Motion of censure. Pedro Sánchez offers Pablo Casado to "stop" his reform of the CGPJ to reach an agreement
Justice.Brussels launches a warning to Pedro Sánchez: "We must reduce the influence of the Executive over the Judiciary"
Last week, the errands were very clear, but from a low profile.
Yesterday, however, on the eve of the vote on the motion of censure and the 'offer' of the Prime Minister to the Popular Party for the reform of the CGPJ, the message and the message from Brussels came from the highest levels.
The EU Justice Commissioner, Didier Reynders, spoke by phone this Wednesday with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, and once expressed Brussels' concern about the reform of the law on which the PSOE had been working for some time and UP.
It was not an informal call nor did the topic come up among many others.
A spokesperson for the Commission explained that "the discussion was centered mainly on the General Council of the Judiciary and in particular on the reform proposed by the parties of the Government coalition. Commissioner Reynders informed Minister González Laya that the Commission he is closely following the evolution of events on the legislative draft and the commissioner asked the Spanish authorities for more information ".
And specifically to the Ministry of Justice.
This is one more step in the pressure from the community capital.
Last Thursday, the Commission's Justice spokesman made the first announcement, but the President of the Government and other members of the Executive took the iron out of his words, emphasizing over and over again that he was simply "a spokesman."
As if it were little more than an idea or a comment without more.
This time, however, it is the commissioner of the branch who has called his interlocutor, the minister, to emphasize that they are not comfortable with what is happening.
"She explained her position and the commissioner reiterated the Commission's position and asked for more details," explain community sources.
"The commissioner reiterated that when a Member State reforms the judiciary, it must be done in consultation with all relevant actors, including the Venice Commission. The States must follow European standards to ensure that judicial independence is not compromised," he reiterates. today Brussels in a new message.
It is not normal for the Commission to make these comments of its own accord, even if the subject is hot.
They tend to react when there is insistence, but if they take the step of writing something or contacting the media, there is always intentionality.
It is true that in the EU there are many different systems for the election of the council that regulates judges, and that there are countries, such as Germany, in which the role of the executive or the legislature is much more direct.
But it is no less true that the European Union has not liked what comes from Madrid, neither the music nor the lyrics.
So they want more information, explanations, details.
The Government has caught this reaction with a changed foot.
They did not expect the Commission to get wet like this so soon, when everything is there or it was at such an early stage.
Moncloa and other ministries indicate that the problem is that "it had not been adequately explained" and that this will be done now.
But it does not seem a matter of communication, but of substance.
Madrid has promised to send more information and the Spanish Minister of Justice will speak with Reynders in person shortly to address the issue.
The commissioner, who is a former Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs and who in his previous position already had to deal with the Spanish authorities on the issue of Carles Puigdemont and the Euro-orders, belongs to the European liberal family, which also includes Ciudadanos.
And from the orange formation they have pressed a lot in recent days so that concerns about what they consider a drift if not equivalent to what has been seen in Poland and Hungary these years, at least in the same direction, reached their ears.
The Popular Party did something similar last week, with a visit by its leader, Pablo Casado, to Brussels, in which he met directly with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Both formations claim part of the "merit" of the pressure of the institutions, with which they explain in conversation with this newspaper the turn of Pedro Sánchez this Thursday.
From the Belgian department they insist that the Commission already said in a very complete report on September 30 that the reform of the CGPJ had to be resolved at once, after having been blocked for two years.
But now they reiterate that not in any way.
Messages from European judges' associations and, above all, from the Greco Group, have finished shaping the position of Brussels.
If in the past they had relied on reports from the Council of Europe and its appropriate body, the Venice Commission, now more.
The goal has to be the depoliticization of the judicial system, one way or another.
This is what they had been told indirectly and that is what they are reiterating directly.
Sources from the Ministry of Justice assure that all the requested information will be sent to Brussels.
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HispanidadFelipe VI exhibits neutrality in the face of political fracture
JusticeBrussels views with concern the relationship between the Government and the State Attorney General's Office
PoliticsThe government's assault on the Judiciary complicates EU funds for Spain
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