Anti-separatist Spanish MEPs dominate liberty committee

"The rule of law in Spain, which is a constitutional democracy, means that nobody is allowed to break the rule of law and get away with it. Nobody," he told this website on Wednesday night (10 July), moments after he took the Libe chair.

Lopez Aguilar's view stands in sharp contrast to the Catalan foreign ministry, which says the issue must be dealt with at the European level.

But Lopez Aguilar disagrees.

"It is a matter of rule of law and so I only hope that it won't be a problem in this European Parliament," he said.

He also said the decision was not up to him when asked if several freshly-elected MEPs from Catalonia, currently barred from entering the European Parliament, should be able to take their seats in the plenary.

"It will be an independent judicial body to decide," he said.

Lopez Aguilar's tough views on Catalonia are not alone.

The first-vice chair of the committee is Spanish liberal MEP from Renew Europe, Maite Pagazaurtundua.

Pagazaurtundua has in the past spoken out against Catalonia and accused Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont of spreading lies and propaganda.

Three Catalan MEPs in limbo

It means the anti-separatist stand of the Spanish dominated Libe committee leadership could pose a major headache for Puigdemont and his supporters should the issue ever make it to the European Parliament.

The Libe committee is among the most active and powerful in the assembly, drawing reports and shaping positions of the entire European Parliament on politically charged issues ranging from asylum and immigration to civil liberties in member states.

Lopez Aguilar is mandated to lead it up until January 2022.

Meanwhile, Puigdemont, the former president of the Government of Catalonia and former councillor Toni Comin, are both living in self-imposed exile Belgium out of fear of being jailed in Spain for having declared a unilateral independence of Catalonia.

A third MEP, Oriol Junqueras, the former vice president of the Generalitat, is in detention awaiting trial over his role in organising the referendum for independence in October 2017.

All are required to swear an allegiance to the Spanish constitution as part of an national electoral procedure to get the official accreditation to enter the European Parliament.

Earlier this month, the EU court had also complicated their efforts after dismissing a request for them to take a seat in the assembly.

The issue has sparked demonstrations.

Some 4,000 people waving Catalan flags showed up outside the inaugural opening of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.