The European Court of Justice has backed former European Parliament president Antonio Tajani’s decision not to recognise Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont as an MEP, ruling that Tajani “merely did what he was required to do.”
The EU’s top court has definitively rejected Carles Puigdemont’s action to recognise both his and Antonio Comín’s status as MEPs in the 2019 elections, putting the future of Comín, who was re-elected in the 2024 vote and is yet to take up his seat, in jeopardy.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) upheld the decision of the then-president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, not to allow them to take their seats as lawmakers, ruling on Thursday morning that Tajani “merely did what he was required to do”.
Under Spanish electoral law, MEPs must take an oath or promise to respect the national constitution before the Spanish Central Electoral Commission can notify the European Parliament of the list of elected candidates.
As neither Comín nor Puigdemont did so, having been on the run from the Spanish judiciary since 2017 following an illegal independence referendum, Spain’s Central Electoral Commission declared their posts vacant, and Tajani informed them that they could not be considered EU lawmakers as they were not on the final list of future MEPs.
The ECJ ruled that Tajani “could not depart from the list of elected members officially notified to him by the Spanish authorities” because he had no power to verify its accuracy, and the division of powers between the EU institutions and member states would be “disregarded”.
Tajani’s refusal to consider them MEPs only affected them temporarily.
In early 2020, Puigdemont and Comín were able to take their seats thanks to a ruling in favour of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya politician Oriol Junqueras.
However, today’s ruling will only have a real impact on Toni Comín.
The Catalan politician was the only candidate for the Junts per Catalunya, or “Together for Catalonia” party in last June’s European elections but has been unable to take his seat because the Parliament has refused to take a decision until the ruling of the European judiciary is known.
Parliament sources say that it has taken note of the ruling and that its legal services are analysing it.
For now, neither Puigdemont nor Comín have made any statements following the ruling.
