The European Parliament has confirmed this Wednesday that he has not been able verify credentials of the three MEPs from Junts per Catalunya –Carles Puigdemont, Clara Ponsatí and Toní Comín– as well as the ERC representative, Jordi Solé, because he has not received the necessary documentation from the Spanish Central Electoral Board (JEC), which requires to abide by or swear to the Constitution. As explained by the chairman of the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, Adrian Vazquez (Citizens) the next step now will be to ask the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metzolawhich requires the JEC to send the necessary documentation or in case it is not possible “the explanation of his absence and the consequences derived from it & rdquor ;.
Verification of credentials is a formal procedure that all MEPs have to comply with when they get their minutes to check that there are no incompatibilities with the position. A process that should have been completed months ago and that the pandemic has forced to delay. Roberta Metsola has been in charge of announcing the conclusion of the procedure in relation to the 49 MEPs who have joined in the last two years, to replace other outgoing MEPs or fill the vacancies left after Brexit. In that list, however, the four Catalan independentists are not.
“There has been a little more delay than usual because there are four cases that have required us to do a larger legal study to have everything analyzed and completed. In these four cases we have requested the legal opinion of the legal service of the chamber and the legal advice of experts from outside the institutions and after the analysis the European Parliament has concluded that the credentials of the parliamentary acts of Carles Puigdemont cannot be verified, Toni Comín, Clara Ponsatí and Jordí Solé”, Vázquez explained that he assumed his seat after the United Kingdom left the EU and whose minutes have been verified in this round.
no effect at the moment
As explained by the representative of Citizens, the European Parliament has verified that until now “they have not received the notification or the documentation that proves with total clarity that the requirements for accreditation of the minutes of these four people have been met & rdquor; with which the JEC will have to determine what actions to adopt. The decision, adopted with 20 votes in favor and 1 abstention, does not imply the withdrawal of the MEP’s act.
How does it affect your daily work? “In practice, I understand that it does not affect them at all. This is not a conclusion within the procedure. We cannot make decisions because now it is in the hands of the competent authority, which is the Central Electoral Board, not the European Parliament & rdquor ;, he added about a process that has no deadlines.
The announcement puts in check the decision adopted at the end of December 2019 by the then president of the European Parliament, David Sasoliwhich decided to recognize Puigdemont and Comín as MEPs, after the ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU on Oriol Junqueras, in which it was pointed out that it was not necessary to swear or abide by the Constitution in Madrid to access the seat. “What the Spanish state must do is respect the primacy of EU law and the fundamental principles of democracy. It may be necessary to translate it into Spanish, because the CJEU’s position is clear,” said Solé.
What the Spanish state must do is respect the primacy of EU law and the fundamental principles of democracy. Potser caldrà that they have been translated into Spanish, because the position of the CJEU is very clear: https://t.co/9non36fRPM
— Jordi Solé🎗🇪🇺 (@jordisolef) May 18, 2022
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“They are two different things, the sentence and the verification of the credentials, but if they read the sentence, it does not eliminate the requirements set by the law of each member state to acquire the status of MEPs nor, by extension, the need to receive official notification from the authorities. competent authorities before granting full status. Therefore, it does not affect the verification of credentials & rdquor ;, maintains Vázquez.
The JEC could now declare the seats vacant or suspend the prerogatives that correspond to them as MEPs. According to European Parliament sources, the possible suspension of their rights and prerogatives as MEPs could include the suspension of their right to vote or their salary, among others. This suspension could be prolonged until they swear to the Constitution or rule on the pending appeal of the General Court of the EU.