Jordi Solé (MEP): ‘We won't ask Brussels for permission to have our referendum’

Member of European Parliament says EU should only "get involved" in Catalonia to help "implement" referendum result

MEP Jordi Solé duing the interview (by Alan Ruiz)
MEP Jordi Solé duing the interview (by Alan Ruiz) / Laura Pous

Laura Pous | Barcelona

August 12, 2017 08:26 AM

Catalan MEP Jordi Solé, from the Greens-EFA group in the European Parliament, says Catalonia does not need EU "permission" to organize an independence referendum on October 1. "We won't ask permission from Brussels or the EU to have our referendum because we don't want to ask for permission to implement our basic rights and freedoms," he said in an interview with Catalan News.

Solé said that there is a "genuine democratic demand behind the movement towards independence in Catalonia" that politicians in Brussels can actually understand. "They realize that political demands such as the Catalan one have to be managed politically," he added, regretting the Spanish government attitude. "They have refused to engage in solving the situation," he said.

The MEP explained that the EU should probably "get involved" in the Catalan situation after the vote in order to help make the result a reality. "The involvement of the EU, especially after October 1, will be clear, and probably EU institutions, member states and the European Commission will have to get involved. Not in the result as such, but in how it is implemented," he explained.