The report of the European Parliament on the espionage scandal through Pegasus has warned this Tuesday that, in the cases that affect Catalan politicians, "it is not possible to establish" the supposed threat to national security invoked by the Spanish Government to justify them, by time you have called for a European definition of this concept.
The document is a first draft of the conclusions reached by the parliamentary committee on the use of this spyware, drawn up by the Dutch liberal Sophie in 't Veld and which will surely receive amendments, since some Spanish members of the same Liberal group - Ciudadanos MEPs - do not feel comfortable with the tone of the text, sources from the group have said.
The report dedicates twelve of its 159 pages to the Spanish case, in which the scandal baptized as Catalangate stands out and also the espionage of the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and two of his ministers. Spain is one of the five Member States, together with Greece, Cyprus, Poland and Hungary, that has its own epigraph.
The Spanish chapter, which attributes this espionage to the Spanish and Moroccan governments, respectively, evaluates factors such as the Spanish legal framework or the responsibility of the National Intelligence Center and the scrutiny of its activity, and warns that certain legal safeguards to the right to the privacy of communications in Spain date from a time when surveillance was much less advanced than it is now.
Regarding the case of espionage against the Catalan independence movement, the report speaks of a "clear trend" in the attempts to infect devices, which "coincide" with moments of political relevance such as court cases, public gatherings or communications with supporters of an independent Catalonia. who were outside of Spain.
"Given that the (Spanish) authorities have only recognized 18 of the 65 cases, and that the requests for those cases have not been made public, it is not possible to establish in what way (the cases) would have had an immediate impact or constituted a threat. imminent threat to national security or the integrity of the State," the text points out.
One of the recommendations made by the report refers precisely to the definition of "national security" as a reason to justify espionage, and points out that in addition to mentioning it as such, it must be shown that there is a danger to national security.
"A common European definition of 'national security' is necessary, which determines what legal regime is applied in these matters, as well as a clear demarcation of the area in which said special regime could be applied," asks the MEP who has drafted the text.
On the other hand, the Dutch deputy contrasts the "fast pace" of the case of Sánchez and his ministers in the courts in Madrid with the "slowness" of the processing of the complaints presented in Barcelona by the affected Catalans, and cites the protests of one of the lawyers of Oriol Junqueras, Andreu van der Eynde, who has accused the justice system of "virtually paralyzing" the case.
Despite the fact that the report does not point out the authorship of the espionage in the case of the Catalan leaders, it focuses a large part of its conclusions on the role of the CNI, which it accuses of "having been involved in several scandals related to surveillance" and of acting with opacity.
In this sense, it emphasizes that the Spanish Constitution does not allow access to documents or information related to the Intelligence services and the espionage service is absent within the framework of the transparency law. "Much of the CNI's work is kept secret and lacks transparency," says the report.
It also focuses on the Official Secrets Law of 1968, lamenting that it originated during "the Franco era" and "its reform has long been the subject of debate in Spain." "The biggest problem with this largely outdated legislation is that it does not outline a time period beyond which the imposed secrecy will expire," the preliminary report says.
The publication of the report now opens a new stage in the Pegasus investigation commission of the European Parliament, created as a result of the revelations about the use of this spyware in countries of the European Union.
The next step will be a group debate on the draft report published this Tuesday, followed by a period in which all members can propose amendments and the final vote on the final form of the text, which will contain non-binding recommendations to governments and European institutions.
"It is very good news to start with such a well-crafted report," said Republican MEP Diana Riba, vice president of the committee that has investigated espionage with Pegasus, who believes that the report will have "a lot of relevance at an international level." At RAC1, Riba sees "the trunk as very solid" and points out that "starting with this base that is so well done, written and detailed fills us with hope".
In addition, he considers that the report endorses his party's strategy of "sitting at the dialogue table demonstrating that the political conflict exists." "Negotiations are an internationally validated political tool," insists Riba, who warns that international bodies always tell them not to leave the table.
Riba also appreciates that there is talk of 65 spies and not 18, and that the listening is related to political processes and not to terrorism. "One of the tasks that we must carry out in the committee is to demonstrate that these programs are being used to interfere in the political and democratic life of a country, such as Catalonia", pointed out the Republican, who has criticized that they have been spent " six million euros of public resources in the purchase of that program". "We must be transparent in the purchase of these espionage programs", insists Riba since all citizens "have the right to know how the money of our states is spent" .
