the amnesty law, however, was the trigger for his visit to the community capital since Reynders asked him for information on the matter before there was even a legislative draft. “About this law, I can say that there is zero concern in the European Commission about the health and strength of the rule of law and the separation of powers in Spain. Zero, none. They know perfectly well the law proposal has been presented, they know that the “is absolutely in accordance with the Constitution, the Spanish legal system, community law and European values,” he stressed.
Beyond the legal arguments, Minister Bolaños has also used some of a political nature to defend the amnesty law. “I have explained to them the purpose of the law, its details and also something that is well understood in Europe, and that is that the beneficiaries are not 300 people with pending criminal cases but rather the entire Catalan and Spanish society,” claimed Bolaños. after meeting for an hour with Vice President Jourová and Commissioner Reynders, who was Minister of Justice of Belgium when Carles Puigdemont and several councilors sought refuge in Brussels. “If we manage to get it enacted to normalize the political, social and institutional situation in Catalonia, we will be taking giant steps in coexistence, which is why we have promoted this law.”
Bolaños’ visit to Brussels takes place a week after the debate in the plenary session of the European Parliament on the amnesty law and coincides with the announcement of the PP that it has presented a battery of questions about it in the Petitions committee of the European Parliament which will lead to this body, with no operational capacity, speaking about the proposal. “It is legitimate to oppose the amnesty law but do not play with the good name of Spain to engage in politics,” Bolaños has asked the PP, which he has accused of “generating noise” because in Brussels “there is no doubt” about the character “fully constitutional and in line with EU values” of the amnesty law. “I would thank the PP for not trying to damage the reputation of our country.”
The last two annual reports on the situation of the rule of law in Spain recommend giving the “highest priority” to the renewal of the CGPJ and, then, to agree on the reform of the system of election of judges. This is in fact the first issue that Commissioner Reynders addressed in the letter sent to the Government at the beginning of the month, in which he mentioned that he had received a flood of messages from citizens and associations about the amnesty law and requested information on the matter. According to the minister, “the Commission “knows completely who is responsible for the fact that we are not able to renew” the governing body of the judges, in reference to the PP. “Five years is an outrage, there is no more excuse for not complying the Constitution”, he stressed. “It is something that is affecting not only the institutional normality in the governing body of judges in Spain, but it is also affecting citizens in the right they have to judicial protection”, he stressed. concluded Bolaños, who has not clarified whether he has asked Brussels to mediate so that the PP agrees to find a solution as soon as possible.
