The European Commission indicated this Wednesday that it is the Court of Auditors and the National Court, in their capacity as bodies that raised the preliminary questions, who must execute the recent ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) regarding the Organic Law of Amnesty (LOA). This was done after confirming, although without evaluating it, the receipt by its services of a document from the defense of the former president of the Generalitat Carles Puigdemont in which a supposed non-compliance by Spain with Community law is denounced.
"The Commission is aware of the latest ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union on this matter, dated July 16. It is up to the referring courts to apply the rulings of the Court of Justice," indicated a spokesperson for the Community Executive, who confirmed the receipt of the letter from Puigdemont's defense and indicated that it will follow the usual procedures for received communications, which include its registration and evaluation before any pronouncement.
With these statements, the spokesperson aligns with the position already expressed by the Commissioner for Justice, Michael McGrath, who in a press appearance last Friday emphasized that Brussels "respects and complies" with the resolutions of the CJEU. On that occasion, he also recalled that two preliminary questions regarding the amnesty law remain open in Luxembourg and stressed that it is the national judicial bodies that raised the inquiries who must execute the decisions of the European High Court.
McGrath also pointed out that the Community Executive "will closely monitor" the development of these procedures, avoiding commenting on the content of the rulings of the Grand Chamber of the CJEU. Before its 15 judges, the legal representative of the European Commission had already questioned in the hearing held a year ago whether the norm responded to a general interest objective.
Document from Puigdemont, Comín, and Puig to the Commission
On Tuesday, Puigdemont and the former councilors Toni Comín and Lluís Puig sent a document to the General Secretariat of the European Commission in which they accuse the Kingdom of Spain of violating the amnesty law following the ruling of the CJEU from last week.
According to the document, advanced by the digital 'Vilaweb' and accessed by Europa Press, Puigdemont's lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, claims that the deadline to apply the amnesty has been de facto paralyzed by the reopening of a procedure for allegations that, in his opinion, is not only superfluous but also violates the ruling of the CJEU.
For this reason, he asks the community executive to intervene urgently "given the nature of the non-compliance and its impact on precautionary measures that burden the complainants by more than 9.5 million euros."
In the complaint, Boye also recalls that the Court of Auditors issued a ruling this Monday in which it included the indications of the CJEU ruling, but without immediately applying the amnesty law, and also granting a period of 10 days to the parties to submit allegations.
The document emphasizes that this action by the Court of Auditors contravenes Article 4 of the Treaty on the European Union regarding loyal cooperation, which obliges member states to avoid having their bodies make decisions that compromise the objectives of the European Union or the full effectiveness of the CJEU rulings.
"The deliberate non-compliance with a ruling of the Court of Justice by a judicial body of a member state, accompanied by its public distortion through an official press release, affects the value of the rule of law on which the Union is founded," states the complaint.