The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has reiterated this Monday that he's "against all separatist movements". He did go on to say, however that, "I don't like what's happening in Catalonia at the same time that I respect the expression of wishes that we've been able to see". The comments came during a speech at Sciences Po Strasbourg. He also said that it's an "understandable reflex" to want "your own identity", but criticised putting this identity in opposition to others.
"I don't want the European Union to be made up of 85 states tomorrow," said Juncker. "The desire to be taken seriously is acceptable, the desire to have your own identity is an understandable reflex, but wanting to oppose the identity we have (...) [to the identities] of other regions is of poor quality". The president said that European citizens like the "closeness" the Union brings them and want to combine their own identities with a broader, European one. "But that's not a reason for supporting independence," he said.
Juncker discussed the Catalan situation during the questions section of a conference in Strasbourg. The European Commission's president was asked in general about the regions of the European Union, responding that "independently of the situation in Catalonia" it's a topic that has to be "debated".