Brussels backs the Constitutional Court’s decision after the government says there is no precedent in Europe

The European Commission on Tuesday welcomed the Constitutional Court’s decision and said, in the words of Justice spokesman Christian Wigand, that it expects “all national authorities and parties to act in accordance with the rules and procedures at national level”.

Although Wigand himself has refused to talk about the ruling of the Constitutional Court in particular – “we do not normally comment on judicial decisions”, he said – EU sources have explained that EU standards require that, in major judicial reforms, the parties involved, such as judges’ bodies, prosecutors and even the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe in some cases, must be consulted before the process begins. In other words, what the government had failed to do.

In practice, the Commission’s position is an endorsement of the Constitutional Court’s decision, at a time when both the government and the parties that support the executive have commented that the Constitutional Court’s ruling is unprecedented in the European Union. The president himself has threatened the TC this Thursday in an appearance from Moncloa.

Brussels has repeatedly insisted on asking Spanish political parties and the government to renew the CGPJ and also to change the system for electing its members so that it depends on the judges themselves.