Brussels criticizes Spain for not fighting corruption enough in the midst of the Cerdán case.
The European Commission's annual rule of law report warns of a "high risk" of corruption in the financing of political parties in Spain.
StrasbourgBrussels deals a harsh blow to Pedro Sánchez's government in the middle of the Cerdán caseThe European Commission's annual report on the rule of law criticizes the Spanish government for its failure to combat corruption and urges it to take further measures to reverse this situation. Along the same lines, the EU executive warns that there remains a "high risk" of corruption in the financing of Spain's political parties. Furthermore, the assessment criticizes the fact that "the absence of a unified strategy could lead to fragmentation" and, as a consequence, finds that there is "insufficient oversight of anti-corruption measures."
For this reason, the European Commission urges the Spanish government to implement a "comprehensive state strategy for the prevention and fight against corruption," and notes that the Moncloa (Ministry of Justice) has not even "begun work" to implement it, despite the fact that it was planned for September of last year. In this regard, Brussels asks the Spanish government to "redouble its efforts" to reduce the "duration of investigations." "The objective is to increase the effectiveness of the processing of high-level corruption cases," states the EU executive report.
The European Commission also classifies the risk of corruption in sectors such as infrastructure or public service contracts as "high" and warns of the perception of citizens and companies regarding corruption in public administration and among political leaders. According to the Eurobarometer included in the report of the Community executive, 40% of companies across the country are convinced that corruption has prevented them from winning a public tender for at least the last three years. This rate is fifteen percentage points higher than the average for European Union member states.
As for to the amnesty lawAlthough the Spanish right had long predicted that Brussels would criticize it, the annual rule of law report barely mentions it and merely notes that it has been upheld by the Constitutional Court, although there are four preliminary questions pending before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). In any case, the EU executive is scheduled to rule next Tuesday at the hearing on two preliminary questions on the amnesty law, which will be held in the Luxembourg court.
On the other hand, the European Commission asks Spain to continue working to strengthen the independence of the Attorney General and to separate his mandate from that of the Spanish executive. On this point, the report also addresses the situation of the current Attorney General of the State, Álvaro García Ortiz, who is "undergoing judicial proceedings" for "alleged leakage of confidential information in a tax fraud case"—that of the partner of the President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. Furthermore, the EU executive's text includes the reform to exclude far-right entities from public prosecutions and the uproar this controversial measure has raised.
However, the assessment of the rule of law in Spain avoids mentioning specific cases of corruption, such as those of the last two PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) secretaries of organization, José Luis Ábalos and Santos Cerdán. Nor did the European Commissioner for Justice, Michael McGrath, mention these names. When the EU leader was asked at a press conference about the corruption cases plaguing the Moncloa Palace, he dodged the issue and, far from getting involved, declined to delve into what he considered "individual cases." Thus, he limited himself to highlighting one of the chapters of the conclusions of the annual report on the rule of law in Spain. "The Spanish government is obliged by law to adopt a comprehensive strategy to prevent corruption," insisted the European Commission's Justice Minister.
PSOE and PP clash over each other.
In these types of European Commission reports, both the PSOE and the PP routinely seize the opportunity to seize on the parts of the document that most suit them and use them to attack the other. Thus, sources from the Moncloa (Spanish Parliament) "welcome" the conclusions and assert that they "confirm" that none of the reforms pushed through by the Spanish government "affect the rule of law or judicial independence." "Europe not only supports the justice reforms, but also debunks the lies that have been insistently repeated to halt the greatest transformation of the justice system in decades," the Socialist executive points out.
In contrast, the number two member of the European People's Party, Catalan MEP Dolors Montserrat, sees it very differently and describes the European Commission's report on the Spanish justice system as "devastating." "Spain's corruption is setting off alarm bells in Europe," the PP tweeted. Along the same lines, although Brussels hasn't commented on the amnesty law, she asserts that Brussels has "doubts about its legality." She also asserts that judges and journalists are being persecuted in the Spanish state, and that judicial independence is "nonexistent." "Sánchez is a danger," the conservative concludes.
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All conservative judges' and prosecutors' associations, which are the majority, have taken their battle against the judicial reform being promoted by Justice Minister Félix Bolaños to the European Union institutions. The reform aims to make access to the judiciary less elitist. In statements to the press, Cristina Dexeus, the representative of the Association of Prosecutors (AF), harshly criticized the socialist government, accusing it of seeking to "colonize" the judiciary and of "deteriorating" the separation of powers and the rule of law in Spain.
Representatives of these entities have stated that they have invited the various European parliamentary groups and will hold meetings with almost all of them, except for the Party of European Socialists (PES). However, they have also visited the European Parliament and organized a roundtable discussion at the headquarters of the European Parliament in Strasbourg with the PP, Vox, and the far-right MEP Alvise Pérez. They also met with the President of the European Parliament, the conservative Roberta Metsola, and the Vice President of the European Commission, also from the People's Party (PES), Henna Virkkunen.
Beyond the prosecutors' association, all the entities—the Independent Judicial Forum (FJI), the Association of Prosecutors (AF), and the Professional and Independent Association of Prosecutors (APIF)—that called the judicial strike against the modification of access to the judicial career and the Organic Statute of the Public Prosecutor's Office also participated. However, none of the progressive judges' and prosecutors' associations attended.
In any case, these entities have avoided delving into the substance of the Bolaños reform in their statements to the press, and Dexeus has simply described it as a "window dressing operation." Thus, the representative of the prosecutors' association has not even mentioned the Moncloa's intentions to try to make access to the judiciary less elitist through a scholarship program and, in practice, prevent aspiring judges and prosecutors from being largely from the middle or upper classes.
