Tuesday

5th Dec 2023

Ombudsman raps EU institutions on Catalonia

  • EU treaties 'do not foresee any procedure for a potential secession of part of the territory of a member state,' the Ombudsman said (Photo: Helena Spongenberg)

The EU has no procedure for how to deal with a region breaking away from a member state, the EU Ombudsman has said, despite the European Commission usually stating that a breakaway region would have to apply for EU membership.

While hopes of independence have been raised in Catalonia and Scotland over the last few years, with some nationalists eager to leave Spain and the United Kingdom respectively, most still want to stay within the European Union.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

When asked about what will happen if a region wants to secede from a member state, the European Commission has, on several occasions, referred to an answer given by former Commission president Romano Prodi in 2004, and the answer appears to have become the Commission line.

"If a part of a member state ceases to be a part of that state, it will become a third country and may apply to become a member of the EU," Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas reiterated on 17 September.

However, last week, in a letter to five Catalan MEPs, which has been seen by EUobserver, the Ombudsman states that "the treaties of the European Union do not foresee any procedure for a potential secession of part of the territory of a member state."

'Not the official position'

"Therefore, any declaration made by members of the EU institutions in relation to the consequences of a potential declaration of independence by Catalonia would be reflecting their personal view and not the official position of the institution," the letter says.

"The Ombudsman did not issue an opinion about what the EU institutions have been officially saying to date on this matter", the Ombudsman office clarified Monday (19 October) in an email to this website.

"We referred to a complaint the Ombudsman had received about verbal statements made by an EU official," the office wrote.

The European Commission did not want to comment on a letter that was not addressed to it.

The MEPs, Ramon Tremosa, Francesc Gambus, Ernest Maragall, Josep-Maria Terricabras and Ernest Urtasun, requested earlier this month a meeting with the European Ombudsman to ask, among other things, about an answer given by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, which appeared on the Parliament website in two different versions.

The MEPs, all from Catalonia, belong to the center-right EPP, the liberal ALDE and the Greens/European Free Alliance (autonomists and separatists) groups in the European Parliament.

"We would like to personally express our concern about the recent distortion of a written answer by the European Commission about Catalonia," the MEP's letter said. "Whether we are faced with a case of human error or we are facing another type of interference at the highest level, this fact would be of the greatest concern for all European citizens."

In September, ahead of a regional election in Catalonia, a Spanish MEP had asked Juncker whether or not the Commission would accept a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain despite it being against the Spanish Constitution.

The written answer by Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker was published on the European Parliament website in English and in Spanish.

The English version of Juncker's reply said that it was not for the Commission to enter into internal constitutional affairs of member states, while the Spanish version had an extra 9-line paragraph, saying that a regional parliament cannot decide on the fate of its territory.

The Commission later stated that the English version is the official one and that the extra paragraph in the Spanish version was a "clerical error".

Maladministration

Aidan O'Sullivan, the head of cabinet of European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly, wrote in the email to the five Catalan MEPs that "there would most likely not be sufficient grounds to open an inquiry into such a complaint."

He argued that exactly because "the treaties of the European Union do not foresee any procedure for a potential secession of part of the territory of a member state,… any declaration made by members of the EU institutions in relation to the consequences of a potential declaration of independence by Catalonia would be reflecting their personal view and not the official position of the institution."

The five MEPs have, in a new letter, insisted for a meeting with O'Reilly to look further into the case.

"Our complaint is not directed at the content of the answers but related to a clear maladministration in the activities of the European Commission when providing two different answers to a single question."

Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva refused to comment on Tuesday about "letters that are not addressed to ourselves".

Regarding Juncker's letter, she said that the Commission has "never had the habit of interfering in national constitutional processes or national elections". "We regard the matter as closed," she said at the Commission's daily press briefing.

This article was updated on 20 October at 15.30 to take into account the commission's reaction

Catalonia separatists on EU charm offensive

Catalan authorities are trying to garner support from EU states and institutions, after nationalists swept to election victory on promise to hold independence referendum.

Juncker's answer on Catalonia grew in translation

The European Commission is investigating a translation incident, which saw the Spanish version of an English response from Jean-Claude Juncker grow by a 9-line paragraph, stating that a regional parliament cannot decide on the fate of its territory.

Opinion

Can Green Deal survive the 2024 European election?

Six months ahead of the EU elections, knocking an 'elitist' climate agenda is looking like a vote-winner to some. Saving the Green Deal and the EU's climate ambitions starts with listening to Europeans who are struggling to make ends meet.

Latest News

  1. EU nears deal to fingerprint six year-old asylum seekers
  2. Orbán's Ukraine-veto threat escalates ahead of EU summit
  3. Can Green Deal survive the 2024 European election?
  4. Protecting workers' rights throughout the AI revolution
  5. Russia, the West, and the geopolitical 'touch-move rule'
  6. Afghanistan is a 'forever emergency,' says UN head
  7. EU public procurement reform 'ineffective', find auditors
  8. COP28 warned over-relying on carbon capture costs €27 trillion

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us