The interim situation of the General Council of the Judiciary "continues to be a cause for concern" and focuses the chapter dedicated to Spain within the report on the rule of law in the European Union adopted this morning by the European Commission. “We recommend that Spain proceed with the renewal of the Judicial Council as a priority and begin, immediately after its renewal, the process to adapt the appointment of the judges that make it up, taking into account European standards,” the community executive requests.
The document points to progress compared to last year in the quality of the judicial system, such as measures to facilitate access to justice for people with disabilities, the reform of the criminal code, the law on the right to a fair defense or digitalization. For the first time since three years ago the European Commission began the exercise of supervising the democratic health of the member countries of the Union, it includes specific recommendations, although not binding on their governments, six in the case of Spain.
In addition to the "priority" renewal of the Judiciary, the report calls on Spain to "reinforce" the statute of the Public Prosecutor, "particularly in relation to the separation of the mandates of the Attorney General from that of the Government, taking into account the European standards of administration and autonomy of investigations”, states the report. Brussels also calls for measures to be taken to shorten the duration of the investigation of cases in order to be more effective in the fight against corruption.
The community executive recognizes that Spain is applying measures to prevent and combat this scourge and points out in particular the national anti-corruption plan currently under discussion. On the other hand, he points to the legislative drafts that are being discussed to regulate the actions of lobbies as progress, and insists, however, on the creation of a public register of pressure groups, which was planned for this year, and on the adoption of measures to facilitate citizens' access to public information by revising the law on official secrets, a reform that the Government of Pedro Sánchez is already working on.
As it did in last year's report, Brussels also asks to provide the audiovisual regulator with resources after the problems detected during the transposition of the last directive in the field and detects transparency problems regarding ownership in the written press sector. The report notes that "the general legislative framework regarding press freedom and pluralism remains solid and stable" but indicates that journalists continue to experience problems despite the agreement to facilitate the work of reporters.
Finally, the document also evokes the espionage of politicians with spy programs like Pegasus; Although the community authorities insist on the need for national security authorities to apply "robust controls" to ensure respect for European legislation and fundamental rights, they do not issue any recommendations in this regard.
"Russia's war in Ukraine reminds us once again of the importance of our work in defending and promoting the rule of law in the EU and beyond. Only if our own house is in order can we be credible" in criticism of others countries, Vice President Věra Jourová, in charge of the dossier as head of Values and Transparency, said at a press conference. Jourová traveled to Spain in mid-June and held meetings with members of the Government, including the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, and representatives of the political parties as well as the judiciary.
"This is a preventive instrument to work with national parliaments and (...) reinforce the idea of the rule of law in Europe", stressed Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice at the press conference broadcast from Luxembourg, where the College of European Commissioners met today. The publication of the report, which aims to identify problems and remedy them before they get worse, although in the case of Poland and Hungary the opposite has happened in the last three years, coincides with the celebration today in the Congress of Deputies of the proposed law promoted by the PSOE to return to the General Council of the Judiciary its ability to make appointments while in office.
The proposal, promoted by the socialist group, aims to partially amend the reform of the Organic Law of the Judiciary (LOPJ) approved in March 2021 at the initiative of the Government, which prevents the CGPJ from making discretionary appointments with the mandate expired, but limits the change to the appointment of the two candidates to the Constitutional Court. The objective is to approve it tomorrow, Thursday, so that it can be sent to the Senate and thus partially remedy the deadlock situation in which the body has found itself since December 2018.
