Creating a Strategic Framework for Addressing the Conflict between
Sovereignty and Self
-
Determination: Earned Sovereignty
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No Agreed Upon Approach to Resolving Sovereignty-
Based Conflicts
Once the Scottish referendum was put to rest
, the EU immediately faced another self determination crisis
this time in Catalonia. On November 9, 2014, almost 2 million Catalonian voters turned out to participate in a non binding referendum for independence. Eighty percent of those who
voted favored independence from Spain.
The referendum was approved by the Catalonian Parliament
on September 27, 2014, and was originally slated to be a binding vote similar to the one held in Scotland.
In the run up to the referendum, Catalonian regional Premier
Atur Mas set forth a legal basis for a binding referendum.
The Spanish Prime Minister, Rajoy, however, vowed to use the Spanish courts to block what he considered an unconstitutional vote.
Within two days of the announcement of the referendum
date, the Spanish government filed a request for the Constitutional Court to declare the referendum illegal
Interestingly, despite the potentially destabilizing impact of this ongoing dispute within Spain, the
domestic legal debate may be largely irrelevant to
the EU. If Catalonians eventually choose
independence, they will seek international recognition as an independent state based on the will of the
people, not on provisions of the Spanish constitution.
As the International Court of Justice (ICJ) noted when reviewing the legality of Kosovo’s declaration of independence, there is no international legal bar against a sub-state entity declaring independence.
Without a coherent and cohesive approach to these movements, the EU has placed itself in an impossible and precarious position. If the EU were to consider recognizing Catalonia, this action could
encourage further referenda in Belgium, Cyprus, Slovakia, Romania, and possibly Italy,which are all grappling with their own
self-determination movements,raising opposition from these members.
However, if the EU denies recognition to Catalonia, this may generate a frozen economic conflict in the core of Europe that would drain political capital and economic resources from an economically fragile Spain. This frozen economic conflict will also create a “state,” with the Euro as its currency and seven million Catalonians that could retain their EU citizenship while living outside the EU.
Furthermore, in many European states, non-recognition would be perceived as anti-democratic. Such a move would be
extremely difficult to justify, given that nearly three-dozen states have achieved recognition by EU member states in the past twenty-five years
<<<http://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA14/20160315/104672/HHRG-114-FA14-Wstate-WilliamsP-20160315.pdf
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Subcommittee Hearing: U.S. Policy Toward National Self-Determination Movements
Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats | 2200 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
| Mar 15, 2016 2:30pm to 5:30pm
| Mar 15, 2016 2:30pm to 5:30pm
