During the 11 October Plenary session, members of the CoR discussed Catalonia's disputed "self-determination referendum", which the Spanish government has declared as illegal. Speaking on behalf of the ECR Group, Cllr Joe Cooney (Conservative Leader of Pendle Council, UK) criticised how the Commission is all too ready to criticise some Member States while it has remained all too silent on the violence of the Spanish government towards Catalan citizens.
Speaking at the Plenary Session debate with Council President Donald Tusk, Joe Cooney called for more dialogue between all parties involved and on the European Commission to treat all Member States equally. "The matter of independence is not a matter for me or the CoR but for the Spanish Government and its citizens. As a representative from a country that has held an independence referendum on part of it separating, I know how strongly people feel about their own countries and regions. While some might not have agreed with the Scottish independence argument, it was absolutely right that the people were given that choice to have their say in a free and open election", said Cllr Cooney.
"Outside this very building is the phrase "Europe had a duty to be an example of democracy and respect for human rights' on the 1st October those values were failed to be upheld in Catalonia. No government, especially an EU Member State government, should ever barricade polling stations, or forcefully remove ballot papers from their hands".
The ECR Group Vice-President also underlined that the EU needs to figure out when it should speak out and when it should remain silent: "The Commission speaks all the time towards others, but when we see Spain using force against the citizen's desire to peacefully express their will, the Commission has been far too silent. This double standards is not okay. We need a union of values, not a union of selective approaches with one approach for so called friends and another for those the Commission may not be so fond of".
Cllr Cooney made it clear that the solution lies in dialogue between all parties involved. "The role of the EU is to speak out against any abuse of democratic expression wherever it is found. When the EU speaks people listen and it means something. When the EU and those in influential positions don't speak out against the actions we've seen in Catalonia the next time an intervention is made it means a little less".