Promoted content by Greens/EFA in the European Parliament
This start to the presidency will be in the middle of an election campaign, since after the Socialist Party’s poor results in Spain’s municipal and regional elections in May, Mr Sánchez decided to stake it all on early general elections on the 23rd of July. And it could be that Mr. Sánchez ends up losing the chair, as the wave of conservatism and far-right national populism that is sweeping the entire continent will also reach Spain at the hands of a coalition between Spanish People’s Party and far-right Vox.
However, even if it is in the interim, Mr Sánchez will take the chair on the 1st of July and will do so with major challenges before him, including advancing negotiations for the New Pact on Migration and Asylum; the development of reindustrialisation to enhance the competitiveness of European industry with net-zero emissions; and progress with the ecological transition in order to achieve climate neutrality. All these challenges require political courage from Mr Sánchez.
Unfortunately, Mr Sánchez has not proven politically courageous regarding domestic policy when dealing with Spain’s conflict with Catalonia. True, he has taken some brave steps, such as reforming the Penal Code to abolish the crime of sedition or approving pardons for the political prisoners, jailed for over three years for allowing the 1 October 2017 referendum on self-determination. But it is also true that Mr Sánchez has blustered rhetorically on dialogue and negotiation as a way to give vent to the democratic determination of 80% of the Catalans, who want to vote in a referendum on their future as a nation.
He has lacked the political courage to go any further and make a true and sincere negotiation process between Catalonia and Spain feasible in order to find a comprehensive solution to the political conflict. In nearly four years he has not presented any concrete proposal or offer as regards the political status for Catalonia.
Now, Mr. Sánchez, show the political courage in Europe that in very sensitive issues you have failed to show in Spain. Be brave and take up for instance the recommendations of the Pegasus Committee of Inquiry report endorsed by the European Parliament in its last plenary session. The report points directly at Spain as one of the top ranking EU countries having illegitimately (and probably illegally) infiltrated Pegasus in politicians, lawyers and activists phones, and emphatically demands a comprehensive investigation into all the cases of use of Pegasus spyware, including the 47 #CatalanGate cases. We are yet to ascertain exactly who is behind the illicit surveillance of which so many pro-independence leaders were victims, as was I. But everything points to Sánchez’s hands being soiled.
The European Parliament’s message to the Spanish authorities is clear: there must be an investigation, there must be transparency, and there must be reparations for the victims. That is why it is important that the report does not end up being meaningless. The recommendations of the European Parliament must now become a legislative proposal to regulate the use of spyware in a way that fundamental rights are protected.
At a time when national populism is threatening the very bases of the European project, we democrats, have to stand up and not allow the conservative forces and the extreme right to sweep away social rights, women's rights, minority rights, and so many other rights we have fought for for decades. Show political courage, Mr. Sánchez, and be braver in the EU than you have been in Spain.
By Jordi Solé i Ferrando, EFA Group President and first Vice President of the Greens/EFA Group
