The Eurochamber laments the “attacks on the rule of law and the separation of powers” by the Government in Spain

Brussels – The plenary of the European Parliament has lamented the “attacks on the rule of law and the separation of powers” by the Spanish Government, in a report on the activity of the Petitions Committee during the past year that also reflects the “sudden increase” in Spanish petitions regarding the amnesty law.

The warning is the result of an amendment presented by the Vox delegation in the Eurochamber, which passed by a narrow margin of 298 votes in favor –including those from the Popular Party–, 273 against, and 15 abstentions.

The report in its initial draft already indicated that the Eurochamber “takes note of the sudden increase in petitions of Spanish origin” during the second half of the past year regarding “the risks that the Spanish Government’s intention to approve an amnesty law contrary to the constitutional and European legal framework posed to the rule of law in Spain.”

With the proposal from the far-right group Patriots for Europe, through the MEPs from Vox, the final text will also include that the institution “regrets the attacks on the rule of law and the separation of powers perpetrated by the Spanish Government.”

Thus, the amended paragraph has been supported by the entire European People’s Party, including the Spanish delegation, and the far-right groups of Conservatives and Reformists (including the two former MEPs from SALF), Patriots for Europe (with Vox), and the Europe of Sovereign Nations.

Against the amendment voted the European liberals (who abstained on the full report), the group of Socialists and Democrats (S&D, which also rejected the final report), the European Left, with Podemos, Sumar, and Bildu, and the Greens/EFA, including the MEPs from BNG, ERC, Compromís.

In a statement after the vote, Vox defended that thanks to its amendment “the European Parliament has finally had to speak out about the institutional deterioration in Spain and about the effects of the legal coup orchestrated by Sánchez’s Government to remain in power at all costs.”

Sources from the PP, for their part, have emphasized that the reference to the increase in petitions regarding concerns about the amnesty law proves that this legislation has opened a “unprecedented social rift” in Spain and that, by going to the Eurochamber, citizens “are asking that European institutions monitor the constitutional violation that the amnesty law has entailed.”

Catalan Schools

The amended final report has been approved by the plenary meeting in Strasbourg (France) with 260 votes in favor, with the support of ‘popular’, liberals, and far-right; 194 against (with votes from S&D, Left, and Greens) and 110 abstentions.

The annual evaluation of the activity of the Petitions Committee also laments that the competent authorities in Catalonia “have not implemented the recommendations” issued by this parliamentary committee in its report of March 19, 2024 “aimed at protecting the linguistic rights of students and their families.”

Another amendment from the European liberals to the text that has passed adds that the Eurochamber “watches with concern” that those same recommendations “have still not been fully implemented by the competent educational authorities, particularly those related to the protection of the linguistic rights of all students and their families, deeply regrets the tensions faced by the committee members during their visit, and calls for respectful dialogue and cooperation among all stakeholders to ensure that democratic institutions can carry out their mandates in a climate of understanding and mutual respect.”