The report requested by the Government of the Generalitat last April from a group of academics on a clarity agreement includes five specific proposals for a referendum to seek solutions to the Catalan conflict, including some that also foresee a vote in the entire State and not only in Catalonia.
The first proposal is an initial referendum in which Catalans are consulted about the possibility of the Parliament processing a reform of the Constitution to make independence legal; That would allow identifying the preferences of the citizens of Catalonia. The second would be about a political agreement already closed on independence or about a new accommodation in the State, which could be made within the framework of a reform of the Statute. In the third option, the entire State would be included, not only in Catalonia. It would also be an initial referendum to consult preferences and it can be done with article 92 of the Constitution and it would consist of asking all Spaniards if they see fit that there is an independence referendum in Catalonia or that there is a new accommodation of Catalonia within it. of the State. A fourth possibility would be to give approval in Spain as a whole to a prior agreement on independence or a new status, through a constitutional reform. The fifth option is a double referendum, one in Catalonia and another in Spain, with two different demos. In any case, in the last three options there could be a clash of wills between Catalonia and Spain.
The academics also point out that there must be clear and preferably binary questions, and an agreement on the acceptance of the results a posteriori and that the effects be limited beforehand. It is also contemplated that there will not be a referendum immediately if it is not the best scenario at that time.
The group of nine academics is inspired by the ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada on the secession of Quebec and emphasizes that it “rejects the existence of a unilateral right” to secession while a potential agreement, via negotiation, must respect the principles of democracy, rule of law, constitutionalism, federalism and protection of majorities. Likewise, it is advocated to harmonize all these principles and not prioritize one over another.
In the preamble of the report it is made clear that in no case is there a desire to replace politicians and the considerations are limited to providing a response to the political conflict from academic knowledge through comparative politics. Their desire, the academics emphasize, is to "open avenues and not close doors" with their proposals, and they point out that they have limited themselves to answering the questions of the Catalan Executive through analysis of the background of other countries.
The president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, from Bologna, stated yesterday that the report is one more “step” to vote “on the independence of Catalonia.” “The contents of the academic report, when they can be given in full detail, will be one more step on this path of sharing proposals to resolve the political conflict, proposals to vote on the independence of Catalonia, also with the rest of the political formations of the Parliament” , explained the president. On Monday the head of the Catalan Executive will comment on the report and express his position. "It is not a legal report or a report of wills, it is an academic report that confirms that the referendum is the tool to solve the conflict," say Government sources, who emphasize that it is an external report that does not express the opinion of the Executive.
In any case, in the Catalan Chamber the proposal for a clarity agreement that Aragonès put on the table in September 2022, in the general policy debate, did not have the support of the rest of the groups. Only the commoners were in favor at that time.
