What does the EU think about the amnesty?

While the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court (CC) are grabbing headlines, a judicial accounting procedure affecting pro-independence leaders is acting as a vanguard before the European Court of Justice in the application of the Amnesty Law. The Court of Auditors' case regarding the expenditures for the 1-O referendum and the foreign promotion of the Generalitat (Catalan government) is the Cinderella of the independence process , far removed from the grandiloquence of Manuel Marchena and the political buzz surrounding Cándido Conde-Pumpido's presidency of the CC. A year after its approval, constitutional endorsement of the amnesty is expected at the end of June , but the law has been quietly navigating its way through the Court of Justice of the European Union for months.

Carles Puigdemont, Oriol Junqueras, Artur Mas, former councilors and senior officials—up to 35—are being asked to repay the Generalitat (Catalan Government) €3.1 million for the 1-O vote, despite the fact that it does not feel harmed and, furthermore, endorses those involved through the Catalan Institute of Finance.

The initial hearing was held in November 2023, but the investigating judge in the case, Elena Hernáez—appointed at the suggestion of the PP—postponed the final ruling until January 2024. The ruling was delayed for no apparent reason other than to wait for the Amnesty Law to be passed and to question its application. Hernáez turned the October 1 accounting case into the first test of the amnesty in the Luxembourg court , where she referred some preliminary questions . It is the prelude to the battle the Supreme Court intends to wage against the amnesty once it has the approval of the Constitutional Court in a few weeks.

In the face of the deployment of shadowy diplomacy to prevent Catalan from becoming an official language , the shadow of popular power in Europe has not appeared in the proceedings initiated by the Court of Auditors. The People's Party (PP) is not a party to the case, but it has partners in 17 EU governments. All have recused themselves, despite being able to present objections.

At the end of April, the Prosecutor's Office, the State Attorney's Office, and Societat Civil Catalana had submitted their arguments and are awaiting a public hearing. The European Commission is also issuing an official position for the first time, curiously doing so with the help of a Spanish lawyer. It does not believe it can be argued that the pro-independence leaders jeopardized the EU's financial interests during the independence process . In fact, it considers it speculation, which it leaves to the state court.

The Commission's lawyer claims that it is a self-amnesty and goes against the separation of powers.

However, the lawyer does make some curious political observations about the amnesty: he questions whether it serves a public interest objective; he describes it as a self-amnesty, since the votes of the beneficiaries—Junts and ERC—were necessary for its approval; he cites the Venice Commission report to criticize its urgent processing and lack of a qualified majority; he denounces the law's lack of clarity regarding its scope of application, and maintains that imposing a two-month application period is unacceptable and that ordering the suspension of precautionary measures—such as the arrest warrant against Carles Puigdemont—before deciding whether the amnesty is applicable violates the separation of powers. This amendment could be signed by the People's Party (PP).

The Popular Party (PP) bases its opposition to Sánchez on the judicial investigations opened against his wife, his brother, former minister Ábalos, and the Leire Díez plot. And it replicates this in Europe with short-sighted opportunism. It did so with the appointment of Teresa Ribera as European Vice President to cover up Carlos Mazón's shame in Valencia, and this week, to halt the official status of Catalan. Neither Mazón is absolved by public opinion, nor is Feijóo gaining support for his alternative beyond Vox.

Read also Crowns of thorns, flags and... dead people Isabel Garcia Pagan

The Amnesty Law is the right's next European target, confirming the incompatibility between the PP and Junts. During the law's passage, Manfred Weber threatened Pedro Sánchez with a commission of inquiry, and Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders assured them they would be vigilant in its implementation. A year later, 236 cases have been closed and another 158 remain open , according to Òmnium. One of them is the Court of Auditors case. It's the silent case, but it leaves its mark.