Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, his former jailed vice president Oriol Junqueras, and former minister Toni Comín, have all been officially recognised as MEPs by the European Parliament – and since 2 July 2019.
This is despite Spain’s Electoral Authority (JEC) ruling last Friday that Junqueras would not be allowed to receive his accreditation as an MEP.
In a communication issued by the European Parliament on Monday, it states that, ‘Following the judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union dated 19 December 2019, at the plenary sitting of 13 January 2020, the European Parliament will take note of the election as Members of the European Parliament’ of Comín, Junqueras and Puigdemont ‘with effect from 2 July 2019.’
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On Monday 30 December, Spain’s Attorney General office issued a recommendation to the Supreme Court that Junqueras should be allowed out of prison in order to collect his credentials as an MEP. This itself followed the ruling on 19 December by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg that Junqueras had immunity after being elected as an MEP on 26 May – and that he should have been free to take up his seat following the election.
Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín already acquired provisional accreditation as MEPs on 20 December, a day after the CJEU ruling. On Monday, however, they both picked up their full MEP passes.
The two Junts per Catalunya (JxCat) politicians went to the EU chamber with lawyer Gonzalo Boye, who later tweeted: ‘Mission accomplished’.
Misión cumplida @josepcosta pic.twitter.com/lutXu61yg7
— Gonzalo Boye (@boye_g) January 6, 2020
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