On November 11, 2022, the Complainants of Judicial Authoritarianism alliance (4 associations and a social movement) denounced serious breaches of legality by the Sánchez governments, which have led to unprecedented growth in public spending .
Continued crimes of coercion, documentary falsification, prevarication and unfair administration , are part of the denounced facts, seriously harming the interests of Spain, the European Union and all the member states, as well as the euro.
The complaint was sent in the same email message to the European Commission and the Supreme Court, being, therefore, a European administrative complaint and a criminal complaint , respectively.
Two weeks later, on November 25, 2022, Unit F.3 – Economies of Member States I (Croatia and Spain) of the General Directorate for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission, reported that the complaint was being processed there. , having been registered as Ares(2022)8174536.
On January 27, 2023, the Alliance sent an extension of the complaint with new criminal acts of the Sánchez governments. The complaint asked the European Commission to process the first complaint and this extension for serious dysfunction of the rule of law in Directorate General C: Fundamental Rights and Rule of Law.
On March 2, 2023, the Alliance received a reply from Florián Geyer , Head of Unit C.1: Justice Policy and Rule of Law of the aforementioned Directorate C, informing that the complaint is being processed and has been registered as Ares (2023)1525948 – 03/02/2023.
The response refers to the extended complaint, but the first complaint is not even cited. The letter states: “I would like to inform you that the Report on the Rule of Law in 2022, published on July 13, 2022, refers to the situation of the General Council of the Rule of Law in Spain” and that “it continues to be a reason of concern, that “the calls have been reiterated to proceed with its urgent renewal […] and to modify the appointment system of the members chosen from among judges and magistrates in accordance with European standards, so that at least half of its members are judges and magistrates chosen by their counterparts”.
It is said that “the Report mentions that the Constitutional Court issued two resolutions in which it reviewed the emergency measures adopted to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.”
It goes on to say that “As regards the funds allocated to the Member States […] Article 22 of the Regulation on the Recovery and Resilience Facility makes it clear that the obligation to protect the financial interests of the Union and to ensure that the funds are used in full compliance with applicable Union and national law, it is primarily the responsibility of the Member State concerned” .
He ends his answer by stating: “Please be assured that the Commission remains committed to upholding the rule of law and judicial independence in all Member States, and that it will continue to work with the Spanish authorities to promote the rule of law within the of the global mechanism of the Rule of Law”.
The Alliance is satisfied for not having filed the complaint and for having a direct interlocutor who, moreover, is the Head of Unit; However, the response addresses three points, avoiding ruling on several dozen breaches of the law, as well as the request that the facts denounced in the 2023 report be addressed.
The Alliance is preparing another expanded complaint with more facts and the request to include the 2022 facts denounced in the 2023 report on the Spanish Rule of Law will be reiterated.
