Politics

Mark Demesmaeker, MEP of the Flemish nationalist party N-VA, lamented on Wednesday that the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, had breached his promise to allow MEPs to address the plenary in Catalan. During his intervention in Strasbourg, he said that it is "a shame and a democratic deficit that Catalan - the 13th most spoken language in the EU, with more than 10 million speakers - cannot be used in a house that is supposed to be open and democratic". "I urge you to think that over again and fulfil your promise", concluded Demesmaeker, who was one of the observers of the 9-N non-binding referendum on Catalan independence last year.

The Catalan self-determination process and the 27-S elections' plebiscitary character were debated on Tuesday afternoon in the Irish Parliament (Oireachtas). The session took place in Dublin's Leinster House, introduced by the Chairman of the Commission for European Affairs of the Irish Parliament, the Labour Party’s Dominic Hannigan. The Catalan Government’s Secretary for External Affairs, Roger Albinyana, and the Secretary-General of Diplocat, Albert Royo, spoke about the Catalan self-determination process to members of the Irish Congress (Dáil) and Senate (Seanad), representing the majority of the political parties. The session was also attended by the Catalan Government’s delegate to the United Kingdom and Ireland, Josep Suàrez Iborra.

On Tuesday, Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, Chairman of the Unió Democràtica de Catalunya (UDC) governing committee, said that the EU finds "a bit odd" the proposal of an electoral list without politicians for the 27-S elections. Speaking to the press from the European Parliament in Strasbourg, he said it is hard to "understand" how Catalonia will be governed."Although the post 27-S Executive's only goal will be Catalan independence, health care and education will need to be managed", he highlighted. UDC Secretary General, Ramon Espadaler, added that "UDC received the support of European Christian Democratic party leaders to run alone in the 27-S elections". In June, due to their differences on Catalonia's independence, UDC split from Artur Mas’ Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC), after running together in every election since 1978 and having forged a political "federation" between them.

The Catalan National Assembly (ANC) has overwhelmingly voted 'yes' to the internal consultation on its participation in the negotiations aimed at shaping a highly transversal electoral proposal for the 27-S elections. On Monday, the President of the ANC, Jordi Sànchez said that in the coming days his organisation will talk with all the stakeholders involved in trying to reach the best agreement for Catalan independence, remaining open to different options. However, if a deal is not reached by 20 July, the ANC will leave the negotiation process that – according to Sànchez – will have to be completely public. In January, Mas' original proposal was to have a single list with political parties and civil society organisations but parties such as ERC rejected the idea, arguing for the need to have both right-wing and left-wing pro-independence options. In June, Mas' second proposal was to have a unitary list led by pro-independence organisations that – according to their will – could invite politicians on board.

A "no" vote is favoured by 50% of the population, according to the latest barometer by the Centre for Opinion Studies (CEO), which was made public Friday. The unionist option grew 2 points compared to March, the same amount the "yes" option lost, which stands at 42.9%. "The distance between the two options is considerable", said the director of the CEO, Jordi Argelaguet. Until now, they had stayed "neck and neck" in the most recent barometers; although for months the "no" vote maintained an upward trend. When the options were expanded beyond the plebiscite, an independent state was the top choice (37.6%), ahead of becoming an autonomous region (29.3%) and a federal state (24%).

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, said Wednesday that his June proposal for civil society groups to lead a unitary electoral list "does not at all break" the pact made in January between the CDC and ERC to run separately in the 27-S elections. The leader of the centre-right CDC argued that if civil society groups accept his proposal, civil society "won´t just invite the CDC and Mr. Mas" but "whomever they want" because the list would be "transversal". After Mas made these comments, the President of the centre-left ERC said if civil society groups drafted an electoral list excluding politicians altogether, the ERC would be the "first to accept" their proposal, as long as other independence parties also decide not to run for election. "We will never be an obstacle", Junqueras remarked.

The Catalan National Assembly (ANC) has defined a proposal on how parties should collaborate for the 27-S elections. The ANC wants to present as few pro-independence lists as possible, opening the door so that they can be formed and led, if necessary, by people from civil society. It also proposed that these lists be identifiable by a "common brand" and have a shared electoral programme and joint campaign events. Finally, the ANC wants a clear commitment on the governability of Catalonia after the 27-S. According to the organisation, voting "yes" to the internal consultation on 3 and 4 July endorses this proposal and signifies unity of action.

The Spanish Council of Ministers agreed on Friday to bring before Spain’s Constitutional Court (TC) the 16/2015 decree approved by the Catalan Government. The decree – adopted last February – established the Commissioner for National Transition, a position bestowed upon Catalan Jurist Carles Viver Pi-Sunyer. The Spanish Government's legal action also targets the Executive Plans for the creation of state structures and the plan for strategic infrastructure that the Commissioner is in charge of developing, in addition to "all the arrangements and actions linked to this decree and these plans, or in line with their purpose". The Spanish Executive has also filed an appeal to the TC in order to automatically suspend both the decree and the plans, according to Article 161.2 of the Spanish Constitution.

The president of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), Jordi Sánchez, guaranteed Thursday that the Assembly will "never" abandon its cross-platform cooperation, nor will it put any portion of its sovereignty to the side. "The day that the ANC defends one side will be the end of the ANC", he said during a press conference at the Born Cultural Centre. Sánchez, however, has asked that his words not be interpreted as a response to the proposal President Artur Mas launched this past Saturday. Mas called for a single, unitary list in favour of Catalan self-determination for the 27-S elections that included civil society organisations. Sánchez did warn that it is "difficult" to accept because there are widely divergent opinions in the internal debate. The Assembly will decide in the coming week how to respond to Artur Mas, and Sánchez pointed out that between "yes" and "no", they will seek other variants.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, warned on Monday that the self-determination process needs "enthusiasm", defining his proposal of a shared list with civil society organisations as a "spark" to retrieve it. In an interview with TV3, the President called for "personal and corporate agendas" not to overcome the country's interests, announcing that if grassroots organisations refuse his proposal, he will run in the next elections with his party, or an "enlarged" version of it. Mas - who met on Monday with the 3 grassroots organisations that organised the pro-independence demonstrations of 2012, 2013 and 2014 - pointed out that this is his last attempt to form a shared list "after the one with the political parties failed".

A brief swearing-in ceremony was held on Monday in the Generalitat Palace (the seat of the Catalan Government) when – after the Cabinet reshuffle – four new Catalan Ministers officially took office. During the event, the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, stated that the new Executive is "100% cohesive" in defending the full independence of Catalonia. This statement comes after the "painful" but "inevitable" separation between his party, Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) and its historical ally, Unió Democràtica de Catalunya (UDC); a long-awaited split mostly due to disagreement over Catalonia's independence debate. During the ceremony, Mas also thanked the three outgoing Ministers.

After running together in every election since 1978, Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) and Unió Democràtica de Catalunya (UDC) are splitting apart. The Liberal party CDC, which is the larger force within the centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU (running the Catalan Government since 2010), supports full independence from Spain while the Christian-Democrat UDC does not have a clear stance on the issue and its leadership is against it and is supporting a Catalan State confederated with Spain. After UDC held an internal consultation over the issue last weekend, which split the Christian-Democrats into two camps, crisis within CiU seemed inevitable. On Wednesday, UDC announced it was leaving the Catalan Government but not CiU. The Liberal CDC met that night and, on Thursday morning, announced "the CiU is over"; that they were splitting from the Christian-Democrats for "deep reasons".

The Catalan Government approved decrees on Tuesday for the creation of three new delegations abroad, in the Holy See, Portugal and Morocco. TheMinister of the Presidency, Francesc Homs, said the purpose of opening these delegations is to facilitate bilateral relations and defend the social and economic interests of Catalonia abroad. With these new delegations, which are included in the Foreign Action Strategic Plan 2015-2018, the Government of Catalonia will have an international network of 10 offices abroad.

Tensions over the issue of independence between the two parties forming the CiU coalition have caused a government crisis in Catalonia. Three ministers from the Christian-Democrat party UDC, the smaller party within the CiU, have left government after their allies of 37 years, CDC, presented them with an “ultimatum”. The governing council of UDC decided on Wednesday, with 16 votes in favour, 10 against and 2 abstentions, that Vice-president Joana Ortega, Minister of Agriculture Josep Maria Pelegrí and Minister of Home Affairs Ramon Espadaler, who is also the secretary general of UDC, should quit Artur Mas’ government. UDC voted on Sunday by a slim majority in favour of an ambiguous stance on the issue of independence, in which the party supported the right to self-determination but fell short of stating whether or not Catalonia should actually vote ‘yes’ to full independence from Spain. Following the result, the Liberal party CDC, led by Mas, urged their coalition partners to state clearly whether or not they are for independence. Elections to the Catalan Parliament are expected to be held on the 27 of September, and may be considered a plebiscite on independence. Tensions between CDC and UDC over the reluctance of the latter to clearly support independence make it unlikely that they will run together, although UDC has said it will still provide parliamentary support to CDC in the coming months and won’t split the coalition at local level.

The centre-right pro-Catalan State two-party coalition CiU, which runs the Catalan Government, may be on the verge of splitting up after three-and-a-half decades, and having run together in all the elections. The smaller force within the CiU, the Christian-Democrat party UDC, is going through serious internal tension over Catalonia's independence debate. The party leadership does not support independence, while a significant part of its members does. Added to this, the larger force within the CiU, the Liberal party CDC, is now the main party within the pro-independence camp. However, UDC does not have an official stance on independence and has been avoiding the issue so far, supporting Catalonia's right to self-determination, the organisation of a referendum on this issue and the creation of a Catalan State with full sovereignty, but without specifying its stance on the crucial point: whether this state would be fully independent or would be confederated with Spain. On Sunday, the party held an internal consultation on the party's role in the self-determination process. The vote became a plebiscite on the UDC's leadership. 51% of the members supported the leadership's approach and 46% voted against it.