The left-wing French MEP Manon Aubry has called on the president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, to accept the parliamentary status of the elected Catalan MEPs Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín.

In a message on Twitter, the representative of the La France Insoumise group called on Europe's only directly elected institution to "work democratically" and "defend its members against political repression."

Les catalans @KRLS Puigdemont et @toni_comin, élus par les citoyens, ont le droit de siéger au Parlement européen ! M. Sassoli, vous devez permettre au Parlement de fonctionner démocratiquement en défendant ses membres contre les procès politiques. #Cataluña #TsunamicDemocratic https://t.co/rREG2XgGzY — Manon Aubry (@ManonAubryFr) November 21, 2019

Translation:

"Catalans @KRLS Puigdemont and @toni_comin, elected by the citizens, have the right to sit in the European Parliament! Mr Sassoli, you must allow Parliament to function democratically by defending its members against political trials." — Manon Aubry

David Sassoli, president of the European chamber since July this year, has stated that he is "prepared to review" his opinion on the seats of Carles Puigdemont, Oriol Junqueras and Toni Comín in the European Parliament "if necessary." Sassoli promised that the Parliament "will comply with the law" if the EU Court of Justice follows the advice of one of its Advocates General and rules in favour of Oriol Junqueras's claim that MEPs' mandates begin when official election results are proclaimed.

Puigdemont, Junqueras and Comín, all three of them Catalan pro-independence politicians, were elected to the European Parliament by voters in the elections on March 26th this year, but have been unable to take office due to their subsequent failure to carry out administrative requirements demanded by the Spanish authorities. Spain then removed the 3 politicians' names from the list of its elected representatives in the European chamber and, till now, the European Parliament has accepted Spain's decision.