Carles Puigdemont is one of Spain’s newly elected MEPs, but he may be barred from taking a seat in the European Parliament.
As reported by El País, the Spanish daily newspaper, the MEP fled Spain in 2017 to avoid arrest over his role in the independence drive. Earlier this week, Puigdemont and one of his former ministers in the regional government, Toni Comín, who also fled Spain, were denied entry to the European Parliament.
The EU institution has been asked by three Spanish parties to not allow them to collect their provisional credentials until they have formally assumed their roles in Spain.
In response, Puigdemont, who has been living in Brussels to avoid facing charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds, announced that he would send a letter to the general secretary of the EU institution.
According to a European Parliament spokesperson, however, accreditation is dependent on “the receipt of official notifications from the national authorities”.
According to El País, Spain’s central electoral authority, the JEC, will invite MEPs-elect on June 17 to be sworn in to their roles in Congress. Those who fail to attend will see their seats declared vacant, and they will lose the privileges that their role includes.
