Brussels urges to renew the CGPJ before reforming it in the umpteenth attempt of the PP to attack the Government in Europe

“We have recommended that Spain proceed with the renewal of the CGPJ and that it be a priority. We also recommend that once it occurs, a process be opened to adapt the appointment of judges”, Reynders explained about the demand of the European Commission for judges to choose their governing body to a greater extent, an extreme to which the PSOE refuse under the premise that in the current system the judicial career already makes a pre-selection before the representatives of popular sovereignty in Congress and the Senate vote on the final names. “We continue to appeal to the interested parties so that this recommendation materializes”, the commissioner added.

The Spanish right was clear that it wanted to paint a black picture of the democratic situation in Spain in the European Parliament, which has remained practically empty during the debate promoted by the PP in its quota and in which almost half of the participants have been Spanish people. “This debate must be held in the right place, the Spanish Parliament, not the European Parliament”, complained the Portuguese socialist Pedro Silva, who has assured that “it is nothing more than an attempt to use the Chamber to continue with the partisan fight.

“Spain is suffering from a worrying drift of democratic degradation, institutional deterioration and governmental irresponsibility caused by the latest decisions of the current Government,” said the head of the delegation, Dolors Montserrat, right at the beginning. “We cannot remain silent while this government markets Spain, making concessions to those who seek to destroy the country itself,” added the Conservative MEP.

The representatives of PP, Ciudadanos and Vox in the Eurochamber have brought up their criticism that the Government has appointed the former Minister of Justice Juan Carlos Campo and a former senior official from Moncloa, Laura Díez, as magistrates of the Constitutional Court. The Commissioner for Justice has not entered into the specific appointments and has simply limited himself to saying that they have been pending since July and that they are “important for the operation” of the system.

Brussels will analyze the embezzlement reform

Nor has it been criticized for the reductions in penalties for the ‘only yes is yes’ law, but it has pointed out that the European Commission will analyze the changes in the crime of embezzlement “to see if it is compatible with community law in as regards the financial interests of the EU”. The conclusions will form part of the report on the rule of law in Spain that will be published in July. Regarding the disappearance of sedition, he has indicated that “it is something that falls exclusively within the competence of the member states, with which they are free to amend the legislation as long as they respect their international and constitutional obligations.”

Reynders has alluded to the “advances” of Spain in some aspects with respect to the latest reports. He has mentioned, among others, the rules aimed at the efficiency of judicial processes and the digitization or the reform of that of official secrets, although he has assured that there is still work to be done.

The MEP for Ciudadanos Jordi Cañas has compared Pedro Sánchez with the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, before assuring that “Spain is not Pedro Sánchez nor its Government nor the PSOE nor its separatist and communist accomplices”, which together achieved a parliamentary majority in the last general elections.

The representative of Vox Jorge Buxadé has falsely accused the Government of making the legal modifications “fraudulently” so as not to have reports from bodies such as the CGPJ or the Fiscal Council in the process, which is what the laws promoted from the Council of Ministers, but not with the bills that are registered in Congress. “Harassment of judges and prosecutors has reached levels typical of Chavista regimes,” added his colleague from the far-right bench, Herman Tersch.

The groups that support the Government have come out in a storm against the PP and in defense of the actions of the coalition. “European democracy requires knowing how to lose by recognizing the result. The PP has not known how to lose”, said the socialist Juan Fernando López Aguilar. “Spain does not have a problem with the legal system, it has a problem with its opposition,” added his fellow ranks Iban García del Blanco.

“This debate is an instrumental debate of the PP that this Chamber uses to question the legitimacy of the coalition government in Spain, in the pure style of the extreme right in other parts of the world”, has made ugly the spokesperson for the IU, Sira Rego, who has reviewed the string of PP corruption cases, such as the illegal use of the police to spy on political opponents, before defending the coalition’s management on issues such as the Minimum Interprofessional Wage, labor reform or the law of the ‘only Yes is yes’.

María Eugenia Rodríguez Palop (Podemos) has referred to the PP as a “seditious party” which she has also accused of trying to spread the idea in Europe that the “Government is illegitimate”. Also the MEP of ICV (The Greens) Ernest Urtasun has blamed the corruption of the PP and the breach of the law by blocking the Judiciary. “This government is going to continue doing a good job in Europe and they will not be able to tarnish it. The presidency is going to be a success, in spite of you. They bark, then we ride ”, he finished off.