Also on Tuesday, the Catalan Government's Spokesperson and Minister
for the Presidency, Francesc Homs, responded to Ulzurrun's "legitimate
comments" and emphasised that the Commission will only issue "an
official answer" on the basis of a precise scenario. He stated that
Ulzurrun's words are not the Commission's definitive decision on
Catalonia and he argued that such a decision would come after political
and economic negotiations. On top of this, he said he was surprised that
the Commission states on the one hand it does not want to interfere in
internal matters of Member States and issue official opinions on this
matter, but on the other hand it emphasises the general principle of
being considered a third country, which clearly interferes in the
debate. Homs was critical of the Commission’s refusal to provide further
analyses regarding Catalonia's and Scotland's cases, which could shed
light on the possible scenarios. In fact, the Commission’s lack of
clarity proves that the matter is complex and not a black and white one,
according to Homs. The fear of losing EU membership has become the main
argument for those opposing independence.
The Chairman of European Liberals backs Catalonia to stay within the EU
On the same day, the Chairman of the Alliance of European Liberals
(ALDE), Graham Watson, who is Member of the European Parliament for
Southwest-England, was interviewed by the Catalan public radio station
'Catalunya Radio'. Watson stated that a territory that is already part
of the EU cannot be kicked out, in his opinion. Watson stated that it is
likely that in the very first moment, Catalonia would be out of the EU
but that it would re-join the Union very soon. Meanwhile, transition
measures could be in place. In addition, the UK MEP said he was
"disappointed" by the Spanish Government's "lack of understanding"
toward "Catalonia's singularity", vetoing the organisation of a
referendum. He urged the Spanish Prime Minister to find a way to allow
Catalans to hold a self-determination vote, even if it means "reforming
the Constitution.
The Catalan Government's Advisory Council Report
A Spokesperson for the European Commission was asked on Tuesday about
the report issued on Monday by the Catalan Government's Advisory
Council for National Transition, which stated that an independent
Catalonia would not be automatically excluded from the EU and that its
EU status will have to be negotiated. The report was drafted by several
university chairs in Constitutional Law, Economics and Political
Science. They emphasise that EU Treaties did not include any provision
regarding the secession of a Member State, and therefore Treaties have
to be interpreted, weighting different Articles as well as the political
and economic interests. In this sense, they analysed four different
scenarios, including total exclusion, and they reached the conclusion
that the most likely scenario would be setting up transition measures
guaranteeing the continuity of EU Law, Schengen and the Euro, while the
definitive EU membership was being negotiated. The Catalan report said
that EU Treaties foresaw neither an "automatic expulsion", nor "an
automatic admission".
The European Commission repeated its mantra
On Tuesday, in the midst of the Ukraine crisis, the European
Commission was only asked a single question during the daily Midday
briefing. This lonely question was about Catalonia’s independence. A
Spanish journalist asked the EC Spokesperson Alejandro Ulzurrun – also
from Spain – about the Catalan Government's Advisory Council's report.
Ulzurrun acknowledged that he only knew the report from the press. At
the beginning he stated that he had "nothing to comment". Then, the
journalist asked him "to repeat" the Commission's opinion "on the
independence of a part of a Member State". Ulzurrun answered that the
Commission's opinion "is well known" and that they have been repeating
it for "the last months and even years" and "it hasn't changed" so they
"don't have anything new to say in that respect". Then, the Spanish
journalist asked the European Commission for a third time to recall its
official stance "for the sake of clarity" since “there is a report
saying that Catalonia would stay within the EU”. Then the EC
Spokesperson stated that firstly the Commission would not consider
constitutional arrangements of Member States and that secondly they will
only give an analysis "upon the request of a Member State" and "on the
basis of a detailed scenario". However, he also added a third part to
his answer. He stated that "if a part territory of a Member State
secedes", "EU Treaties no longer apply from the day of its independence
as "it becomes a third country".
This is a general principle, but the Commission never stated that it
would apply to Scotland or Catalonia, nor what would happen with the UK
or Spain. In fact, many Spanish politicians from the governing People's
Party have been repeating that if Catalonia seceded, Spain would no
longer exist as such. Therefore, it is not clear what would happen with
Spain. In addition, the Commission has never talked about excluding
Catalonia and has never commented on whether transition measures could
be negotiated. On top of this, when its President, Jose Manuel Durao
Barroso, stated that Scotland would be kicked out from the EU, the
Commission's Spokesperson Service corrected his words the next day.
It is not clear that Catalan citizens can be expelled; nor that Catalonia can be automatically kicked out
Many EU officials, Members of the European Parliament and experts on
EU affairs have emphasised that EU Treaties are not clear on what to do
in the event of Catalonia's secession and they insist it would be absurd
to kick out a territory that already forms part of the Union, together
with 7.5 million EU citizens. However, Durao Barroso stated months ago
that EU citizenship is "accessory", going against the last two decades
of EU integration. According to him, this is because people are EU
citizens because they are nationals from a Member State, and therefore
if Catalans are no longer part of Spain, they would no longer be EU
citizens. However, the whole idea of citizenship is that it cannot be
taken away and it comes with fundamental rights associated.
Therefore, many legal experts insist that Catalans would retain their
Spanish nationality even if Catalonia became independent, because they
would have to explicitly give it up in order to lose it. This would be
even clearer if Spain did not recognise an independent Catalonia, since a
Catalan state would not exist for the Spanish Government and therefore
the Catalan territory and citizens would continue to be under its rule,
in Madrid's perspective. If Madrid recognised an independent Catalonia,
the Spanish Government might not accept dual nationality, but even in
this case Catalans would still have to choose to give up their Spanish
nationality. Therefore, since many Catalans would not give up their
Spanish nationality, many of them would still be EU citizens.
Several EU Treaty Articles back Catalonia's continuity within the EU
In addition, experts question the idea that those who gave away their
Spanish nationality for a Catalan one would lose their EU citizenship.
EU institutions are obliged by the Treaties "to promote peace, its
values and the well-being of its peoples" (Article 3) Furthermore, "the
Union shall offer its citizens an area of freedom, security and justice
without internal frontiers in which the free movement of persons is
ensured", which would have to be guaranteed for Spanish nationals living
in Catalonia. Additionally, Article 2 states that "pluralism,
non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between
women and men prevail" in the EU and therefore EU institutions need to
act according to those principles, which are "human dignity, freedom,
democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights,
including the rights of persons belonging to minorities". On top of
this, the EU "shall work for the sustainable development of Europe" and
"shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity, and shall
ensure that Europe’s cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced"
(Article 3).
Therefore since the EU's primary mission is to promote democracy,
peace, prosperity and the well-being of its citizens, it seems
unreasonable that 7.5 million Catalans wouldbe expelled from the EU
because they have peacefully and democratically decided to split from
Spain. In addition, following the EU values and considering the will to
stay within the EU expressed by Catalans as well as the economic and
social damage caused by expulsion, the measure would ago against the
EU's obligation "to offer its citizens an area of freedom [...] without
internal frontiers in which the free movement of persons is ensured" and
again gurantee "the well being of its citizens". In addition, the EU is
bound to act under "the principle of proportionality" (Article 5) and
to work for "stability"; the expulsion would cause an economic storm in
Catalonia, Spain and the entire EU.
Therefore it does not seem that an automatic exclusion of Catalonia
and 7.5 million Catalans is in line with those objectives. On top of
this, the voluntary withdrawal of a Member State is included in the
Treaties (Article 50), but the process comes with a negotiation process
that will explicitly decide how the country will relate to the EU in the
future on the basis of "loyal cooperation". This Article explicitly
applies to a Member State and not to a part of it, but it is the Article
that comes closest to ruling on the expulsion of a territory from the
Union. In addition, when Greenland quit the EU, there were long
negotiations about how to do it and at the time Article 50 was not
existing. Therefore if it were to be used for the Catalan case, a
negotiation should be carried out to decide on the future relationship
with the EU, which can sign bilateral agreements in order to keep the
free circulation of people, goods, services and capital, and the Euro as
Catalonia's currency, among many other aspects.
