The European Parliament approves the recommendations to the States and the Commission contained in the report of the Committee of Inquiry into Pegasus and other spyware

Esquerra spokeswoman and Vice-Chair of the European Parliament Pegasus Committee Diana Riba was “reasonably satisfied with the results” after the European Parliament approved the recommendations to the States and the Commission included in the report of the Committee of Inquiry into Pegasus and other spyware. She applauded the fact that “our parliamentary group, the Greens/EFA, has managed to introduce a large number of amendments for Spain to be placed on this list of reprehensible countries violating fundamental rights, together with Poland, Hungary, Greece and Cyprus.”

Ms Riba sees the report in a very positive light, clear and forceful in demanding “a full, fair and effective investigation by which full clarity is provided on all cases of the use of spyware, including 47 Catalangate cases where it is not yet clear who is behind it.” In addition, Ms Riba points out that the fact that the text calls for the involvement of Europol in the investigations “evidences the lack of trust of the European institutions in those of Spain.”

Even so, Ms Riba has also been critical of the way the investigation committee has proceeded. “The common front formed by the People’s Party, the Socialists, VOX and Ciudadanos has not prevented Catalangate from being central throughout the text; Spain appears as one of the main violators of rights; and they have also been unable to prevent the mission to Spain they so feared,” she assured. But she regrets that “they have done whatever they could to block the investigation and have managed to introduce certain amendments to water down parts of the text.”

In this regard, Ms Riba explains that the amendments presented by VOX, in which the pro-independence process was identified as a coup d’etat and Citizen Lab was discredited, have been totally rejected. She states that “the narrative criminalizing pro-independence that the diehard right and the far right have been attempting unsuccessfully to establish for months, has also been spurned in the European Union.”

“All in all, the final balance is positive for the interests of Catalonia and we may say that the work done by the pro-independence parties and civil society with whom we have worked in a coordinated manner throughout these months has shown good results,” confirms Ms Riba.

Esquerra MEP and member of the European Parliament Pegasus Committee Jordi Solé expressed the same idea. He affirmed that “the message for the Spanish authorities is clear: investigation, transparency and reparation for the victims is necessary.” He went on to warn Spain that “it is not only the pro-independence people” who want answers but also the European Parliament, which “calls on the Spanish authorities to cooperate and speed up the procedures” to shed light on this “unprecedented attack on a democratic movement within a European member state.” Mr Solé, who is also a victim of Pegasus espionage, added that the final text is “a victory before the PSOE–PP–VOX–Ciudadanos front.” “Europe points a finger at Spain, and the State cannot turn a blind eye,” he concluded.

Beyond the specific case of Spain, although the text does not contemplate a ban on the spyware or a moratorium until there is an adequate legal framework limiting their use, as requested by the Greens/ALE, it does require the Member States carry out a series of specific actions and reforms by the end of the year with the aim of restricting their use very considerably, if not entirely. In addition, it also proposes the European Commission adopts specific measures to modify the existing Community regulations that help to set limits on the use of this type of weapons of war.

Another positive point in the report approved today has to do with the concept of “national security.” The report sets forth the need to agree on a meaning for the concept at the European level so that, as Ms Riba commented, “this is not a catch-all which can justify any violation of fundamental rights by the States.”

Finally, Esquerra’s spokeswoman also pointed out that the recommendations approved call for the creation of a European technological laboratory that has the power to scan the phones of citizens suspected of having been infected so that they may have authoritative, recognized evidence to present in corresponding legal proceedings.