The judges ruled the blanket pardon, which some Spanish courts have refused to apply, does not contravene the bloc’s laws.
LUXEMBOURG — The EU’s top court ruled that the controversial amnesty of Catalan separatists does not violate key provisions of the bloc’s law, bringing pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont a step closer to returning to Spain after years on the run.
The Court of Justice of the European Union’s decisions are also major legal and political wins for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who agreed to pardon the Catalan separatist in exchange for the parliamentary support he needed to remain prime minister following the 2023 national elections.
The measure sparked fierce opposition in Spain, but the court’s judgments reinforce the government’s long-standing argument that the law complies with EU legislation.
No financial harm to the Union
The first of two decisions issued by the Luxembourg-based court focused on whether the use of public funds to finance the unauthorized independence referendum organized by Catalonia’s leaders in 2017 had undermined the bloc’s financial interests.
Spain’s Court of Auditors argued that EU funds could have indirectly replaced Spanish money used to promote the separatist campaign, or undermined the country’s ability to contribute to the bloc’s budget. That effective misuse of EU resources would constitute an offense excluded from the amnesty.
But the EU’s top court rejected that legal rationale, and dismissed the direct link between the use of the bloc’s financial resources and the unauthorized independence vote.
“The potential impact on the Union budget cannot stem solely from harm caused to the national budget,” the judges wrote in their ruling, adding that “the Union’s financial interests cannot be considered to be affected by the mere decrease in gross national income.”
The decision represents a major victory for the Catalan leaders who have been blocked from benefitting from the amnesty. Although the ruling puts an end to the Spanish Court of Auditors’ case targeting Puigdemont and other Catalan officials, it does not affect his indictment — issued in 2023 — in the Supreme Court.
Its judges have so far declined to grant the politician amnesty, citing alleged embezzlement of public funds, but the separatist leader has appealed the refusal to the country’s Constitutional Court. That institution has been awaiting Luxembourg’s decision on the matter before issuing its own ruling. The definitive sentence, which the Supreme Court would have to apply, is expected this fall.
Victory for Sánchez
In a separate ruling, the Luxembourg court also determined that the amnesty does not contravene the bloc’s 2017 directive on terrorism. Spain’s judiciary questioned whether pardons could be granted to 12 separatist protestors who are being tried on terrorism charges for organizing picket lines and road blockades in the aftermath of the independence vote.
But the justices said the amnesty law “does not diminish the useful effect of the directive relating to combating terrorism,” and noted that its aim is to favor “reconciliation.” The ruling notes that there is no evidence that Spain intends to apply the law to “acts that intentionally caused grave violations of human rights” — language that should allow for the activists’ speedy amnesty.
Thursday’s rulings are also a major victory for Sánchez. The 2023 agreement to amnesty the Catalan represented an abrupt reversal of the prime minister’s public position, and it caused a national uproar, with more than half of Spaniards describing the measure as “unjust.”
The court’s ruling avows Sánchez’s insistence that the amnesty is “legal and constitutionally sound,” while also reaffirming Brussels’ stance that the blanket pardon is an “internal matter.”
“The approval and application of an amnesty law are the competence of the member states,” the ruling reads. “The control of the Court of Justice is limited to identifying problems of judicial protection […] and to verifying compliance with the useful effect of the regulations of Union law.”
“Politics is a lever for transformation and for resolving and contributing solutions to very, very difficult conflicts,” Sánchez said last year, adding that the amnesty had helped end “a political crisis that should never have left the political arena.”
The court’s rulings were cheered by the Spanish government, with Presidency Minister Félix Bolaños characterizing the amnesty as “a collective achievement” that benefits “all Spaniards without exception.” He added that the blanket pardon’s complete implementation will complete the country’s reconciliation with Catalonia, ushering in the “final stage of the process of institutional, political, and social modernization.”
Republican Left of Catalonia leader Oriol Junqueras, one of the separatists leaders who is still awaiting amnesty, called for the immediate application of the law. “There are no longer any excuses,” he said. “Political rights cannot depend on a judiciary at the service of political interests.”
The center-right People’s Party, which organized massive protests against the amnesty following its approval in the Spanish parliament, released a brief statement in which it expressed its “absolute respect” for the ruling but nonetheless slammed Sánchez for the measure. The leading opposition party said it continued to object to a law that was passed “in exchange for a parliamentary majority” and said no prime minister should “trade power for impunity.”
This developing story is being updated.
This article has been updated on July 16 to correct the information in the subhead.