For the third consecutive year, the European Commission asks Spain to put an urgent end to the blockade in the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), the governing body of Spanish judges.
The Community Executive has published this Wednesday its third report on the rule of law in the EU, an exhaustive review of the breaches of the 27 partners in this area.
The document calls on Spain to proceed with the renewal of the CGPJ "as a matter of priority" and to initiate, "immediately afterwards", a process with a view to changing the method of electing its members "taking into account European standards";
that is, establishing that at least half of its members are "judges elected by their peers."
In Spain, the 20 members of the organ are chosen by the Cortes,
The report comes at a critical moment in the negotiations between the PSOE and the PP, after the umpteenth attempt by both parties to agree on the renewal of the Judiciary failed this Monday, this time with Alberto Núñez Feijóo at the head of the main party of the opposition.
The resistance of the popular to sit down and reach an agreement has caused the CGPJ to spend three and a half years with the mandate expired, something unprecedented.
"The delay in the renewal of the CGPJ continues to be worrying," says the 30-page report dedicated to Spain.
"The Council of the Judiciary has been exercising its functions on an interim basis since December 2018", which raises fears that it may be perceived as "vulnerable to politicization".
According to the text, “calls have been repeated for its urgent renewal and the situation has been described by the main stakeholders as unsustainable and anomalous.”
The Commission recognizes that there has been some progress in these months in Spain.
"I want to be fair, I have seen progress," Vera Jourová, European Commissioner for Securities and one of the authors of the report, said this Tuesday in a meeting with journalists, including EL PAÍS.
Jourová, who also holds the position of vice president of the European Commission, recalled as a step forward that the Government of Pedro Sánchez withdrew last year the bill with which it intended to reduce the majority necessary to elect the members of the CGPJ, to that the votes of the PP ceased to be essential.
If that law had been approved, the commissioner stressed, Spain "would not comply with the rules on the impartial creation of a general judicial council."
Her withdrawal "was a positive thing."
But that's where the good news ends:
The commissioner warns that the persistence of immobility "is going to pose a very serious problem for the Spanish judiciary because it is blocking operations and appointments of judges", whose effects could begin to be seen "in the practical performance of judicial bodies".
In the opinion of Jourová, who has recently visited Spain and met with members of the parties, there is not going to be a short-term solution: "It doesn't seem like it's going to be the case."
The document released today recalls a technical report from the Supreme Court, published in October 2021, which concludes that this judicial body "is exercising its functions with 14% fewer judges than required by law" ―because the acting CGPJ does not can make appointments—and that this could “result in the Court issuing 1,000 fewer decisions per year, undermining the efficiency of justice.”
Corruption and 'lobbies'
The report of the executive arm of the EU, which puts special focus on countries with which Brussels has traditionally maintained a long battle for years -such as Hungary and Poland-, in any case contains ammunition against the 27 community partners.
The report covers four key areas in which EU values play out: the independence of judicial systems, the anti-corruption framework, press freedom and institutional checks and balances.
This third edition is the first to include specific recommendations to Member States.
In the case of Spain, it is asked, in addition to the renewal of the Judiciary, "to strengthen the statute of the Attorney General, in particular with regard to the separation of the mandates of the Attorney General and the Government, taking into account European standards on the independence and autonomy of the Public Prosecutor's Office.
In terms of corruption, the report reminds Spain that "the duration of investigations and trials for corruption cases "continues to be worrying", "particularly with regard to complex and high-level corruption cases", and asks it to to continue efforts to introduce
lobbying
legislation
, "including the establishment of a mandatory public registry."
The text also contains among its recommendations "the revision of the Official Secrets Law", which dates back to the Franco era, to "strengthen access to information".
The Pedro Sánchez Executive has expressed its intention to get down to work, with the approval of a new Classified Information Law that aims to reach a consensus with the PP, and the president announced this Wednesday that the draft will be ready this July.