The article was created as part of the Voices of Europe 2024 project, carried out with 27 editorial offices from the European Union. task coordinates Voxeurop.
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Political pardons, independency of Catalonia, corruption and stableness of the national government Pedro Sánchez – these are the main topics of the Spanish elections to the European Parliament scheduled for 9 June. Well, very non-European subjects. Before the Euro elections, Spain elects its local government: at the end of the Basque Country, and in mid-May in Catalonia, where it failed to pass a regional budget for 2024.
The results in these 2 regions may undermine the stableness of the already unstable parliamentary majority of the current government. This can peculiarly be felt by Catalonia. Both the separatist organization of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC (Republic Left of Catalonia) which is part of the Greens Group – the Free Alliance (Greens/European Free Alliance, G/EFA) and the Junts per Catalunya, JxCat (Together for Catalonia) which is the organization of Carles Puigdemont, erstwhile president of the Catalan region, now support the government of Pedro Sánchez. Election results can test their support in the future.
The fight for triumph in the Spanish elections to the European Parliament will so focus more on national problems than on EU priorities for the next 5 years, specified as enlargement of the Union, migration, green and digital transformation, defence and Europe's independency in the geopolitical dispute arena.
One exception is agriculture. Both the utmost right-wing Vox (in Europarlamenta in the Group of European Conservatives and Reformists, ECR) and the conservative Partido Popular (Popular Party) which in Europarlamenta belongs to the European People's organization (EPP) argue the village's protests to the green agenda of Europe.
Another exception is migration. On this issue, the right promotes a closed-door policy – in contrast to the Spanish Government of the Socialist Workers' organization (PSOE), which in the European Parliament belongs to the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D). PSOE co-chairs Spain in a coalition with the progressive Sumar group (pol. Reunification), led by Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz of the United Left and populist and left-wing Podemos. The last of these parties late broke up with Sumar and intends to run with their own candidate, Irene Montero.
Montero, until late the Minister of Equality, will effort to usage the political space he gave her to participate in the coalition government. We can anticipate strong opposition to a strict policy at the EU borders, whose face is the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell (PSOE/S&D).
Both Sumar and Podemos will defend human rights and stay in pacifist positions despite the increasing militarism following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the strengthening of “Europe fortressIt’s okay. ” And in the position of the United States withdrawing from Europe (especially if Donald Trump wins the election). The political résumés of their leading candidates are in line with this scenario: Estrella Galán (Sumar) was the manager of the Spanish exile Assistance Commission (CEAR), and Montero, along with Podemos, demanded that Benjamin Netanjah be tried for genocide made in fresh bombings of Gaza.
The Left intends to mobilize its constituents in opposition to the conservative wave that threatens to change the balance of power in the European Parliament. A akin wave has already passed through national parliaments and changed the Council of the European Union - progressive governments are in number there. The Left will so inform against the risks to EU funds (Rebuilding Fund and Next Generation EU) resulting from the fresh taxation rules.
We can anticipate that the conservative and utmost right – in the Spanish parliament in opposition, but in power in any local governments – will consistently return to their favourite subjects. This concerns both Spain and Brussels and Strasbourg, where they are presently trying to influence the plenary sessions of the European Parliament and its Committee on Petitions, chaired by the erstwhile Minister of the People's Party, Dolors Montserrat.
What are those favourite subjects? First of all, threatening the dissolution of Spain and the collapse of the Constitution. no of these have yet occurred, or at least not in the way the right hand would condemn. The last improvement of the Constitution, an amendment on the sustainable budget, was adopted by the Socialists and the People's organization in 2011. Now, the top anger of the right-wing gives emergence to a bill that pardons the participants Catalan independency referendum October 1, 2017. The pardon concerns in practice respective 100 people, but PP and Vox are mainly threatened by the fact that it politically rehabilitates Carles Puigdemont. He managed to stay a associate of the European Parliament through the protection of European courts, and is presently moving in May elections to Catalan self-government.
In addition to returning to the pardon of Puigdemont, the right - the simply conservative 1 and the utmost 1 - hammers the communicative of the doctrine of “Sanczism” in order to discredit the coalition government in which the communists are placed and which is supported by Basque and Catalan separatists. It is worth recalling that this government was formed erstwhile PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo failed to build the required majority, although his organization won the most votes and the most seats during the last parliamentary election on 23 July last year.
Feijóo expected him to sit at the Prime Minister's residence at Moncloa Palace. This did not happen, so it now undermines the legitimacy of the coalition government – it does not appear to stop, at least, to the Euro-elections. Meanwhile, the government has difficulty voting on laws, and there are corruption scandals affecting both PP and PSOE. In the case of PP, the case concerns brother Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the leading politician of the People's organization and the president of the Commonwealth of Madrid. It was to make millions on commissions for selling masks during a pandemic and is accused of taxation fraud. 1 of the chief advisors of the erstwhile Minister of Transport, José Luis Ábalos of PSOE, is besides active in the affair.
Can the European subject be overcome by shouting about the "division of Spain", the cynicism caused by corruption and the side effects of regional elections in Catalonia and the Basque Country? Not likely. Rather, it is expected that the Spanish elections to Europarlamento will be the most national elections in its full history.
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Andrés Gil is the editor of the abroad department at elDiario.es. He began his journalistic career in “El País”, continued his work in “Prisa Revistas” and in ADN. On portal X publishes as @andresgil.
David Krawczyk translated from English.
