Julio García-Aquí Europa
The Commissioner of Justice, Didier Reynders, yesterday achieved a “clear commitment” from Félix Bolaños, Minister of Justice, and Esteban González Pons, Deputy Secretary of Institutional Action of the PP, to renew the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ, by its acronym in Spanish).
In a statement after the first negotiation meeting with Bolaños and Pons for the renewal of the CGPJ, held in Brussels, Reynders recalled the recommendation of the Commission for 2022 and 2023 that invites “to proceed as a priority with the renewal of the Judiciary Council and initiate, immediately after the renewal, a process with a view to adapting the appointment of its judge-members, taking into account the European standards on the Judicial Councils.
The Commissioner for Justice explained that he had reminded both leaders of the importance of engaging in a constructive dialogue on this issue, and highlights that “at this meeting, there was a clear commitment from all parties to work together to ensure the implementation of the recommendation of the Commission.” In addition, Reynders announced an upcoming meeting on February 12 “to take stock of the discussions.”
At the end of the meeting, Bolaños thanked the commissioner for “the work, the effort, the time and the interest that they are taking in Spain being able to reach an agreement on something as essential as the institutional normality of the judiciary.”
The Minister of Justice described the meeting as “cordial and constructive.” “We get to work. This time has to be the final one,” Bolaños declared to journalists outside the European Commission headquarters.
For his part, González Pons expressed little enthusiasm after the meeting with Bolaños and Reynders. “I am very pessimistic,” he said, although he clarified that he is not going to “deny this process a chance.” “We are going to talk about everything,” stressed the popular leader, who indicated that the fact that there is a new meeting allows us to consider that progress has been made.
“There will be a next meeting, therefore, there are enough guarantees to hold this conversation for at least one more week. In a constructive way,” declared the popular leader, who specified that what makes him pessimistic is that “negotiating with the Government of Pedro Sánchez when one defends the rule of law and the independence of judges does not allow one to be optimistic.” “The first thing that the Government of Pedro Sánchez sacrifices in its negotiations is usually the independence of the judiciary,” he stated.
Regarding the second part of the Commission’s recommendation, González Pons stressed that the popular ones seek to “guarantee the independence of Spanish judges.”
