The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the EU’s highest court, ruled on 16 July that Spain’s amnesty law for people involved in Catalonia’s independence drive does not breach EU law. The decision supports the law’s stated reconciliation aim but does not itself resolve the outstanding legal position of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont.

For people covered by the law, the ruling removes two EU-law objections raised in Spanish proceedings: alleged harm to the EU’s financial interests and a possible conflict with EU anti-terrorism rules. Spanish courts must still decide how the judgment applies in individual cases.

“The court does not oppose a law which, in order to reduce institutional and political tensions and facilitate a process of reconciliation, provides for the extinction of criminal liability.”

Court rejects EU-budget argument

One CJEU decision examined whether public money used in connection with Catalonia’s unauthorised 2017 independence referendum could have affected the EU budget. Spain’s Court of Auditors had argued that EU funds might indirectly have replaced Spanish expenditure, or that the spending could have reduced Spain’s contribution to the EU budget.

The Luxembourg court rejected that reasoning. It held that a possible effect on the EU budget cannot arise solely from damage to a national budget, and that the EU’s financial interests are not affected merely by a fall in gross national income.

The court also found that EU law does not prevent a member state from adopting and applying an amnesty law in this area, because this falls within national competence. Spain’s lower house approved the legislation in 2024, covering hundreds of officials and activists connected with offences linked to the independence movement from 2011.

Puigdemont’s warrant remains for Spanish courts

The judgment is relevant to Puigdemont, who has been unable to benefit fully from the amnesty while cases against him remain open. It ends the Court of Auditors case concerning him and other Catalan officials, according to reporting on the ruling.

However, the CJEU did not decide whether Puigdemont should receive amnesty in the Supreme Court case or whether his domestic arrest warrant should be lifted. The Supreme Court has previously declined to apply the amnesty in relation to alleged diversion of public funds for the 1 October referendum.

  • The CJEU said a two-month deadline for decisions on amnesty is lawful in principle.
  • It said national courts must await CJEU preliminary-reference judgments before making decisions where such references are pending.
  • Puigdemont’s constitutional appeal remains before Spain’s Constitutional Court, while the arrest warrant remains in force.

Those seeking confirmation of how the ruling affects a particular case will need to follow the decision of the Spanish court handling that case, as the CJEU has left the law’s individual application to national judges.

Primary sources: curia.europa.eu. Reported by Source Text Link, Al Jazeera Staff, politico.eu, euractiv.com, euronews.com, Mark Hallam News and current affairs writer and editor with DW since 2006. @marks_hallam, Gerard Fageda, eunews.it, Diari ARA.