Brussels, Apr 15 (EFE).- A European Parliamentary panel on civil liberties will this week discuss the controversial Spanish amnesty law that seeks to pardon separatists in the northeastern region of Catalonia.
On Thursday, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs of the European Parliament will discuss the law together with the president of the Venice Commission and the director of the European Commission for the Rule of Law, Fundamental Rights, and Democracy.
The panel has put out an agenda for this week, the last of the legislature, in which parliamentary committees met before the final session in Strasbourg between April 22 and 25 and the European elections between June 6 and 9.
The debate will feature Marta Cartabia, President of the Venice Commission, and Julien Mousnier, Director of the European Commission for the Rule of Law, Fundamental Rights, and Democracy.
Currently, there is no representative from the Spanish government listed on the agenda.
The European Commission has stated that it will refrain from commenting on whether the content of the amnesty law violates European legislation until it completes its review process in Spain.
The Venice Commission, an organ of the Council of Europe not affiliated with the European Union, issued a report in mid-March.
The report neither endorsed nor disavowed the law, although it did highlight that an amnesty cannot be tailored for specific people.
Additionally, it expressed concern about the recent two-month extension of the temporal scope of application “without justification.”
Meanwhile, the delegations in the European Parliament representing the PP, Ciudadanos, and Vox are trying to initiate another debate on the amnesty law during next week’s plenary session in Strasbourg.
This would mark the second debate in five months following the one held in November on the Rule of Law in Spain, featuring European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders.
Last month, Spain’s Congress approved the contentious amnesty bill that Catalan separatists demanded as a condition for supporting the country’s Socialist-led coalition government.
The proposed law aims to halt legal actions against people accused of separatist activity, primarily related to the 2017 Catalan bid for secession. It now awaits approval from the Senate. EFE
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