The Diplomat
The European Commission yesterday again reminded the PSOE government and Unidas Podemos that any reform of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) must be carried out in dialogue with the opposition and in consultation with the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s advisory body on legal and constitutional matters.
Brussels is “aware of the new developments”, as indicated to Europa Press by the spokesman for Justice of the Community Executive, Christian Wigand, who has pointed out that the position expressed by the European Commission “has not changed” and continues to be attentive to what is happening in Spain.
“It remains important that when a member state reforms its judicial system it does so by carrying out the necessary consultations with all relevant interest groups, including the Venice Convention”, the spokesman said, when asked about the decision of the Bureau of the Congress last week to process the reform to limit the functions of the CGPJ by the urgent procedure, and this without obtaining consultative reports on the modification.
In recent months, the Community Executive has expressed a “clear position” that it considers “important” that Spain address the blockage of the judges’ governing body, but “at the same time ensuring that the CGPJ is not perceived as vulnerable to politicization.
In this sense, the EU spokesperson emphasizes that member states must follow European standards to ensure that judicial independence is not compromised.
“We will continue to monitor the situation closely,” said Wigand, without wishing to clarify whether the Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, has had further contact with the government of Pedro Sanchez to address the issue.
Following the first proposal for reform of the CGPJ presented by the PSOE and Podemos last October, Reynders first spoke with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, and, already in November, with the Minister of Justice, Juan Carlos Campo, to ask for detailed information on the situation.
