• Sentence: Junqueras had to have been MEP and enjoyed his immunity, according to European Justice
  • The keys: The EU ruling opens the door for Carles Puigdemont to return to Spain
  • Secessionism: Independence euphoria after the sentence: Junqueras asks for his "immediate release" and JxCat thinks it will benefit Puigdemont
  • Constitutionalism.Vox denounces a "attack" of Europe on the "sovereignty" of Spain and the PP that Junqueras serves his sentence
  • Analysis: Europe reinforces Puigdemont and torpedes the 'Iceta route'

And, again, nothing in Spanish politics, came back as expected. The ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union that recognizes that the parliamentary immunity of the ERC leader, Oriol Junqueras, removes the PSOE's claim for an investiture before the end of the Year and even leaves the viability of an agreement to achieve the abstention of the independentistas, that assures the election of Pedro Sánchez.

ERC was pending this decision of Luxembourg to move forward with its claim to abstain. The acting Government was absolutely aware of this calendar and that this formation would not make a decision before knowing this ruling but what I did not expect is that Luxembourg would prove them right. In fact, in the conviction that Junqueras' demands were not going to be met, they based the options to celebrate the investiture between December 27 and 30.

The Executive thought that the Court would not enter into the merits of the matter - whether or not he had immunity at the time he was refused to appear before the Electoral Board to prove his status as elected MEP - and that he would limit himself to pointing out that he had "lack of supervening object". That is to say, since he had already been tried and convicted, it was not possible to rule on the matter. That this would be what would happen was the optimism of the Government that it was possible to designate Sanchez in the coming days.

The agreement with ERC on the negotiating table between the Generalitat and the State, in the terms demanded by the independentistas, is very advanced, so everything was at the expense of what happened today. Even ERC was very cautious about the direct consequences it could have on Junqueras because they themselves did not expect such a clear ruling. But they did fear that any reference to enjoying that immunity, even if it did not enter into the matter as it has finally done, would serve the former president of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont, to be proclaimed MEP and be freely able to Europe. The fear that he could return to Spain and even stand for hypothetical regional elections in the coming months has a direct influence on ERC's position on abstention.

And that concern has become even more real today. Not only does ERC have a ruling in favor that reinforces its discourse on victimization, the questioning of Spanish justice and Spain as an oppressive state, but also that Puigdemont's return to Catalonia begins to be something feasible.

All this leaves in the air the negotiation with the socialists. Now, according to the sources consulted, ERC is waiting for new gestures from the Government in defense of Junqueras. The independence formation has already publicly requested freedom from its leader and the nullity of the sentence and they await the support of the Government through the General Advocacy of the State.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • ERC
  • Spain
  • PSOE
  • Pedro Sanchez
  • Oriol Junqueras
  • Europe
  • Catalonia
  • Carles Puigdemont
  • Politics

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