Catalan president 'convinced' Catalonia will hold independence referendum

Catalan president Pere Aragonès told a conference on self-determination at the European Parliament that Catalonia will hold an independence referendum. 

Aragonès, on an official trip to Brussels, said he was "convinced" the amnesty law would be approved after Catalan pro-independence Junts voted against it in the Spanish Congress on Tuesday. 

The Catalan president also called for "common rules" in the European Union to ensure that nations can become new members. 

Also present at the conference was the President of the Basque Government, Iñigo Urkullu, who, referring to self-determination, said: "The EU must allow ways of dialogue and solutions; it cannot turn its back on reality and justify that it is a matter for each member state."