The European Parliament has asked the European courts to declare inadmissible the complaint by Carles Puigdemont against the institution for not having allowed him to take the seat as an MEP he won in May's election, Catalan news agency ACN has learnt.
In the first round of written arguments submitted to the General Court, part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, by Monday's deadline, the chamber calls for the case to be dismissed because they believe there is no relevant European legislation, and that only national legislation applies when it comes electing MEPs. Spain's Central Electoral Commission did not include Puigdemont's name on the official list of MEPs-elect it submitted to Brussels.
Sources from Puigdemont's defence say that Spain asked two weeks ago to be able to appear in the case. They add that the court has not yet decided on whether to include them or not.
Court sources say that member states can ask to participate in disputes between individuals and European institutions, but that the court is not obliged to accept such requests. In any case, a decision has to be taken before oral hearings in the case. For the moment, the parties have not been summonsed for that in Puigdemont's case.
The sources from the president's defence accuse the Parliament of trying to slow down the process in the courts and of its president, David Sassoli, being "biased". "They're trying to postpone any decision", they say, arguing it's a way to force the judges to consider another issue before getting to the case itself.
The complaint
Puigdemont and former minister Toni Comín, who was second on JxCat's list of candidates, have brought two cases before the courts in Luxembourg. Firstly, they both filed complaints that the European Parliament hadn't let them take the seats they won in May. This is the case referred to above.
Separately, they called for the court to, as a cautionary measure whilst the main case is being heard, let them take their seats temporarily. That was rejected in July. The two Catalans have appealed that decision.