The delay in the full implementation of the amnesty law could entail an economic cost for Spain’s finances. This is maintained by Gonzalo Boye, Carles Puigdemont’s lawyer, and he states it in the complaint he has filed with the European Commission to challenge what he describes as an “improper obstructive ploy” by the Court of Auditors, with the aim of blocking judicial pardon for Puigdemont and other former high-ranking officials of the Generalitat, including former president Artur Mas, who were indicted for the expenses of the procés. The “deliberate non-compliance” with a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union by a jurisdictional body of a Member State “affects the value of the Rule of Law on which the Union is founded,” states the document presented by the lawyer, and warns that he has the option to claim compensation for damages. He bases the claim on “the patrimonial responsibility of the State” towards individuals “for violations of Union Law attributable to its jurisdictional bodies.”
Puigdemont has reacted on social media with a statement indicating that “the idea of Europe repulses Spanish nationalism” and accuses the Court of Auditors of “consciously disobeying.” A spokesperson for the European Commission merely confirmed to this newspaper on Wednesday the receipt of the complaint from the Catalan pro-independence politicians. As he recalled, the complaint will follow the “usual procedure” in these cases: claims “are examined, registered, and evaluated before a decision is made,” for which no timetable has been defined at least for the moment, although the maximum time set for making a decision is “one year from the registration” of the complaint, according to internal rules
The CJEU, a court based in Luxembourg, ruled last Thursday that the amnesty law, approved by the Congress of Deputies in May 2024, is in line with community law because it neither clashes with the financial interests of the European Union nor is it contrary to the directive on terrorism. The decision seemed to mark a turning point in the long legal debate generated by the amnesty and, on paper, paves the way for the return of Puigdemont, as well as former ministers Toni Comín and Lluís Puig, and the archiving of the case opened in the Court of Auditors against 33 former Generalitat officials for an expenditure of almost 4 million euros related to the procés and with the attempted independence referendum of October 1, 2017.
However, this court decided to activate a new phase of allegations, which continues to delay the dismissal of the case. “Basically, this body to which we are addressing ourselves has declared itself in open rebellion against the Court of Justice of the European Union,” states the complaint filed by Gonzalo Boye, representing the interests of Puigdemont, Comín, and Puig.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested that the law endorsed by Luxembourg be applied and points out the impropriety of analyzing the use of European funds in the procés after the community judges ruled it out. Despite this, Puigdemont’s lawyer’s claim points to the State and holds it responsible for the damages and losses incurred by delaying, after the European ruling, the full effects of the amnesty. Boye confirms that there is legal basis to activate a claim for compensation, but does not specify what amount would be appropriate to claim.
In the complaint filed with the European Commission, Puigdemont’s legal representation does state that interim measures worth 9.5 million euros still weigh on the group investigated by the Court of Auditors. In this regard, the document requests the Commission to send “the corresponding urgent letter of formal notice to the Kingdom of Spain” so that it adopts the necessary measures to rectify the “non-compliance” with the amnesty law.
According to the steps defined by Brussels itself, it would still be in the first, very preliminary, stage of “reception and review.” In this stage, after receiving the complaint, the Commission must check if it “meets the criteria to be processed as such.” Only if it accepts it does the process continue, although the complaint may also be dismissed, in which case the European Executive must respond to the complainant explaining the reason for the rejection, for example, if it considers itself not competent to pursue the matter. However, the Commission emphasizes, there is also an exception here: “If your letter is insulting or meaningless and does not require a substantive response, the Commission has the right not to reply,” warns Brussels.
The European Executive has also stressed that it is aware of last week’s CJEU ruling, which broadly endorsed the amnesty law by considering that it did not clash with European law. Hence, Brussels now emphasizes, “it is up to the referring courts to apply the judgments of the Court of Justice.”
Read more The Government proposes Yolanda Díaz as Director-General of the ILO, the UN body dedicated to labor
