EU court backs Spain’s Catalan separatist amnesty law

The European Union's top court upheld Spain's contested 2024 amnesty law for Catalan separatists involved in a failed secession bid, giving a symbolic boost to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

The Court of Justice of the European Union agreed with Spain's Socialist-led government that the law complies with EU legislation. The Luxembourg-based court said EU law did not prevent the amnesty and said the measure sought to reduce institutional and political tensions and support reconciliation.

The law was passed to secure the support of Catalan separatist parties that allowed Sanchez to stay in power after Spain's inconclusive 2023 general election. It was also intended to ease tensions in Catalonia after the region's 2017 breakaway attempt, which caused Spain's worst political crisis in decades. The law also triggered mass protests by the right.

Justice Minister Felix Bolanos said the legislation had been strongly rejected by part of the population, but said it had been worth it. He said its effects had helped normalise the political crisis in Catalonia and argued that even its strongest critics would not want to give up its benefits.

The main opposition Popular Party, which voted against the law, said no court ruling could erase what it called the serious irresponsibility committed by the separatist movement.

Around 400 people linked to the independence push have benefited from the amnesty, which Sanchez said was needed to end years of confrontation between Madrid and Catalonia. But former Catalan regional leader Carles Puigdemont has not benefited. Puigdemont headed Catalonia's regional government when it held a banned independence referendum and tried to secede from Spain in 2017. He left for Belgium to avoid detention after the referendum and remains the target of an arrest warrant.

Spain's Supreme Court ruled that the amnesty law did not apply to people investigated for misuse of public funds. Puigdemont has been accused of misusing public money to organise the 2017 referendum.

The EU court said granting amnesty for misuse of funds would not undermine the European Union's financial interests. Puigdemont welcomed the ruling in a statement, calling it a political triumph for Catalan independence against the powers of the Spanish state and saying it left no loophole.

Spain's Constitutional Court is expected to rule in coming months on whether the amnesty should apply to misuse of public funds.

The ruling comes as corruption scandals involving people close to Sanchez have weakened his minority government, which has struggled to pass legislation. Puigdemont's Junts party has withdrawn support for the government, accusing Sanchez of failing to meet commitments, including amnesty for Puigdemont. Bolanos said the amnesty law would be fully implemented only once it also applied to the political leaders who drove the Catalan independence movement, which he said should happen as soon as possible.