Puigdemont makes a commitment to Europe to hold the referendum

“You can be sure that in 2017 Catalonia will freely decide on its by means of a legitimate and legal referendum, with all the democratic guarantees, that is effective and binding”, concluded the president of the Government of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, in his speech to the European Parliament before hundreds of attendees in the institution’s largest auditorium. There was standing room only in the venue, which has a capacity for three hundred and fifty people.

As well as a significant delegation of Catalans from political parties and institutions, the large audience included forty MEPs and assistants to MEPs from across the entire political spectrum; around fifty people from the staff of embassies of various countries, and around twenty international journalists, according to the organisers.

And the message that Puigdemont gave them (with the first part in Catalan, the second part in French and the conclusion in English) was very clear. He outlined the peaceful nature of the Catalan independence movement and the legitimacy of the demand for a referendum, and recalled in detail that the demand has been taking shape since the Spanish Constitutional Court’s ruling against the Statute for Catalonia of 2010: “It was a turning point for the majority of Catalans. It represented the end of an era and the realisation of the urgent need to open a new path. Catalonia’s place within Spain was impossible.”

Puigdemont explained that the referendum had been a demand from the public in recent years, but the Government of Catalonia has always come up against a flat refusal by the Spanish government. “We have argued and we continue to maintain that the referendum is legally viable and that the only problem is a lack of political will.” And he added: “It is significant that those of us in favour of independence are asking that everyone can vote and express their opinion, while the Spanish government does not defend a position against independence, but instead argues that no vote should take place, and that nobody should talk about it. The contrast is striking.”

However, Puigdemont insisted that the door would remain open for agreement with the Spanish government on the referendum until the last possible moment: “This offer of dialogue and the search for consensus will remain on the table until the final day. We are willing to discuss everything: the question, the date, the requirements for eligibility, the percentage of the vote that the winning alternative requires… We are sitting at the negotiating table and we will not get up until the final day. The offer of dialogue is a permanent one.”

However, the president made it clear that the Government of Catalonia will not stop if the Spanish government continues with its obstinate refusal”. He declared: “As we promised in parliament in September, Catalonia will hold a binding referendum on the independence of Catalonia by September 2017 at the latest. If we can agree on it, so much the better, we prefer it that way. If that is impossible, we will organise it anyway. We cannot allow intransigence to win out.”

At the end of his speech, he said that the Catalan proposal for a referendum is pro-European because if Catalonia becomes a new state it will be within the European Union. “The first steps taken by the Catalan Republic will be made according to the rules of the European Union. We will not consider any other possibility.”

Read Puigdemont’s speech in full here:

Europe cannot be the problem
In his speech, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Raül Romeva tried to place the Catalan process within the context of the difficult situation that Europe is experiencing, and which is defined by situations such as Brexit and the Greek economic crisis: “Today Europe cannot close its eyes to those realities – its credibility is at stake. That is why Europe also has a lot at stake in Catalonia, because Europe must decide and it would be unthinkable for it not to choose democracy.” And he added: “Brussels must show that the demands of citizens throughout the entire Union are heard and understood, that their opinions are important and that the European Union is the appropriate forum for addressing them. Otherwise, the European Union would be seen as part of the problem rather than the solution, which could weaken it. ”

The economic viability of Catalonia
During his speech, the vice-president and Minister for the Economy Oriol Junqueras focused on the economic situation in Catalonia and its viability as an independent country. Junqueras provided figures to show why Catalonia has in many respects been an exception in a situation of economic crisis and widespread lack of growth.

In a review of the main sectors of the Catalan economy, he discussed exports: “Exports per head from Catalonia are ranked ninth in the European Union,” he recalled. He also mentioned the resilience to fluctuations in the economy by the country’s industry. According to Junqueras, this is why Catalan industry has continued to grow during this period of crisis. However, he emphasised that Catalan competitiveness has its limits, such as the cost of electricity in Spain and the systematic delays in the construction of the Mediterranean railway corridor.

Junqueras also referred to unemployment, one of the main problems in Catalonia. However, he mentioned increased competitiveness and innovation in a Catalan economic model based on high levels of productivity; he mentioned the good position of universities and the role of tourism, “a strategic sector” that is growing; and finally, he devoted a few minutes to reviewing the work of the Government of Catalonia in the economic sphere.