Brussels asks Sánchez for "real reforms" so that "the majority of judges are elected by their peers"

The European Commission wants the renewal of the CGPJ and wants it once and for all.

“I would like to see results now,” said Vice President

who since 2020 has insisted on the Spanish Executive to follow European standards, the recommendations of the

and the

and the practice that

strongly recommends: leaving that the judges be the ones who choose the majority of their peers for the control bodies.

As they reiterate in the community capital: “The renovation must be completed with an agreement between political forces.

Real reforms are needed so that most judges are elected by their peers.

In April of last year, after a very tense tug of war and with the Commission willing to go to

the then Minister of Justice, Juan Carlos Campo, folded and promised that the PSOE and United We Can would not carry out the reform that had triggered the alarms in Brussels, but since then the impasse continues, so the community institutions maintain the pressure, the insistence and emphasize that they will neither forget nor give in.

For almost two years now, the reform of the General Council of the Judiciary has been one of the few issues in which the differences between

and Brussels are so obvious, and so great, that the institutions use all the instruments at their disposal to put pressure on an Executive with whom he maintains very good relations.

Not only the usual mechanisms of contact and pressure, but leaks and more or less veiled threats.

Pedro Sánchez was about to carry out a reform to further politicize the Thursday election and the Commission's reaction was from less to more.

The protests were immediate, complaints, "great concern", but, faced with the reluctance, the institution raised its tone, multiplied the reports and launched into open reproaches to ministers when the president was in the city and culminated in the threat of starting to make hateful comparisons with

and

and end up in the

Until Moncloa backed down.

Jourova congratulated herself this Tuesday again for that victory.

This Tuesday, the vice president, responsible for Values ​​and the Rule of Law (and for Justice in the previous legislature), traveled to Spain to meet with those responsible for the Government and the Judiciary, within the framework of the exam that each Brussels course applies to calibrate on the democratic health of the member states.

The Report was an idea that Ursula Von der Leyen's team pulled out of the sleeve to get the colors precisely from

and

, but hiding.

They wanted to list the violations of the two most problematic partners, but to dilute the ridicule they decided that the problems of the 27 members would be analyzed.

And they discovered that it was a good way to address recurring deficiencies, such as the Spanish one.

They are not only asking the Government to make a decision on the composition of the CGPJ, the same request "we make to the opposition: go back to the table and decide on the names," Justice Commissioner

explained to this newspaper.

depoliticize justice

Their report, the third, will be published in July, but the bulk of its content is no surprise because they have spent three years in a row insisting on depoliticizing Justice, completing the renewal of the CGPJ and addressing the crisis of confidence generated by decisions such as allowing that the Government elect the State Attorney General, being able to place even a former minister.

The general lines will maintain that Spain is a State of Law, that there are no major systemic concerns, that we are in line with the rest of the European partners and that we must improve specific aspects, for which we now have community funds.

But the complaints will be clear, specific and known.

Jourova, who has met with ministers, associations of judges and prosecutors or with the Ombudsman, does not want any more delays.

During the pandemic, the meetings were by videoconference, but now they are done in person again.

Understanding the procedure of the Commission requires some practice.

There are times when the words of a spokesman or a marshal are a mere flat explanation and there are times when they hide a torpedo.

There are times, 2021, when a comment that seems innocent was a clear threat, and others when a phrase, even if it sounds aggressive, is a mere response.

On her journey, Jourova has not brought threats, but she has brought pressure.

She does not understand that the Government and the opposition are not capable of agreeing.

He wants a reform along the lines pointed out, giving more power to the judges to elect their bodies, but for now they would settle for renewal, since they understand that the national political moment is always complicated.

The Vice President, in response to very specific questions at a breakfast, reiterated what they have said in the past: if Spain changed the system for electing members to go towards one where the current political majority could elect the majority of the members, that could be subject to an infringement procedure.

But she did not say, and her team mobilized all her resources yesterday to avoid confusion, that if Spain does not change the current system, an infringement procedure will be opened.

urge, urge,

they encourage and encourage, but if they delay, the most there will be will be negative reports and complaints.

Pressure, not punishment.

The danger, that reform that was contemplated, seems averted.

Brussels then warned Spain "not to continue on that negative path."

Moncloa did not return to shuffle anything contrary to the standards, but he dawdles.

And that is why in the next report there will be a reminder and another campaign of bad press.

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