EU – CATALONIA DIALOGUE PLATFORM FOUNDING MANIFESTO

We are Members of the European Parliament from different Political Groups and representing various opinions on the Catalan question who have decided expressly, freely and voluntarily to join the recently launched EU – Catalonia Dialogue Platform.

Being deeply concerned of the critical point that the current situation in Catalonia has reached, we have agreed that joining our voices and conducting actions together is the strongest way to demand the EU Institutions to make a gesture of responsibility in favour of pushing for dialogue to find a solution.

Healthy democracies need dialogue to evolve and should always engage in the promotion of peace. The EU leadership has reiterated in several occasions that violence can never be an instrument in politics. Therefore, in their role as guardians of the EU treaties and the fundamental rights of citizens, we call the EU Institutions to urgently pursue measures to ensure the full respect, promotion and guarantee of Human Rights within the EU borders.

Listening to the voice of citizens is of the utmost importance for the EU Project to evolve and make citizens feel closer to the Union. This also includes the recognition of people’s right to choose in a democratic and pacific way their own collective future.

The actions that this Group will carry out aim at achieving the following main purposes:

  • Claim the release of the politicians and social leaders who are in jail.
  • Request the annulment of article 155, by which democratically elected public officers have been sacked and Catalan institutions have been intervened.
  • Urge the European Institutions to mediate in the conflict, which has a clear EU dimension.
  • Insist on the need for a negotiated agreement between Spain and Catalonia which should conclude in an agreed referendum.

As Members of one of the main Institutions of the European Union which represents the voice of EU citizens, we will be following closely how the situation in Catalonia develops with a view to defend and ensure that the fundamental principles on which the European Union is based are respected. It is not a purpose of this Group to intervene in the debate on political options in Catalonia, since this is an issue that Catalans have to debate and decide on their own.

Brussels, 29th of November 2017