Judge Manuel Marchena used the concept of environmental violence for the first time against four of the protesters who surrounded Parliament in 2011 to try to obstruct the passage of deputies when the budgets consolidating the cuts were to be approved. None of them committed a violent act, but they were sentenced to three years in prison for the mere fact of attending a demonstration in which crimes could have been committed. Once the foundations were laid, Marchena himself used "environmental violence" to justify the sentence against the leaders of the Procés.

The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, and the Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, have met with the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Kyiv. Illa conveyed to him his "commitment" and "solidarity" on behalf of Catalonia, and "showed his support" in the war against the Russian invasion, Ukraine's potential future accession to the European Union, and the potential use of frozen Russian assets located within EU territory for the reconstruction of his country. "It has been a very fruitful meeting in which we were able to express not only the desire to cooperate, but also the desire to learn from a country that has shown a resilience that I believe must be highly valued," the Catalan leader remarked.

The European Union repeats like a mantra that Morocco is a reliable partner and, despite growing suspicions about Rabat's involvement in the migration crisis in Ceuta, it has treaded carefully when it comes to making any kind of statement that could anger the Moroccan regime. Community sources avoid reacting to the possible link between the Mohamed VI regime and the massive entry of immigrants into the autonomous city and limit themselves to responding that it is "an internal affair" that must be clarified by the Spanish authorities.

The Spanish government has again requested to debate the official status of Catalan, Galician, and Basque in the Council of the European Union, but now links it to the expansion of the European bloc and, therefore, to the potential entry of new member states. Diplomatic sources explain that Spain's request is to include a point on the agenda of the General Affairs Council — a meeting of EU ministers and Foreign Affairs — on September 22 that will be titled "Official Languages and Enlargement," and the intention is to ensure that if new countries, such as Albania or Montenegro, join the European club, advantage is taken to make Catalan, Galician, and Basque official, along with Albanian and Montenegrin.

The Government will travel to the Catalanism of the transition for the Diada. The spokesperson for the executive, Sílvia Paneque, announced this Tuesday that the Generalitat will this year pay tribute to the "spirit" of the commemoration of September 11, 1976 in Sant Boi de Llobregat, when "unity in diversity" reigned and the longing to be "one people". Thus, the Government wants to leave behind the national Diadas of the Procés and, in fact, Paneque lamented that the PSC has found itself "very alone" in the "great house of Catalanism" in recent years.

It was meant to be the big trade deal that end the belligerence of the United States against the European Union and restore good relations between the two transatlantic powers. However, a year after the handshake between the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the US President, Donald Trump, in Scotland, the pact has not managed to change the White House's attitude towards its European allies. During these twelve months – Monday marks the first anniversary – the New York magnate has not stopped threatening and insulting the European Union's partners, which has endangered the application of the trade agreement on repeated occasions and delayed its entry into force in European institutions.

The European Commission announced this Friday that it has "preliminary" indications that TikTok leaves minors unprotected, especially from potential aggressors. Thus, Brussels considers that it is violating the Digital Services Act (DSA) and threatens it with a millionaire fine if it does not take measures to increase the protection of the youngest users of the Chinese social platform.

In his conviction to maintain the trade war, Donald Trump has announced a new tariff package that replaces the universal taxes that the Supreme Court annulled in February. The US president has signed a new executive order establishing levies of between 10% and 12.5% on more than 60 countries, including members of the European Union, China, and Mexico. The leader justifies this as retaliation against these states for not having taken sufficient measures to control imports of goods produced through forced labor. Furthermore, hours later, Trump also accused the EU of harming American companies through multimillion-dollar fines and threatened to impose a new tariff "as soon as possible".

The President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, has presented the ten finalist proposals for the new design of the euro banknotes. European citizens have until September 21 to vote for their preferred option [this is the link to take the survey] and they are expected to begin printing in the coming years, although the financial institution has not set a specific date.

The European Union continues applying sanctions against Russia to try and force it to the negotiating table. Member states agreed this Thursday on the 21st package of restrictions on Vladímir Putin's regime and, among other measures, will extend for longer the application of a price cap on Russian-origin oil. For at least the next twelve months, the maximum European companies will be able to pay for a barrel of crude oil arriving from Russia is $44.10.

New fines from the European Commission against a major US tech company. Brussels announced this Thursday two economic sanctions totaling 890 million against Google for restricting competition in its own services and, therefore, violating the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The meeting of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has been transitional. After raising interest rates by about 0.25 percentage points last month, Frankfurt has avoided making a move while awaiting developments in the Middle East and has kept them at 2.25% this Thursday.

European Commission's notice to the Spanish judiciary. After the Court of Auditors initially refused to apply the Luxembourg ruling upholding the amnesty, the spokesperson for the Community executive Guillaume Mercier recalled this Wednesday, in a statement, that "it is up to the referral courts – the National High Court and the Court of Auditors itself – to apply the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)".

The European Commission has announced a fine of 550 million euros to the Chinese e-commerce platform AliExpress for the sale of illegal products online to European customers. The Community executive has concluded in an investigation that the Asian company does not comply with the Community directive on digital rights, because it does not "diligently" assess or mitigate the risks related to the products offered and purchasable on its website. And for this reason, Brussels urges it to adopt measures and threatens it with new additional economic sanctions if it disobeys the demands of the Community authorities.

The grand chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is made up of 15 judges, but the most influential magistrate and the most visible face – reads the verdicts, such as the one that supports the amnesty– is the president of the court in Luxembourg, Koen Lenaerts (Mortsel, 1954). A Fleming with a great academic and professional career, especially in European justice.

New reform from Brussels that lowers environmental ambitions. The European Commission has proposed this Friday that European industry can reduce pollutant emissions at a slower pace than provided for in current legislation. That said, in return, these factories will have to increase green and decarbonization investments.

European Commission's wake-up call to Spain amid a wave of corruption cases plaguing Pedro Sánchez's government. In its annual rule of law report, Brussels warns that Spain has made "little" or "limited" progress in strengthening measures against conflicts of interest and lobbying, and in improving transparency in asset declarations by leaders and senior officials. Furthermore, although it highlights the Anti-Corruption Plan promoted by the Spanish government, it regrets that "the practical implementation of existing rules has not improved".

The path to amnesty in Europe has come to an end. Luxembourg has endorsed the law agreed between the PSOE, Junts, and Esquerra, which allowed Pedro Sánchez to be re-elected as Spanish president. Before this sweet ending, however, the measure went through a tortuous path with obstacles, largely accentuated by the tentacles of the Spanish right and far-right in the European Union institutions.

Happy end to the amnesty in its journey through European justice. The endorsement from the highest court in Luxembourg is almost absolute. It not only denies that its application affects the financial interests of the European Union and violates the anti-terrorism directive, but it fully defends the spirit of "reconciliation" between Spain and Catalonia of a law that allowed Pedro Sánchez to be invested with the votes of Junts and Esquerra. "It has the express purpose of favoring political reconciliation," has ruled the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

Key ruling for the application of the amnesty and the political and judicial future of leaders such as Carles Puigdemont and Oriol Junqueras. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) will rule this Thursday around 10 a.m. on the legality of the regulation and will point the way to the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the National High Court and the rest of the Spanish courts, some of which refuse to apply it.