The Commissioner for Justice of the European Union, Didier Reynders, met this Monday with the Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, and told her that the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) is "urgent and necessary".
Reynders, according to the explanations given by Minister Llop after the meeting, considers that the renewal is "the priority" and that afterwards "the different models" of election can be discussed.
Llop has addressed the long blockage of the process of renewal of the Judiciary in a meeting with Reynders in San Sebastián where both participated in the summer course of the University of the Basque Country entitled The Global Challenges of the European Union held at the Miramar Palace.
Reynders has informed the minister that he intends to visit Spain after the holidays in order to address the situation regarding the Judiciary. The European commissioner wants to address the issue with different legal operators and even with political forces to find out his opinion on the blockade, "logically with respect to the internal system."
As explained by Llop, in the conversation he told Reynders, a member of the Belgian liberal party, about the problems that the blockade is causing, such as the delay in issuing reports and, in this regard, he recalled that they have been since June of last year waiting for the General Council of the Judiciary to issue a report on the new Criminal Procedure Law, which "is very important in terms of the rule of law"
Pilar Llop has assured that the commissioner has told her that the imminent renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary is "urgent and necessary" and that "then a great discussion can be opened about the different models of Judicial Powers, about the models of organs of government of judges and judges”.
The interim situation of the General Council of the Judiciary was addressed in the report on the rule of law in the European Union approved just a few weeks ago by the European Commission, which recommended that Spain "proceed to renew the Council of the Judiciary on a priority and initiate, immediately after its renewal, the process to adapt the appointment of the judges that comprise it, taking into account European standards”.
This report included 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, specific although non-binding recommendations to their governments, six in the case of Spain, among which was precisely the renewal of the Council of the Judiciary.
Another of the recommendations contained in the report calls on Spain to "strengthen" 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 European standards of administration and autonomy of investigations.
Brussels also requested in this report that measures 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 has recognized that Spain is applying measures to prevent and combat this scourge and has especially pointed to the national anti-corruption plan currently under discussion.
On the other hand, he has pointed out the drafts that are being discussed to regulate the actions of lobbies as progress and has insisted, 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 Pedro Sánchez promised to comply with in the last debate on the state of the nation.
