Esquerra Republicana applauds the recommendation by the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to uphold the Junqueras Doctrine in the case of MEPs Puigdemont and Comín taking their seats. The Junqueras Doctrine is the result of the argument espoused by legal counsel Andreu Van den Eynde in 2019 which led to the CJEU making it clear that the condition of MEPs is achieved by election at the polls, over and above any domestic procedures in each member state.

On Tuesday, the Attorney General of the CJEU lamented that the General Court of the European Union (EGC) had ignored the Junqueras Doctrine in ruling on an appeal by MEPs Puigdemont and Comín in regard to their taking their seats.

Esquerra Republicana considers the position of the CJEU Attorney General very good news, and hopes that it will be ratified in a forthcoming ruling. In this regard, Esquerra has drawn attention to the efforts they have made in the struggle against repression, also in Europe, and which has benefited all those affected by political coercion, a task that has led to pardons, the repeal of sedition, and to the amnesty bill.

For Oriol Junqueras, the doctrine did not come in time for him to take his seat, owing to the manoeuvres by Spanish judge Marchena and the final ruling by the Supreme Court, but it has allowed MEPs Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí to exercise since and to enjoy the immunity the post entails. Esquerra is sure that Tuesday's announcement must serve to guarantee access to seats in the coming European legislatures once a verdict has been passed, without heed to the obligation to swear the Spanish Constitution as required by the Central Electoral Board, depending only on the election results.