The European Court of Justice has upheld its 2019 ruling that Catalan separatist leaders Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comin cannot be recognised as MEPs despite winning seats in the European parliamentary elections of that year. The two were appealing the court’s 2019 decision that had concluded their MEP status could not be recognised since they had refused to pledge respect for Spain’s constitution, a mandatory procedure sworn on oath in person in Madrid as a prerequisite so that newly-elected MEPs can take their seats.
Yesterday’s decision affirmed a previous ruling by the EU’s General Court, which at the time waived the immunity that Puigdemont and Comin would have held were they recognised MEPs. “The General Court correctly held that the President of the European Parliament could not depart from the list of elected Members which had been officially notified to him by the Spanish authorities“, according to the Court of Justice.
Jordi Turull, secretary-general of Junts, the Catalonian separatist party that campaigns for independence from Spain, vowed on X that the party would “continue fighting and persisting on every front to give voice and vote to what the ballot boxes said.”
Comin again refused to take the constitutional oath in Madrid when re-elected to the European Parliament this year. Puigdemont left Spain in 2017 to avoid prosecution by Spanish authorities, following the brief declaration of Catalonian independence that resulted in Madrid taking direct control of the region.
While the two separatist leaders now live in self-imposed exile, the new ruling could clear the way for their extradition to Spain, where the Supreme Court, having determined that a recent amnesty law does not apply to them, has upheld arrest warrants for Puigdemont, Comin and others on charges related to the failed secession bid.
