Together, choose family in Europe

Barcelona/BrusselsJunts has chosen a political family in Europe. After Carles Puigdemont's party is on the verge of joining the European Democratic Party (EDP), which is part of the European Parliament's liberal Renew Europe group. Various sources consulted by ARA explain that the pro-independence party is finalizing its entry, although it has stalled at the last minute due to internal reservations within the centrist and social-liberal European party. The two sides have almost secured the membership, but approval from the executive committee and the various parties that make up the European family is still needed. It is at this point that differences have arisen. Some criticize the general secretary, the Italian Sandro Gozi, for negotiating the incorporation of the Junts pel Sí (Junts pel Sí) without much transparency and without considering the opinions of the various factions, and there are also political reasons for opposition. One of the EDP parties that is creating the most obstacles is the Belgian party. Les EngagésJunts, which has only one MEP, is a French-speaking, centrist party that is therefore ideologically distant from the Flemish N-VA, with whom Junts has historically maintained a very good relationship. The party's president and Belgian Prime Minister, Bart De Wever, himself called Puigdemont a "friend" when the former Catalan president arrived in Waterloo. Although De Wever has moderated the party's positions, the N-VA is part of the far-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament. Contacts between Junts, which has already proposed choosing the European family "before Christmas," and the PDE date back some time. Despite this, there is no prospect of imminent approval. Should the European party's executive committee give the green light, it must then be ratified at a party congress. One is held annually—usually in the autumn—and the last one took place in Bilbao last November. Progress could be made if the PDE decides to organize an extraordinary congress to expedite Junts's accession, something the same sources consider highly unlikely. In any case, the path is clear to seal Junts' entry into the PDE, founded by former French Prime Minister François Bayrou, a centrist party. The PDE, which also includes the PNB and Coalición Canaria, is situated within the social-liberal center and also includes more progressive liberals. Some even recall the experiment of former Barcelona mayor Pasqual Maragall, who, after leaving office, explored Bayrou's idea with the Catalan European Party.

The Liberals are the fifth largest group in the European Parliament with 77 MEPs, but they play an important role because they are part of what is known as the pro-European majority, along with the European People's Party (EPP) and the Party of European Socialists (PES). These are the forces that, with the broader support of the Greens and part of the ECR, provide parliamentary support to Ursula von der Leyen's European Commission, although voting discipline in the European Parliament is much more fluid than, for example, in the Catalan Parliament or the Spanish Congress of Deputies.

The future of ComínThe PDECat was expelled from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) party in the European Parliament in 2018 under the pretext of corruption and in a context of intense pressure from Ciudadanos, which was also part of the MEP group. Since then, it has been left out in the cold and,He has not yet managed to join any party at the European level.

However, even if the talks are successful, it does not mean that the elected Junts MEP, Toni Comín, will automatically join the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament should he be recognized as a full-fledged MEP. Some parties have MEPs in various parliamentary groups. With CiU, for example, the representatives of Convergència joined ALDE, and the Christian Democrats of Unió opted for the European People's Party (EPP).

As of today, however, Comín cannot yet serve as an MEP because the Spanish authorities require him to swear allegiance to the Constitution in person in Madrid to obtain his credentials. The amnesty has not yet been applied to him, and therefore, he risks being arrested. In any case, if he manages to become an MEP, he will have to negotiate his entry into one of the parliamentary groups, as he unsuccessfully attempted in the previous legislature. The trend is for MEPs from the EDP and the Liberal Alliance to join Renew Europe, but there are exceptions. It should be remembered that the Junts per Catalunya coalition has three official ideological currents—liberal, social democratic, and left-wing—and that Comín belongs to the left-wing faction.