Open letter to Commission President Junker and European Council Presidents Tusk, 31 October 2017<\/p>\n
UPHOLDING THE RULE OF LAW IN THE EUROPEAN UNION<\/strong><\/p>\n Dear President Juncker, dear President Tusk:<\/p>\n We are scholars, politicians, public intellectuals and members of the European Parliament writing to you with the following concern:<\/p>\n The European Union has proclaimed the Rule of Law principle and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms to be binding on its Member States (Articles 2 and 6 of the Lisbon Treaty). The EU\u2019s leadership has been a staunch protector of these fundamental norms, most recently in countering the Polish government\u2019s attempts to undermine the independence of judges as well as the Hungarian government\u2019s actions to limit civil society and media freedoms.<\/p>\n However, we are deeply concerned that the EU\u2019s governing bodies are condoning the systematic violation of the Rule of Law in Spain, in particular regarding the Spanish central authorities\u2019 approach to the 1 October referendum on Catalan independence. We do not take political sides on the substance of the dispute on territorial sovereignty and we are cognizant of procedural deficiencies in the organisation of the referendum. Our concern is with the Rule of Law as practised by an EU Member State.<\/p>\n The Spanish government has justified its actions on grounds of upholding or restoring the constitutional order. The Union has declared that this is an internal matter for Spain. Issues of national sovereignty are indeed a matter of domestic politics in liberal democracies. However, the manner in which the Spanish authorities have been handling the claims to independence expressed by a significant part of the population of Catalonia constitutes a violation of the Rule of Law, namely:<\/p>\n 1\/ The Spanish Constitutional Tribunal banned the referendum on Catalan independence scheduled for 1 October, as well as the Catalan Parliament session scheduled for 9 October, on grounds that these planned actions violate Article 2 of the Spanish Constitution stipulating the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation, thus rendering secession illegal. However, in enforcing in this way Article 2, the Tribunal has violated Constitutional provisions on freedom of peaceful assembly and of speech \u2013 the two principles which are embodied by referendums and parliamentary deliberations irrespective of their subject matter. Without interfering in Spanish constitutional disputes or in Spain\u2019s penal code, we note that it is a travesty of justice to enforce one constitutional provision by violating fundamental rights. Thus, the Tribunal\u2019s judgments and the Spanish government\u2019s actions for which these judgments provided a legal basis violate both the spirit and letter of the Rule of Law.<\/p>\n 2\/ In the days preceding the referendum, the Spanish authorities undertook a series of repressive actions against civil servants, MPS, mayors, media, companies and citizens. The shutdown of Internet and other telecom networks during and after the referendum campaign had severe consequences on exercising freedom of expression.<\/p>\n 3\/ On referendum day, the Spanish police engaged in excessive force and violence against peaceful voters and demonstrators \u2013 according to Human Rights Watch. Such disproportionate use of force is an undisputable abuse of power in the process of law enforcement<\/p>\n 4\/ The arrest and imprisonment on 16 October of the activists Jordi Cuixart and Jordi S\u00e0nchez (Presidents, respectively, of the Catalan National Assembly and Omnium Cultural) on charges of sedition is a miscarriage of justice. The facts resulting in this incrimination cannot possibly be qualified as sedition, but rather as the free exercise of the right to peaceful public manifestation, codified in article 21 of the Spanish Constitution. The Spanish government, in its efforts to safeguard the sovereignty of the state and indivisibility of the nation, has violated basic rights and freedoms guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as by Articles 2 and 6 of the basic law of the EU (the Lisbon Treaty). The violation of basic rights and freedoms protected by international and EU law cannot be an internal affair of any government. The silence of the EU and its rejection of inventive mediation is unjustifiable.<\/p>\n The actions of the Spanish government cannot be justified as protecting the Rule of Law, even if based on specific legal provisions. In contrast to rule-by-law (rule by means of norms enacted through a correct legal procedure or issued by a public authority), Rule of Law implies also the safeguarding of fundamental rights and freedoms \u2013 norms which render the law binding not simply because it is procedurally correct but enshrines justice. It is the Rule of Law, thus understood, that provides legitimacy to public authority in liberal democracies.<\/p>\n We therefore call on the Commission to examine the situation in Spain under the Rule of Law framework, as it has done previously for other Member States.<\/p>\n The EU leadership has reiterated that violence cannot be an instrument in politics, yet it has implicitly condoned the actions of the Spanish police and has deemed the actions of the Spanish government to be in line with the Rule of Law. Such a reductionist, maimed version of the Rule of Law should not become Europe\u2019s new political common sense. It is dangerous and risks causing long-term damage to the Union. We therefore call on the European Council and Commission to do all that is necessary to restore the Rule of Law principle to its status as a foundation of liberal democracy in Europe by countering any form of abuse of power committed by Member States. Without this, and without a serious effort of political mediation, the EU risks losing its citizens\u2019 trust and commitment.<\/p>\n When this declaration appears, the crisis will have developed further. We follow closely the situation with the interests of democracy in Catalonia, Spain and Europe in mind, as they cannot be separated, and we insist all the more on the importance for the EU to monitor the respect of fundamental freedoms by all parties.<\/p>\n Albena Azmanova, University of KentSignatories (in personal capacity):<\/ul>\n
\nBarbara Spinelli, writer, Member of European Parliament
\nEtienne Balibar, universit\u00e9 Paris Nanterre and Kingston University London
\nCristina Lafont, Northwestern University, USA (Spanish citizen)
\nDavid Gow, editor, Social Europe
\nKalypso Nicolaidis, Oxford University, Director of the Center for International Studies
\nMark Davis, University of Leeds, Founding Director of the Bauman Institute
\nAsh Amin, Cambridge University
\nYanis Varoufakis, DiEM25 co-founder
\nRosemary Bechler, editor, openDemocracy
\nGustavo Zagrebelsky professor of constitutional law, University Turin
\nAntonio Negri, Philosopher, Euronomade platform
\nUlrike Gu\u00e9rot, Danube University Krems, Austria & Founder of the European Democracy Lab, Berlin
\nCostas Douzinas, Birkbeck, University of London
\nJudith Butler, University of California, Berkeley and European Graduate School, Switzerland
\nPhilip Pettit, University Center for Human Values, Princeton University (Irish citizen)
\nJ\u00f3n Baldvin Hannibalsson, former minister for foreign affairs and external trade of Iceland
\nAnastasia Nesvetailova, Director, City Political Economy Research Centre, City University of London
\nCraig Calhoun, President, Berggruen Institute; Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics
\nand Political Science (LSE)
\nJane Mansbridge, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
\nArjun Appadurai, Institute for European Ethnology, Humboldt University, Berlin
\nThor Gylfason, Professor of Economics at the University of Iceland and Research Fellow at CESifo,
\nMunich\/former member Iceland Constitutional Council 2011
\nJudith Revel, Universit\u00e9 Paris Nanterre
\nRobert Menasse, writer, Austria
\nNancy Fraser, The New School for Social Research, New York (International Research Chair in Social
\nJustice, Coll\u00e8ge d\u2019\u00e9tudes mondiales, Paris, 2011-2016)
\nRoberta De Monticelli, University San Raffaele, Milan.
\nSophie Wahnich, directrice de recherche CNRS, Paris
\nChristoph Menke, University of Potsdam, Germany
\nRobin Celikates, University of AmsterdamEric Fassin, Universit\u00e9 Paris-8 Vincennes – Saint-Denis
\nAlexis Cukier, Universit\u00e9 Paris Nanterre
\nDiogo Sardinha, university Paris\/Lisbon
\nDario Castiglione, University of Exeter
\nHamit Bozarslan, EHESS, Paris
\nFrieder Otto Wolf, Freie Universit\u00e4t Berlin
\nGerard Delanty, University of Sussex
\nBoaventura de Sousa Santos, Coimbra University and University of Wisconsin-Madison
\nSandro Mezzadra, Universit\u00e0 di Bologna
\nCamille Louis, University of Paris 8 and Paris D
\nPhilippe Aigrain, writer and publisher
\nYann Moulier Boutang and Frederic Brun, Multitudes journal
\nAnne Querrien and Yves Citton, Multitudes journal
\nSusan Buck-Morss, CUNY Graduate Center and Cornell University
\nSeyla Benhabib, Yale University; Catedra Ferrater Mora Distinguished Professor in Girona (2005).
\nBruce Robbins, Columbia University
\nMich\u00e8le Riot-Sarcey, universit\u00e9 Paris-VIII-Saint-Denis
\nZeynep Gambetti, Bogazici University, Istanbul (French citizen)
\nAndrea den Boer, University of Kent, Editor-in-Chief, Global Society: Journal of Interdisciplinary
\nInternational Relations
\nMoni Ovadia, writer and theatre performer
\nGuillaume Sibertin-Blanc, Universit\u00e9 Paris 8 Saint-Denis
\nPeter Osborne, Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy, Kingston University, London
\nIlaria Possenti, University of Verona
\nNicola Lampitelli, University of Tours, France
\nYutaka Arai, University of Kent
\nEnzo Rossi, University of Amsterdam, Co-editor, European Journal of Political Theory
\nPetko Azmanov, journalist, Bulgaria
\nEtienne Tassin, Universit\u00e9 Paris Diderot
\nLynne Segal, Birkbeck College, University of London
\nDanny Dorling, University of Oxford
\nMaggie Mellon, social policy consultant, former executive member Women for Independence
\nVanessa Glynn, Former UK diplomat at UKRep To EU
\nAlex Orr, exec mbr, Scottish National Party\/European Movement in Scotland
\nBob Tait, philosopher, ex-chair Langstane Housing Association, Aberdeen
\nIsobel Murray, Aberdeen University
\nGrahame Smith, general secretary, Scottish Trades Union Congress
\nPritam Singh, Oxford Brookes University
\nJohn Weeks, SOAS, University of London
\nJordi Angusto, economist at Fundaci\u00f3 Catalunya-Europa
\nLeslie Huckfield, ex-Labour MP, Glasgow Caledonian University
\nUgo Marani, University of Naples Federico II and President of RESeT
\nGustav Horn, Scientific Director of the Macroeconomic Policy Institute of the Hans B\u00f6ckler Stiftung
\nChris Silver, journalist\/author
\nJames Mitchell, Edinburgh University
\nHarry Marsh, retired charity CEO
\nDesmond Cohen, former Dean, School of Social Sciences at Sussex University
\nYan Islam, Griffith Asia Institute
\nDavid Whyte, University of LiverpoolKaty Wright, University of Leeds
\nAdam Formby, University of Leeds
\nNick Piper, University of Leeds
\nMatilde Mass\u00f3 Lago, The University of A Coru\u00f1a and University of Leeds
\nJim Phillips, University of Glasgow
\nRizwaan Sabir, Liverpool John Moores University
\nPablo Ciocchini, University of Liverpool
\nFeyzi Ismail, SOAS, University of London
\nKirsteen Paton, University of Liverpool
\nStefanie Khoury, University of Liverpool
\nXavier Rubio-Campillo, University of Edinburgh
\nJoe Sim, Liverpool John Moores University
\nHannah Wilkinson, University of Keele
\nGareth Dale, Brunel University
\nRobbie Turner, University of St Andrews
\nWill Jackson, Liverpool John Moores University
\nLouise Kowalska, ILTUS Ruskin University
\nAlexia Grosjean, Honorary member, School of History, University of St Andrews
\nPaul McFadden, York University
\nPhil Scraton, Queen’s University Belfast
\nOscar Berglund, University of Bristol
\nMichael Lavalette, Liverpool Hope University
\nOwen Worth, University of Limerick
\nRonnie Lippens, Keele University
\nAndrew Watterson, Stirling University
\nSteve Tombs, The Open University
\nEmily Luise Hart, University of Liverpool
\nDavid Scott, The Open University
\nBill Bowring, Birkbeck College, University of London
\nSofa Gradin,King\u2019s College London
\nMichael Harrison, University of South Wales<\/p>\n