Notícies Dijous 15.05.2014 11:04

What do the Commission Presidency candidates think about Catalonia's right to decide?

An overview of comments made by Juncker, Schulz, Verhofstadt, Keller and Tsipras

The European Parliament will elect the new president of the European Commission on July 16 in Strasbourg. The winner will have to receive one more than half of the 751 Members of the European Parliament that will be elected on May 25. There are five candidates: Jean-Claude Juncker (European People's Party), Martin Schulz (Party of European Socialists), Guy Verhofstadt, (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party), Ska Keller (European Green Party), and Alexis Tsipras (Party of the European Left). Practically all of the candidates have made comments in one moment or other about the Catalan sovereignty process, with more or less defined positions. We'll give you an overview.

Jean-Claude Juncker, European People's Party

Juncker is the candidate to preside the European Commission for the European People's Party—of which Catalonia's Unió Democràtica de Catalunya, part of the ruling CiU coalition, is a member. He says he shares Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy's position "100%" on the continuity of an independent Catalonia within the European Union. Juncker told ABC, "Those who believe that Europe would accept an independent Catalonia, are deeply wrong." "I completely agree with the opinion expressed by the president of the Spanish government, the Spanish Constitutional Court, and the Spanish Parliament, by the president of the Council of Europe, and by the president of the European Commission," he said.

Martin Schulz, Party of European Socialists

The Socialist candidate has never defended the right to decide of the Catalan people. While president of the European Parliament, in a visit last fall to Barcelona, he spoke about the sovereignty process, without being very explicit. He said that he would rather not respond to questions about the conflict with Spain, with the excuse that he didn't have any solutions to offer for the "problem": "There are moments when politicians have to admit that they don't have the answer," he said. And he insisted that a response to the situation must be looked for and found "within the country". At the same time, he admitted that he feels pressured and called upon constantly to voice his opinion by Catalans and Spaniards alike.

Guy Verhofstadt, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party

The candidate for the European liberals has not yet taken a position with respect to the Catalans' right to decide. Nevertheless, the European Liberal Party, and the Liberal International have repeatedly defended the Catalan referendum. Verhofstadt said yesterday in Barcelona that it was necessary to "keep in mind the opinion expressed by the Catalan people in one way or another". He rejected the idea that the EU should intervene in the Catalan case and criticized recent declarations made by Jean-Claude Juncker and José Manuel Durão Barroso, but he took advantage of the opportunity to demand dialogue between the Spanish and Catalan governments. In contrast, Graham Watson, president of the European Liberals, would see no problem with "an independent Catalonia within the European Union" and for that reason said he didn't understand why Madrid was being so inflexible, having rejected the petition to hold a referendum.

Ska Keller, European Green Party

The Green candidate to preside the European Commission, Ska Keller from Germany, specifically mentioned the November 9th Catalan referendum in a recent visit to Catalonia. She expressed her desire that if Catalonia becomes a state, that it form part of the European Union. In addition, she said that if she were chosen president of the EC, "she would ask the Spanish State to allow the people of Catalonia to exercise their right to decide" a debate that she considers very important. "If the Catalans want to vote, they should be able to do so," Keller said.

Alexis Tsipras, Party of the European Left

Alexis Tsipras has not made any declarations about the Catalan sovereignty process recently. But he did talk about it in November, 2012, during the Catalan Parliamentary elections campaign, in an event with ICV-EUiA. In the press conference preceding the event, he explicitly supported the right to decide. He was asked: "In the event that the Catalan parties who are favorable to the referendum win a majority in the elections, who would you support: the Catalan institutions or the Spanish power structure that wishes to block the referendum?" And Tsipras’ response was: "We will respect the decision made by the people of Catalonia."