After its thunderous intervention in the debates on the amnesty by sending a letter to the Government requesting information before the law proposal was even known, the European Commission lowers its tone and tries to avoid being caught in the crossfire between the Party Popular and Pedro Sánchez.
The bill, which is already in the hands of the community legal services, makes no reference to the concept of lawfare and also makes it explicit that “crimes that affect the financial interests of the EU” are excluded from its scope, thus leaving out the two elements that had drawn the most attention in Brussels about the potential content of the law during the negotiations between PSOE and Junts and that could give rise to some type of European intervention.
Community sources warn that this does not mean we must conclude that the institution has ruled out including any problematic elements from the point of view of the rule of law. “We have not yet completed our preliminary analysis,” they insist. But other sources from the institution also remember that “amnesty laws exist [in Europe] and are not necessarily a problem. “It all depends on the text.”
Beyond the political pressure that Brussels can exert, as the European People's Party asks it to do, European powers in this area are very limited. The procedure under Article 7 of the treaty, which aims to ensure that all member states respect the common values of the EU, can only be activated in cases of systematic breaches of the rule of law and not for specific issues.
The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, author of the letter sent last week to Madrid with the endorsement of the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has responded to the Government that he is open to meeting with its representatives as soon as possible. brevity to talk about the law, as proposed by the acting Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, in his forceful response sent hours after receiving the commissioner's letter. The Government has also sent the draft of the law to the vice president responsible for the rule of law, Vera Jourova.
Although his letter evoked the “concern” that the initiative has caused in some sectors of Spanish society, Reynders reiterated yesterday that the Community Executive is not concerned about the issue. “I have not expressed any concerns, I have only asked to receive the text, now it is done. We will evaluate and begin a dialogue with the Spanish Government,” he told the press yesterday upon his arrival at the General Affairs Council.
The Community Executive does not set deadlines to offer its opinion on the amnesty law proposal, which the acting Government sent to Brussels on Monday, but it could speak out during the debate that will probably take place during the next plenary session of the European Parliament and whose call have been demanded by the European People's Party and the European liberal group.
