Compromise is not a shame
Parliamentary debate on Catalonia
The debate broke the so-called “silence” of the EU on the subject, but in the end it most agreed a solution must be found within the framework of the Spanish law through dialogue and compromise. Whatever this rhetoric will have any effect, we cannot know. For the moment both sides seem entrenched in their own position, unwilling to move a single inch to compromise. Whether this will go down in history as a seminal tragedy or as a bright example of compromise is up to Spain and Catalonia alone.
On Wednesday the 4th, the European Parliament gathered in Strasbourg for the plenary session and in the afternoon the topic at hand was the situation in Catalonia and the way forward.
President Antonio Tajani gives the floor to Frans Timmermans, first Vice-president of the European Commission and Commissioner for the portfolio for Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, Rule of Law and Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The speech begins with the Commissioner stating that:
“Our modern societies are based on three principles: democracy, respect for the rule of law and human rights. The three need each other and cannot exclude each other. If you remove one pillar, then the other would fall too. Respect for the rule of law is not optional, but fundamental. If the law does not give you what you want, you can oppose the law, you can work to change it, but you cannot ignore the law.”
This message is unequivocally directed at the Catalonian general government. He then continues by arguing that the images of Monday the 1st were regrettable and that violence is never a solution, nor a tool. Nevertheless, he continues, to uphold the rule of law it is sometimes necessary to use a proportionate use of force. He then highlights that even if he understands the need to express oneself, he believes that “an opinion is not more valuable than another opinion simply because it is expressed more loudly”. Finally, he confirms the official position of the Commission which is that this is an internal matter of Spain and must be resolved in the framework of the Spanish constitutional system. He then calls for the dialogue to open because “sitting down and discuss an issue, especially when we disagree, is what our Union is based on”.
This position was embraced by Manfred Weber, Chairman of the European People Party group. The EPP position mirrors almost exactly the Commission’s one and lays the blame almost exclusively on the Catalan Government and its “unreliable behavior” in calling the referendum. Having said all that, he proposes an “inter-Spanish” dialogue because the solution, he says, cannot be found in the European Parliament but in Spain itself. He then concludes by offering his personal view as a Bavarian by saying that he believes “Nation states are compatible with proud regions; Europe needs both strong nations and regional diversity” and urges the Catalan authorities not to take “irreversible steps” and to keep in mind that leaving Spain means leaving the European Union, with all that entails.
Next is the turn of Gianni Pittella, leader of the Socialists & Democrats. He is also mostly in line with what Timmermans and Weber said before him and urges the Catalan government to stop “before going over the cliff”. A unilateral independence declaration, he says, it’s a provocation and would act like gasoline on the fire, after the “pointless Sunday referendum”. He goes deeper in his critic and says that fixing on the legality of the referendum is not pure legal wit, but the base of the system that has kept peace in Europe for all these decades. A system that is in place exactly to protect the weakest nations against the will of the strong. He then argues that we should look with less superficiality to the return of nationalism in Europe and that waving the flag of separatism, when you tend to exclude rather than include, you can be sure of where you stand but not where you will end up. He then continues quoting from François Mitterrand “Nationalism it’s war” and by offering a comparison between the situation in Spain and in Germany where, on the same day, one is fighting for divisions while the other is celebrating the reunification. European unity is the very essence of the project and we must strive to preserve it, he says. Nevertheless, he concludes, the situation had to be better managed. He addresses Prime Minister Rajoy and states that the Catalans and Spanish socialists proposed viable solutions, even if it meant modifying the constitution.
The first position critical both to the commission and to the Spanish government comes from MEP Ryszard Antoni Legutko from European Conservatives and Reformists Group. In his speech he points out what he believes is a double standard of treatment within the EU and calls the use of force by the Spanish government “appalling”. Nevertheless, his conclusions he calls for patient negotiations but he believes that the “riot police or the conspicuous silence of the EU will not make the problem go away”.
Next is the turn of MEP Guy Verhofstadt from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group. In his speech he starts by says that we have nothing to teach to Spain in terms of Democracy who came out stronger than ever from the dictatorship. Now, four decades later, Spanish democracy must cement itself again. Not by police force, but by creating a federal, multicultural and multilingual Spain in a federal multicultural and multilingual Europe. He then attacks the Catalan government for what he calls an irresponsible behavior that will create a fracture in Catalonia itself that will be hard to heal. Who will gain from this? The euroskeptics he says. Cooperation is key and he points out the the Basque country as a virtuous example to follow. He concludes with a practical advice: “in politics it’s not a shame to make compromises; when the choice is between the steps forward of a compromise or standing still due to purity, well then choose to move forward, however small the steps may be”.
After his speech, the rest of the speaker are united in condemning both the disproportionate use of violence from the Spanish government and the perceived ambiguity of the European Institutions.
Finally, Commissioner Timmermans speaks again to reiterate the need to respect the rule of law and by saying that creating a precedent could then be used against yourself in the future. Dialogue is paramount and he hopes the parties involved will come to an understanding soon.