Clara Ponsatí to become MEP despite Spain’s electoral commission

The Spanish electoral commission (JEC) has called Clara Ponsatí to take the constitutional oath in Spain on Thursday and warned that they will leave her MEP seat vacant if she fails to appear. Ponsatí is due to become an MEP when the UK leaves the EU on Friday, and five of its seats pass to Spain.

Despite the warning from the JEC, it is likely that Ponsatí will be able to take her seat in the European parliament, even if she does not take the oath. The JEC made similar demands of the other exiled Catalan MEPs, Puigdemont and Comín, but in the end the EU Court rejected not taking the oath as a reason to exclude them from parliament and they became MEPs.

Ponsatí is currently in exile in Scotland where she is awaiting an extradition trial.