Speeches

Mr President, last week, Mr Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, the Prime Minister of Spain, went to Istanbul to visit his friend, President Erdoğan. They appeared before the press and Erdoğan took the occasion to speak strongly against the Istanbul Convention, with very offensive remarks about women. Mr Sánchez listened impassively, he smiled and uttered no words beyond friendship, investment or economic times. Erdoğan’s remarks were as offensive as his behaviour over the ‘sofagate’ scandal. But no one in Brussels has bothered to react, not even to express concern. This Spanish talk of friendship is a dangerous liaison indeed, and the Commission should be watching it, because beyond undermining the Istanbul Convention, the close friendship between Spain and Turkey is a threat to European security and stability much more widely. Spain sells Turkey the boats that threaten the security of Greece and Cyprus, and weapons that fuel the conflict in the Middle East. And meanwhile, Spanish banks are investing in a very volatile Turkish economy that can bring big risks to the eurozone. Commissioners, please watch out for Spain and Turkey.

Mr President, the global pandemic has led to a consensus on something as simple as large corporations having to contribute to the welfare state in the same way as small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Better late than never. The international agreement is good news. As the agreement was reached, the Spanish Government announced the minimum corporate rate of 15%, as recommended, but they are cheating: the 15% applies to the tax base, not to profits – not a small detail. The inability to properly tax large corporations and the very rich undermines the legitimacy of any redistributive system and demoralises honest taxpayers. When public figures get away with fraud and tax evasion, the moral compass of society is bankrupt. Former king of Spain Juan Carlos amassed huge sums as an international commissioner, all for the benefit of his family, including the present king. But they never pay taxes on these kickbacks, or ‘presents’, as they call them. But hey, no problem! Spanish tax authorities, judges and political parties all agree: they will not investigate the dirty business of the monarchy. Further proof that in Spain we are not all equal before the law.

Mr President, Prime Minister, how the EU responds to the crisis will shape the future of the EU; the authority and credibility of our own institutions are at stake. And it is not just about Poland. What we see in Poland arises from the laxity of the European institutions with powerful Member States like Spain that have a good grip on the machinery in Brussels. We have denounced this indulgence with Spanish abuses of the rule of law one time and another. But you do not listen. This double standard is now catching up with you. Your lack of moral authority to prevail before Member States not as powerful as Spain that dare to openly challenge the Union and take us all to the brink of an existential crisis. Know that whatever do you do with Poland, Ms von der Leyen, soon enough you will have to do with Spain. Because the Spanish culture – as openly violating EU law ... and the day of reckoning is approaching. Perhaps that is exactly why, probably, you will do nothing.

Mr President, the creation of a fully-fledged agency for asylum will be a step in the right direction, provided that it focuses on the role of controlling Member States abuses of human rights against asylum seekers and immigrants. The new tools to improve asylum procedures will do very little to protect fundamental rights as long as the focus of the immigration policy of the Union is on securing external borders. This focus on external borders has led to turning a blind eye to gross violations of international law by Member States, including pushbacks at borders, often through violent means, and to collaboration with autocratic regimes that use refugee flows as their tool to blackmail the EU. If we are serious about protecting the rule of law, we should start by shifting the focus of immigration policy towards safeguarding fundamental rights and refugee protection, while at the same time protecting local communities that directly suffer the stress of new arrivals. Anything else just makes us an accessory to human rights violations and to the rise of xenophobia.

Madam President, this rampant escalation of energy prices is a direct threat to EU stability. Winter is coming and energy poverty will soon be widespread. The problem is especially acute in Spain, where the dependency on gas is now combined with the huge political power of the energy monopoly. With Aznar, González and their buddies sitting on the boards of energy companies, the Spanish energy market is a textbook example of regulatory capture. Spain’s vivid lessons of what not to do in energy policy include grotesque initiatives like the taxation of self-production of families and SMEs. Populists are surely taking this emergency as their opportunity to undermine progress towards the green transition, but the Green Deal is the only pathway to cheaper energy access and to evade climate change. But the Commission must do much more. You need to be much more active on transparency. Consumers must easily understand their energy bill so that society does not associate rising prices with the green transition. More action is needed on energy efficiency, and tolerance of revolving doors must end.

(inaudible) ... a few weeks ago, revealing that the intrusion affected many victims from many countries, mentioning explicitly the case of Catalonia. This very same week, Apple urged to update its operating system to protect users from intrusion by Pegasus. Among the victims of these spy programs, there is the Catalan independence movement. The clients of Pegasus are governments – the government of Spain. Can you imagine if the government of your own Member State spied on an elected representative? The scandal would lead to a major political crisis. But Spain is doing it with absolute impunity. Espionage of opponents is the defining trait of the world’s autocratic regimes. If you do not take these crimes seriously, if you do not curb espionage by Member States, European democracy is at grave danger.

Mr President, I say to President von der Leyen: the recommendations of the Council of Europe regarding Spain had a very long list of homework that has not been followed, and you are silent about it. The Spanish Government has taken no action to stop repression and to end judicial abuse. Just a few days ago, a spokesman for the Spanish Popular Party was boasting in a newspaper interview that his party has the support of the majority of the judiciary, and no one seems uncomfortable about this. Authoritarian judges on an anti—Catalan crusade do the dirty work for Mr Pedro Sánchez. Looking away from the elephant in the room will not work! And it is costly as long as Europe denounces its obligation to check on Spain’s authoritarian and illegal tendencies. Europe is bound to become the alibi for any bully that needs one, let it be Morocco, Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia or soon the powers of Asia. Spain is the Achilles heel of the EU, its national insecurity that needs to crush all plurality is the backdoor for the authoritarianism spreading to the European institutions. Do not let this happen under your watch!

Mr President, I would like to thank President von der Leyen for speaking so eloquently of the Union’s challenges. President von der Leyen, it is too bad that you were not very precise, but I presume you were referring to Spain. Yes, Mr Sánchez is not talking of dialogue; yes, nine political prisoners are finally home after years in jail – but the prosecution of Catalan dissidents, including state espionage of political opponents, goes on unrelenting. Yesterday it was announced that 13 activists will have to stand trial on terrorism charges that are totally fabricated. So what is Mr Sánchez’s proposal? Political and cultural repression, economic suffocation, submission. But the Catalan people will not give in to fear. On Saturday, hundreds of thousands marched on the streets of Barcelona. Their message was loud and clear: we Catalans have the right to self-determination and we voted to be independent on 1 October 2017. No other political movement in Europe mobilises popular support and has the resilience of the Catalan cause. In spite of Spanish repression and in spite of indifference from the institutions of Europe, we shall overcome.

Mr President, I would say to the Commissioner that while we procrastinate on budget conditionality, in Spain day by day the rule of law becomes the rule of laughter. Just two examples: Andreu Mas—Colell, 77, distinguished economist, Harvard professor, former administrator of the Catalan Government. His assets are about to be seized by the Spanish Court of Auditors without due process; Marcel Vivet, 26, a schoolteacher, he went to a demonstration to protest police violence. Weeks later, he was arrested and now he has been convicted to five years in jail. What do Mas—Colell and Vivet have in common? Well, they are Catalans. They are democrats. They are victims of political persecution in Spain. While you draft guidelines, Spain disobeys the Council of Europe. Don’t be fooled – the Spanish Government has granted nine pardons, but the persecution of Catalan dissidents persists and hundreds, hundreds, are in the pipeline to stand trial before judges that ignore the presumption of innocence. So, Commissioner, make sure the government of Spain complies with the full homework assignment by the Council of Europe. Stop getting dragged into the mire of Spanish repression.