european people's party

European Parliament urges Spain to investigate Francoism crimes

December 14, 2016 06:55 PM | ACN

The European Parliament approved on Tuesday with 456 votes in favour, 138 against and 104 abstentions a resolution on fundamental rights in the EU. The draft, written by the Slovak MEP of the European People's Party (EPP), József Nagy, includes a specific call for Spain to investigate Francoism crimes. The amendment states that it “essential that all Member States cooperate with national and international judicial investigations” in order to “ensure truth, justice and reparations for victims of crimes against humanity committed by totalitarian regimes in the EU”. Furthermore, it calls on the European Commission to make an “objective assessment of the situation” in “all” states “to promote the historical memory”. The text was promoted, among others, by MEPs from the Catalan left-wing pro-independence party (ERC), the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT), and the Catalan Green-Socialist party (ICV). Currently in Catalonia there are 390 mass graves and the number of people who went missing during the Franco era and are still yet to be located totals 4,912 people.

European People's Party won't recognise the legality of secessionist processes

October 22, 2015 06:35 PM | ACN / Sara Prim

The Spanish People's Party promoted a resolution this Wednesday during the European People's Party (EPP) Statutory Congress in Madrid to guarantee that the party won't recognise the legality of secessionist processes in EU. "Any self-proclaimed sovereignty process aimed at unilaterally declaring the secession of territories forming part of Member States is beyond the realms of legality and, therefore, will not be recognized as legal by the other Member States" reads the text. The resolution was approved by simple majority and all 16 MEPs from Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU) voted against the resolution. "We support a position which is balanced between autonomies' rights and territories' integrity" stated CSU's spokesman at the EPP meeting, Reinhold Bocklet. "We don't like to be involved in Spain's internal problems" he concluded. Other groups also voted against the resolutions and there were many abstentions, in a Statutory Congress that was attended by 14 Heads of Member States.