The Catalan president in exile, Carles Puigdemont, and former minister Toni Comín have urged the European Parliament to allow them to take their seats as MEPs "on a provisional basis until their credentials have been verified and a ruling has been given on this dispute".
The letter, to the president of the European Parliament, its bureau and the chair of its committee on legal affairs, follows an opinion written by an advocate general of the European Court of Justice which found that Oriol Junqueras became an MEP-elect at the moment of the proclamation of May's election results. He also then automatically became an MEP during the first session of the new parliament, despite not being present in person.
Annexed to the letter, first published by Politico, were the conclusions of advocate general Maciej Szpunar. If the Court of Justice of the European Union agrees with him, it would open the door to Puigdemont and Comín being allowed to take their seats in Brussels.
Spain had not included them on their final list of MEPs submitted after May's election, arguing they hadn't sworn an oath to the Constitution in the Congress in Madrid. The advocate general replied that MEPs have that role because they are chosen by the public, and member states cannot impose additional requirements after the election. If they are eventually admitted as MEPs, they would have parliamentary immunity.