The conversations between the Government and the PP to renew the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) had been stranded for months. The distrust was and remains total at a point where Moncloa blames the conservatives for being the only ones blocking, while Génova defends the need for a new election system for members. But in the PP they also admit that they needed a “discursive novelty” to get out of the “loop” in which the debate was and, incidentally, force the Government to move its position. And that is why a few days ago they made the decision to propose that the European Commission be in charge of monitoring the conversations.
This de facto implies the entry of a third actor into the negotiation. The popular ones are making an effort to separate European mediation from the verifiers agreed between the Government and the pro-independence parties. They focus on the fact that the European institutions “have delegated national sovereignty” and that the people who could be in charge of that supervision, the commissioner Didier Reynders or the vice president Věra Jourová, “they don’t exactly share a profile” with the Salvadoran diplomat whom the PP criticizes so much. But in the hard core of Alberto Núñez Feijóo they assume that they will receive attacks and criticismespecially from his rival on the right and partner in different governments, Vox.
Santiago Abascal’s party was quick to point out “its concern” after knowing the conclusions of the meeting between Sánchez and Feijóo in Congress this Friday. They quickly focused their fire on the figure of international mediation, even though it falls on the European Commission. “We are perplexed given the proposal that the renewal of Spanish justice be done with the mediation of Europe. We cannot deliver national issues to supranational organizations,” insisted sources from the extreme right.
Those around the popular leader quickly took on this criticism, insisting that “Feijóo’s obligation is what it is” and it involves trying to get out of the blockade. Of course, they are no strangers to the fact that there will be more attacks and movements by Vox, which has accumulated annoyance with the conservative leader in recent weeks. The words of the minister spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, speaking of the Commission as the agent that “will mediate and verify” he was also warned within Genoa. Different officials consulted by this newspaper agree that the Executive “he will use very complicated language for the PP.”
The biggest risk of Feijóo’s proposal was precisely this: that the framework of the mediatorswhich they criticize so much in the PP and of which they are making the opposition flag, can jump through the air when they now have one. In the popular leadership they are very critical of this possibility, criticizing that comparisons can be made between foreign verifiers and the supervision of the European Commission, which has been ruling on the matter for months.
For Vox, this rapprochement between PP and PSOE is “the worst possible whitening” for Sánchez in the middle of his agreements with the independentists and about to consummate the motion of censure in Pamplona by which the socialists will hand over the baton of command to EH Bildu.
Feijóo’s decision
Before the meeting, sources from Genoa assured that they would a proposal to which the Government “could not say no”. The idea came after a time in which the PP had difficulties setting the pace and getting out of the “loop.” of Council. The popular They have been changing their position. If in the summer of 2022 they were close to reaching an agreement, the reform of the Penal Code to eliminate the crime of sedition blew everything up. From that moment on, there was an enormous hardening of the position, to the point that Feijóo linked the renewal to the approval of a reform of the law to change the system of election of members. That there was a key electoral cycle ahead for the PP had a lot to do with it.
During his investiture, which was unsuccessful, he continued to defend the new law, although he again opened himself to renewing the CGPJ with the current system, as long as the legal reform arrived simultaneously. He returned, somehow, to his previous position. And this is what he defends now under the supervision, the great novelty, of the European Commission.
What they say in the PP is that you cannot “continue making things dizzy” and that things must be done in parallel. That is: they would agree to the renewal of the members if the Executive really assumes that the election system has to be changed. And in Genoa they are convinced that their position It is the one that Brussels also has and, therefore, even assuming that there may be some wear and tear, they made the decision to propose it. A couple of days ago from the PP They contacted “discreetly” with the Commission to probe whether they would welcome being in the conversations. The answer was affirmative and, from there, Feijóo decided to carry it out. There will be three-way meetings and they will all take place in Spain. It is no coincidence that the popular ones bet on involve community institutions at a time when their entire strategy against the amnesty law, for example, is focused on Europe.
If there is an agreement, popular sources say, “it will be done quickly”. And although the mantra continues to be that it must be done in parallel, in the PP they recognize that with real guarantees “everything can be seen.” This is leaving the door open so that renewal comes first and progress is made in the new law. Feijóo has the proposal very worked out and as explained in Genoa, he would allow “that there would never be a blockade again” because, among other things, future renewals would be guaranteed automatically.
Bolaños-Pons tension
Related news
The interlocutors will remain the same despite the unrest in the PP. In fact, Feijóo’s hard core expresses their wish that the Government would have appointed another person. In Genoa they believe that the current Minister of Justice has lost legitimacy in this negotiation after Commissioner Reynders “denied” his words when he stated that the Commission had shown “zero concern & rdquor; due to the situation of the rule of law in Spain. Furthermore, the PP accuses Bolaños of having “lied” to them in a “repeated and continuous” manner.
In Moncloa they made it clear that they will not change their interlocutor and they also harshly attacked the PP for their words. In Genoa they responded bluntly: “If he continues in his efforts to manipulate public opinion, we will be able to show the content of the messages sent by the minister and that prove his falsehoods,” they go so far as to say, anticipating that the tension between the two, Bolaños and Esteban González Ponscan still scale a lot.