The blockade of Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín's EU mandates was illegal, the European Court of Justice ruled and referred the case back to the EU court. The Catalan independence advocates have now received a temporary accreditation for the EU Parliament. They apply from January.
"It is a day of joy, not only for us, but for all those who believe in a Europe based on the will of its citizens," said exiled Puigdemont, who proudly wore his provisional blue parliament passport.
He and Comín were elected to the European Parliament as Catalan MPs in May, but could not take up their mandate because the government in Madrid blocked their swearing-in. Your accreditation with the EU Parliament should now be completed in early January. In the first instance, they had failed with a lawsuit before the EU court.
In Spain, Puigdemont and other Catalan supporters of independence have been prosecuted by the judiciary for alleged insurrection. However, the European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that parliamentary immunity applies to MEPs from the moment they are elected. Accordingly, they should have taken up their mandate.
A number of Catalan politicians and other supporters of independence are in prison in Spain; they had been sentenced to many years in prison for their efforts to secede Catalonia from Spain.