Europe in the Procés: European (dis-)integration and Catalan secessionism (original) (raw)

International and European Institutions and Catalan Nationalism

Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 2024

The exercise of public power by substate entities poses a challenge for international law. Although such entities lack international legal personality, their actions can have international significance and, because they are state organs, must always adhere to the international obligations assumed by the state. In Spain, the autonomous communities exercise broad powers, which, in the case of Catalonia (via the Generalitat), include education, healthcare, prisons and police. Research shows that the Generalitat has exercised-and, to some extent, continues to exercise-some of its powers in disregard of certain constitutional and legal obligations. This action by public authorities in disregard of the law can have international consequences, and various international organizations have expressed positions on it through their bodies. This paper examines these positions on the Generalitat's actions in connection with the secession process and other related policies, including both those that have been critical of this behaviour and those that have expressed direct or indirect support for it. The practice of the European Union, the Council of Europe, and the UN Human Rights Council through its Special Rapporteur on minority issues is analysed.

The Challenge of Catalan Secessionism to the European Model of the Rule of Law

Hague Journal on the Rule of Law

Far from being an abstract concept, international, European, and Spanish legal orders clearly conceptualize “rule of law”. Catalan secessionism, appealing to the democratic principle, challenged the common understanding of rule of law in the period between 2012 and 2017. This article offers a detailed explanation on how secessionism fundamentally disregarded the common understandings of the rule of law principle and, more precisely, two of its essential elements: the principles of legality and respect for courts. In relation to the former, Catalan separatism assumed competences attributed to the central state, ignored procedural guarantees in passing legislation on the referendum, and adopted ad hoc legal supremacy. In relation to the second, Catalan authorities repeatedly ignored and disobeyed the Spanish Constitutional Court’s rulings. However, disrespect for Constitutional justice turned into an appeal to it when Catalan secessionist leaders sought to defend their individual righ...

"The accommodation of secessionist movements in the EU. A legal and political approach"

PULLING TOGETHER OR PULLING APART - CONFERENCE organized by the Department of Hispanic Studies, Trinity College Dublin, June 2015. Nationalist movements pursuing secession or self-determination within the European Union (EU) have been brought back to the public debate with the referendum calls from Scotland and Catalonia. These nations have requested higher levels of sovereignty “within Europe”, showing they are determined to remain in the EU and feel encouraged by the belief that democratic Europe is supportive of the regions. Hence, today these once considered domestic conflicts cannot be understood without their European dimension. Consequently, this paper will comparatively examine the legal and political aspects of the EU’s membership impact on the right to secede from a liberal state, looking at the possible solutions opened in the EU arena for claims originated within its borders. In particular, this paper will look at whether EU enables or dismisses secession from a Member State, and thus clarify, if an accession process should be started from scratch as per external enlargements, or whether an eventual ‘internal enlargement’ is possible and subsequently the EU should have a role regarding the accommodation of secessionist movements. It will also explore at the potential political negotiation processes involved. For these purposes, it will be analysed what are the European constitutional issues and political variables that shape the constitutional interpretations of the EU legal system. It will aim to provide a more accurate expression of the consequences of secession, for which emerging meanings of the subsidiarity principle and EU citizenship will be explored. Ultimately, it will comprise a general EU level reflection on the consequences of secession and the possibilities opened in the European arena to better accommodate minority nations with self-government desires. Keywords: “European Union”, “Self-determination”, “Constitutional law”, “EU accession”, “Political change” “Institutional change”.

Catalonia: Self-Determination, Secession, and Integration

Benedikt C. Harzl & Roman Petrov (eds.) Unrecognized Entities: Perspectives in International, European and Constitutional Law, 2021

In the fall of 2017, the Parliament of Catalonia passed the Self-Determination Referendum Act and the Legal Transition and Foundation of the Republic Act. The first act called a unilateral referendum of independence, whereas the second act was a provisional constitutional framework for an independent Catalonia. While I have addressed the issue of State coercion at length elsewhere, my chapter in "Unrecognized Entities: Perspectives in International, European and Constitutional Law" will focus on the circumstances of the Self-Determination Referendum Act and on the design of the Legal Transition Act, which has not received much academic thought. The second part of my contribution will concentrate on self-determination and secession in the European Union.

Leaving Europe leaving Spain comparing secessionism from and within the European Union

West European Politics, 2023

Are secessionisms from and within the EU comparable? What motivates them and to what extent do they pose similar challenges to EU territorial governance? This article addresses these questions by comparing the framing of the British Leave campaign and the Catalan independence movement. Drawing on the FraTerr database and method, the analysis suggests that secessionism from the EU and secessionism within the EU are different political phenomena despite sharing an emphasis on sovereignty and the common goal of breaking-up from an existing polity. Secessionism from the EU is primarily a call for the recovery of lost sovereignty and of classical functions of the state such as border control. Secessionism within the EU invokes sovereignty as the right to external self-determination and adds narratives around a better future and greater democratic quality and social justice. These two types of secessionism pose different challenges to EU territorial governance because the first entails a full rejection of the European project while the latter calls for a review of European multi-level governance.

Public International Law and the Catalan Secession Process

Hague journal on the rule of law, 2024

This article briefly identifies the aspects of public international law related to the Catalan secession process, bearing in mind that Spain is a constitutional social and democratic state governed by the rule of law and a member of both the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe (CoE). Over 6 years ago, on 27 October 2017, the regional Catalan Parliament proclaimed the independence of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. From the start, the most recondite stratum of the Catalan proindependence strategy has consistently invoked international law considerations with no real basis. Here we explain why. First, given the function of state sovereignty (today humanized and, in the context of the EU and CoE, democratized), under international law, these events can only be classified as a secession process (stricto sensu), that is, a revolutionary act in the constitutional order of the state of Spain with undertones that are far from peaceful. Second, we address the facet of the Catalan pro-secession strategy-typical of populist policies today-consisting of abusing terms and concepts, a language policy that, in our view, was and still is intended to win the minds of both the Catalan population and any other uninformed external observers. Finally, we examine how statehood is acquired under international law and its relationship to the 2017 declaration of Catalan independence and the present-day situation.