CATALONIA -- EC Presidency candidates asked about Catalan Sovereignty in debate - VilaWeb
EC Presidency candidates asked about Catalan Sovereignty in debate - VilaWeb:
EC Presidency candidates asked about Catalan Sovereignty in debate
Only Verhofstadt and Keller offer explicit support to Catalans' right to decide · Schulz doesn't dare even mention Catalonia · Tsipras proposes a federal solution and Juncker closes the door completely
The televised debate between the five candidates for the presidency
of the European Commission, broadcast throughout Europe last night,
included a question specifically about Catalonia and Scotland's right to
self-determination. The moderator, Italian journalist Monica Maggioni,
asked the candidates if, in the event Scotland and Catalonia become
independent, the new states would automatically become member states of
the EU or if they would be expelled. Only Guy Verhofstadt and Ska Keller
explicitly supported the Catalan right to decide. The Socialist
candidate, Martin Schulz, didn't dare even mention Catalonia in his
response. Alexis Tsipras proposed a federalist solution and Jean-Claude
Juncker closed the door completely. The question begins at 5:50 in the
following video. A transcript follows.
Question:
In Europe there some independence movements, I'm thinking of
Scotland, I'm thinking of Catalonia, and some others. If they become
independent, should they automatically get EU membership, according to
you?
Guy Verhofstadt, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party
In my opinion, and we are talking especially... I've come from
Barcelona, I was there yesterday. I think that the European Union should
not be involved in that. That's a question for Spain and the Catalans,
in my opinion. And certainly not interfering in a negative way, as we
have seen with Mr. Barroso and other members of the EP in the last
weeks. Let them decide: Spain and the Catalans. It's not a question for
the European Union to interfere in such a question. And I think it's
also necessary to take into account what people think, because we cannot
build up a European Union in which a force (?) of the citizens is not
being counted in such important questions. At any rate, we have to play a
positive role in the dialogue between Spain and the Catalans, not a
negative one as we have seen by this leader of the Commission, Mr.
Barroso, the last weeks and the last months.
Alexis Tsipras, Party of the European Left
[translated] The European Left respects the right of
self-determination of peoples. But conflicts between peoples do not lead
to positive results. We want to respect the right of the peoples to
decide their future in accordance with international law. Catalonia and
Scotland would have broader autonomy in the respective federal
communities.
Ska Keller, European Green Party
For me the right of people to decide about their future is very
important. So I think also the people in Scotland and in Catalonia
should have the right to decide about their future and about the future
of their state. If I was Commission President, then I would very much
welcome both of those [countries], if in case they would decide to
become independent, I would welcome them as well in the European Union.
Jean-Claude Juncker, European People's Party
[translated] It would be good for the EU to not intervene in the
debate. It is Spain and the UK's [respective] jurisdictions. I agree
with the principle that one must respect national constitutions. That
said, we should not get involved.
Martin Schulz, Party of European Socialists
We are not a federal state, the European Union is
not a federal state, we are a union of sovereign countries and there is
no blueprint for us because the countries decide on the basis of their
national constitutions differently. As colleague Keller mentioned, in
Scotland there will be a referendum in Autumn. In other countries, a
kind of referendum is not foreseen, therefore for the European Union
it's not possible to answer to the question in one way. If, for example,
Scotland were to vote for independence and sovereignty and become a
sovereign country, then we have a procedure to join the European Union.
But in other countries, this is completely different. So we what happens
in Great Britain, with the Scottish referendum, but this is not
possible to transfer to other countries. Therefore we have no blueprint
and we accept what happens in the frame of national constitutions.
Entire Debate
