European Court dismisses Puigdemont's MEP status appeal and backs EU Parliament decision

The Court of Justice of the European Parliament has rejected the appeal of pro-independence politicians Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín against the decision of the European Parliament not to allow them to take office as MEPs after the 2019 EU elections.

At that time, the pro-independence leaders were living in exile in Brussels and there was an arrest warrant out for them for organizing the 2017 independence referendum.

After being elected in the 2019 EU elections, they both refused to take a constitutional oath as required by the Spanish authorities. For this reason, the Spanish authorities did not include either of them in the list of elected MEPs sent to the European Parliament.

The Court now upholds the decision of the European Parliament not to allow them to take office because the then President of the Parliament, Antonio Tajani, "could not depart" from the list of elected members sent to him by the Spanish authorities. 

"The President of the Parliament has no power to review the accuracy of that list, as otherwise the division of powers between the European Union and the Member States would be disregarded," the Court said. 

The Court encourages Puigdemont and Comín to take legal action against the Spanish authorities, since they have exclusive jurisdiction over the list of MEPs. 

However, the ruling does not address the root of the problem: whether the obligation to take a constitutional oath is compatible with EU law.

"We will continue to fight and persist on all fronts to give voice and vote to what the ballots say," said Junts general secretary Jordi Turull in a post on X.

Meanwhile, People's Party MEP Dolors Montserrat welcomed the news as "neither immunity nor impunity to those who flee justice and do not obey the Spanish Constitution," she wrote on the same social media.

The court's decision "sets a hard stance against those who escaped and it is a good result for the rule of law," she added.

Comín's current MEP seat

Today's ruling is key to Toni Comín's future in the EU. In this year's EU elections, Comín again won a seat but did not take the constitutional oath. 

As in 2019, the current President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, refused to allow Comín to take the seat.

The reasons given by Metsola are very similar to those given by Tajani in 2019, so today's decision will be crucial for Comín's future as an MEP.

After Thursday's ruling, the EU parliament said that the judicial team is "analyzing" the decision.

Meanwhile, Comín has already announced he will request the Spanish Supreme Court to file a series of "prejudicial questions" to Luxembourg to determine whether or not the decision to force him to swear the Spanish Constitution contradicts European law.

Junts' politicians consider they are now in an "indefensible situation" and that the EU justice has "opened the door" to let other EU Member States "follow Spain and come up with incompatible requirements with the European rule of law to change electoral results," the statement reads.

What happened?

In the 2019 European elections, pro-independence Junts won in Catalonia. Puigdemont and Comín were elected but could not take office because they had not taken the constitutional oath.

At the time, both pro-independence leaders were living in exile in Brussels, and taking the constitutional oath meant traveling to Madrid, with an arrest warrant in place. 

Since neither of them did so, the then president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, did not recognize them as MEPs.

However, Puigdemont and Comín obtained their seats in December 2019, after another case involving another pro-independence leader, Oriol Junqueras, ruled that the status of MEP was only obtained through votes and not by taking the constitutional oath. 

Despite taking office, both pro-independence leaders maintained their legal action against Tajani.