Bolaños and Reynders agree that the “questions and answers” dialogue on the amnesty law will continue
BRUSELAS, 4 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Commissioner of Justice, Didier Reynders, called again this Monday on the political forces in Spain to “urgently” renew the General Council of the Judiciary and begin “immediately” the process of reforming the system of electing its members. making it clear that this is the process that Brussels prefers but that it is open to examining alternative solutions if the agreement between parties is to start with a reform that unblocks the situation.
“My experience is that the reform processes are longer than a simple, if you can say simple, renewal of a Council,” Reynders defended in a press conference accompanied by the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts, Félix Bolaños, at the end of a meeting of 27 in Brussels.
However, he added, if the dialogue between the parties leads to a proposal the Commission “will examine it” and if this process allows a reform “compatible with European standards” and allows the rapid renewal of the CGPJ, Brussels “will not oppose it.
The commissioner thus recalled that in the last two editions of the annual report on the rule of law in the member states, the recommendations to Spain included the urgent renewal of the CGPJ and a subsequent reform, as he himself explained to the political parties. and judicial actors on their summer 2022 trip.
“We wish to move forward in this way, but the Commission is open to dialogue if we receive a proposal that is the subject of agreement between the political formations in Spain,” explained Reynders, who pointed out that once the electoral period and the formation The “priority” of the new Government is to resolve the situation of the CGPJ.
“After five years, the renewal is more and more urgent,” the commissioner stressed, in reference to the fact that this Monday marks five years since the CGPJ had to be renewed, while Minister Bolaños has defended that the blockade is a ” maximum concern” shared by the Community Executive and the Government.
Asked about a possible call from the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez-Feijóo, to address the renewal, Bolaños has warned that the leader of the opposition can also take the initiative of contact but that, in any case , will occur “when deemed convenient.”
The press conference in Brussels was the first time that Reynderes and Bolaños appeared together after last week both met in Brussels to talk about the amnesty law and different interpretations of the result of the meeting emerged. Then, Bolaños stated that, within the framework of the amnesty law, the Commission had “zero concern” about the rule of law in Spain, but Reynders’ spokesperson warned that the commissioner did not convey that conclusion to the minister since the analysis “it’s still going.”
This Monday, the minister defended that there is full harmony between Brussels and the Government because they are fully “aligned” in a dialogue process “with questions and answers to all questions, with total transparency, normality.”
It is a collaboration that both parties assume with “total loyalty and trust”, said the minister, who reiterated his words last Thursday regarding the “zero concern” about democratic health in Spain and has considered it resolved. the debate on the divergences of interpretation.
The commissioner, for his part, has stuck to the version that Brussels shared on Friday inasmuch as his services do not yet have an evaluation of the amnesty law because the examination will not conclude until the law completes its parliamentary processing and adopts its final version, including amendments.
Thus, Reynders has confirmed that there is a “common position on the procedure”, which implies a “dialogue with questions and answers” with the Government, but has made it clear that “on substance, the Commission’s position will not reach the end of the process”.
The Commissioner for Justice also wanted to emphasize that the position of the European Commission regarding the situation in Catalonia has not changed as it considers it an “internal” matter that must be resolved in Spain within the constitutional framework.
