Catalonia has always been a committed and reliable partner in the construction of the European project and has actively contributed to defining the diverse Europe of today and tomorrow. Unlike supporters for Brexit, Catalonia has never given up its feeling of being European nor its conviction of being part of the European Union. We say yes to Europe.
Catalan society has shown its engagement with the common project by actively participating, in fact with a turnout 13 points higher than the European average, in the elections to the European Parliament, the only directly elected EU body that represents over 500 million citizens. We, as democrats, must demand that all those who have legitimately won their seat in the European Parliament are allowed to represent their citizens and work to defend their vision of an inclusive, social and better Europe for the five years to come.
When the European Parliament meets for the first time on July 2, Europe will be able to see first-hand the efforts by some to deprive elected officials, and their voters, of their political and democratic rights for purely political reasons. This isn’t new. Last month, the Spanish Parliament and Senate suspended five elected officials, all former members of the Catalan government who are currently on trial, from their duties as representatives. Despite their having legally run and won the elections, taken their seat in parliament, and still awaiting sentence in their trial, they have been denied their political rights.
