The European Commission as a mediator to unblock the paralysed renewal process for Spain's General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), whose members have been working under an expired mandate for the last five years. That is the offer that the leader of the opposition People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has made to the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, to move forward in the judicial renovation talks that have been deadlocked for some time. Subsequently, Sánchez's Socialists (PSOE) announced that they accepted the initiative
Thus, the PP has now decided to play the mediator card, a concept that has been in the public mind following the investiture agreement between the PSOE and Together for Catalonia (Junts) for an international verifier in their on-going negotiations. In the case of the judicial deadlock, Feijóo wants the European Commission to "supervise" the negotiations and agreement for a renewal of the CGPJ with judges who have independent profiles and to change the law regulating the election of members for the Council, which is the governance body for Spain's judicial power. The proposal is to hold tripartite meetings between the European Commission, the PP and the PSOE, in the presence of EU authority figures with an irreproachable profile.
Sánchez showed willingness to accept this model, and subsequently, the spokesperson for the Spanish government, Pilar Alegría, announced an understanding had been reached between the two parties. "To try to finally unblock the situation, we have agreed on a formula for the European Commission to mediate and verify," she announced.
Feijóo denies comparisons to Francisco Galindo
Speaking after the meeting, Feijóo himself categorically denied the proposal is for a mediator; rather, to justify the need for the European Commission to take part in the talks he argues that "if the partners of the Spanish government do not trust one another, the opposition has a very difficult time trusting them" and that the renewal of the CGPJ "must be carried out with its independence completely guaranteed". Likewise, when asked about the parallels with Francisco Galindo Vélez, the main verifier agreed by the PSOE and Junts for their negotiations, he strongly rejects the idea: "To equate the European Commission with a Salvadoran mediator specialized in armed gangs seems to me a lack of respect". He also called for respect for the European Commission because it is "a Spanish institution to which the state has transferred a large part of its sovereignty".
In this regard, the PP conducted a discreet survey of the Commission this week, which showed a "response favourable to going ahead and monitoring the possible agreement". Regarding the actual person who should participate in the meetings, two options on the table would be Didier Reynders, EU justice commissioner, and Věra Jourová, vice president for values and transparency. However, it would be the Commission itself that designates who the corresponding person would be. And the will of the PP is to resolve this issue before the European elections in June 2024.
Feijóo also spoke of the lack of confidence at how his interlocutor on previous occasions, the Socialist minister Félix Bolaños, had "lied to them repeatedly and continuously". In fact, the PP leader invited Sánchez to sack him, although he added that his way of working "is not to veto people".
Prevent judges from having to appear in Congress
In addition, Feijóo told Sánchez that he proposed to modify the regulations of the Congress of Deputies to make it clear that judges and prosecutors "do not have to appear before any commission of inquiry to account for their jurisdictional actions", in a gesture that, according to Feijóo, would be a "prerequisite and a sign of good faith to restore trust in judges", which is "indispensable".
Removal of a pejorative term from the Constitution
Finally, the meeting also considered the matter of the reform of Article 49 of the Constitution, to remove the Spanish word disminuidos, roughly equivalent to the pejorative English term "handicapped", when referring to people with disabilities. An issue involved was with the process for amending a Constitution which has only been altered twice in its 45-year history. In the meeting, Feijóo proposed maintaining the text agreed between the PP and the PSOE, to present the amendment with the signature of both parties before the end of the year and to agree that the amendment will only be accepted if both groups agree. He stressed that, under no circumstances must a referendum be held over the amendment - a process which is automatic if one tenth of MPs (that is, 35 members) request it. Feijoo insists that the PSOE must get Sumar to explicitly renounce that. The PP hopes that this whole process can culminate during the month of January, and Feijóo is optimistic.