The Government will resume negotiations with the PP to renew the Judiciary when the EU rules on the mediator

The mandate of the members of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) expires this week about 1,900 days, after five years of resistance from the PP to sealing an agreement with the PSOE. On December 22, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, finally agreed to negotiate the renewal of the governing body of the judges but under the supervision of the European Union. That was the condition imposed by the head of the opposition and was accepted by Sánchez. The objective of La Moncloa was to square the agendas of the parties with Brussels to continue taking steps before the end of last year. But the process is proceeding more slowly in the midst of a climate of confrontation over the processing of the amnesty law and the beating of a doll with the figure of Sánchez by ultra protesters in Ferraz.

Feijóo pointed to the Commissioner of Justice, Didier Reynders, as the one indicated to carry out the mediation. The Government welcomed his election and addressed the Belgian leader's team to communicate that both parties had agreed to negotiate under community supervision. And, along these lines, the Executive will resume talks with the PP when the Commission rules on its role in the negotiation, according to government sources. The popular ones, for their part, are waiting for the PSOE or the European institutions to make a move, sources from Genoa add.

The decision of Brussels, which has been studying the Spanish request since the end of December, should be imminent, although so far it has not ruled on it. On December 23, a community spokesperson limited himself to confirming to EL PAÍS that “the Spanish authorities have asked the Commission to facilitate conversations to advance the reform of the CGPJ.” And he added that the European Executive was “reflecting on this request” and the possibility of the Justice Commissioner himself being the designated mediator.

Brussels fully resumes its activities this Monday, after the Christmas break, although Reynders returned to the Belgian capital last week and attended the meeting of the College of Commissioners on Friday with the Government of Alexander de Croo, who has assumed the presidency of turn of the EU Council. However, the Belgian commissioner has not made any statement for the moment, nor has his team, regarding the Spanish request.

Meanwhile, PSOE and PP have not communicated again on the issue. The parties confirmed the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, and the popular deputy secretary Esteban González Pons, respectively, as interlocutors. In addition to the mediator, the PP demands that, with the renewal of the members, the reform of the law that regulates the election system of the Judiciary be promoted “simultaneously.”

The CGPJ is made up of 20 members: 12 judges and 8 jurists of recognized prestige. They are all appointed by the Congress and the Senate by a three-fifths majority (which is why the agreement of the two main parties is necessary); although, in the case of the 12 member judges, the Chambers decide based on a list of candidates drawn up by the career judges themselves. The PP defends, for future renewals, that the judges directly elect, without intervention from the Cortes, the 12 members of the council.

The reform of the law is a conflicting point that could hinder the final agreement. After the meeting between Sánchez and Feijóo in December, the Government spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, avoided clarifying whether the PSOE would be willing to explore the legal change demanded by the PP. Last Tuesday, the socialist parliamentary spokesperson, Patxi López, referred to the issue again. “The formula that exists now seems good to us, in fact it is the one that has always worked and in fact it is the one approved by the Popular Party. What happens is that the PP only likes the rules and laws when they govern,” he stated on TVE. “National sovereignty is in Congress, and therefore, the fact that politics and Congress also intervene to decide who are the members of the General Council of the Judiciary does not seem bad to us at all,” he added.

For his part, the parliamentary spokesperson of the PP, Miguel Tellado, counterattacked on Wednesday, at the party headquarters, where he presented the amendment to the entire amnesty law. “What Pedro Sánchez wants is to control the General Council of the Judiciary and what he is least concerned about is depoliticizing the system of electing his representatives. We share with the European Commission that old desire to depoliticize Justice and achieve a new law. If Pedro Sánchez wants to move in that direction, the willingness of the Popular Party, as long as the European Union participates in these conversations, is expressed and is on the table. If he wants to make a deal with the Popular Party to justify his pacts with all the anti-system parties, they should not count on us,” he said.

Reynders himself reiterated in December, from Brussels, that his approach is to first renew the composition of the CGPJ with the current law and, “immediately after the renewal, a process begins to adapt the appointment system to the regulations.” “in order to ensure that judicial independence is not compromised.” Even so, at the beginning of December, Reynders, although he urged compliance with that procedure – renewal first, change of the law later – declared himself open to other options if these resulted from an agreement between the PP and the PSOE.

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