EFA MEPs Condemn Spain’s Democratic Violations in the EU
The European Parliament today voted on a report concerning the verification of MEPs' credentials.
MEPs receive their credentials from the European Parliament following notification by each Member State of the full election results, specifying the names of elected candidates and their substitutes.
The European Free Alliance (EFA) in the European Parliament condemns the Spanish government's manipulation and concealment of electoral results. In 2019, Oriol Junqueras, former EFA Group President, Carles Puigdemont, and Toni Comín were denied their credentials when Spain refused to recognise their election to the European Parliament. This constituted a serious violation of their political rights, as well as the rights of their voters, disregarding the will of millions of citizens who had placed their trust and votes in their elected representatives.
In 2024, Spain has repeated this undemocratic act. Toni Comín has yet to receive his credentials for this mandate, as the Spanish state continues to refuse to acknowledge his election, depriving millions of voters of their rightful representation.
Diana Riba i Giner, EFA Group President, stated:
"The Spanish state has repeatedly ignored the democratic will of Catalans, and in the case of the European Parliament elections, this has been blatant—always to the detriment of pro-independence parties."
"We strongly oppose the idea that Member States should be responsible for submitting the list of elected MEPs to the European Parliament. As we have seen, not all governments respect the outcomes of democratic elections."
"We will always work to ensure that the political rights of our representatives and voters are upheld.
The European Parliament must take responsibility and accept election results as they are, rather than relying on national administrations that have shown clear bias.”
The EFA Group remains committed to defending democracy and ensuring that voters’ elected representatives take their rightful place in the European Parliament.
