Reynders assures that PP and PSOE are "very close" to an agreement on the CGPJ and the only thing missing is the signal of "when"

Efe Brussels

Brussels

Updated Friday, April 5, 2024-12:26

The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, stated this Friday that the PSOE and the PP are "very close" to an agreement on the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), in whose negotiations he is mediating, and that now all that is left is the political "signal" to decide "when to do it."

"We are really very, very close to an agreement on the renewal of the Council on justice, but also on a series of necessary reforms in the Spanish judicial system. Now it is a question of political will to know when we want to do it," Reynders told a small group of media, including Efe.

In this sense, he stated that "as soon as the political signal arrives, Brussels will return to "the path of a three-way discussion."

For this path to become a reality, Reynders estimated that "it is also useful for the two political parties to talk to each other" and expressed his hope that "this is what is done in Madrid."

The commissioner once again insisted that he remains "fully available" to continue with his mediation until next April 25, when he begins his unpaid leave to begin his campaign for the general secretary of the Council of Europe, which will be decided in June, and This has been communicated again "to both parties in recent weeks."

In any case, he continued, the European Commission "will continue to be available if the parties have to wait a while."

"Obviously, the two political parties need to agree so that we can move forward," reasoned the Belgian liberal, who recalled the three meetings held previously in which he has mediated and the one he was willing to hold in Madrid last Easter, but he got frustrated.

"You know that I held meetings in Brussels, I also held meetings in Strasbourg. I was fully available to hold a meeting in Madrid if necessary. But for that the signal must come from both political parties," he stressed.

Reynders made these statements at the end of his participation in a press conference in Brussels in which the police agency Europol presented the first mapping of the most dangerous criminal networks in the European Union, when asked about the information published today that ensures that the PP wants to postpone the negotiations until after the European elections.

Reynders recalled that the recommendation of the European Commission for two years in its reports on the rule of law in Spain is that the CGPJ be renewed "urgently" "and then begin the reform."

For this reason, he said, "I wanted to lead this dialogue," and expressed his hope that "at some point we can find a political agreement to carry out these two operations."

That, he stressed, is the "very clear" position of the European Commission, it is what Brussels wants to "implement" and "what both parties are committed to discussing with us." "I think we have made enormous progress. Now we need political will to succeed," she insisted.

While the PSOE insists on agreeing to the renewal of the members of the CGPJ before undertaking the reform of the appointment process, the PP maintains that both must happen in parallel.

"It is necessary that at a given moment there is political will to reach an agreement between the parties. And that is a dialogue that can only occur between the main Spanish political groups. What we are doing is helping, guaranteeing that the recommendation of the report on the rule of law can come into force," he stressed.

Asked about the skepticism shown by the president of the CGPJ, Vicente Guilarte, the day before about the possibility of finding a political solution and betting on other formulas, Reynders responded: "If there are other ideas I am always willing to receive them, but first we must apply the Spanish legislation".