An independent Catalonia makes Europe stronger above all

“If Europe continues to refuse any mediation role and the escalation persists, the rest of Europe will have to prepare to grant political asylum to Catalan politicians,” say MEP Sander Loones and Tomas Roggeman, the Chair of Jong N-VA (N-VA Youth).

Two months in which to negotiate: that’s the proposal put on the table by Catalan President of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont. The response by his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy: Catalonia has three days, until Thursday, to come back into the Madrid fold. It is becoming increasingly clear that Spain and the European Union haven’t the slightest inclination of what they should do when faced with regionalism and the democratic quest for independence.

When it comes to the potential of Union enlargement, with some even extending this to Turkey, there are rules. There are also rules for countries that want to leave the Union - the British have gone for this option. However, a region’s desire to form its own state... The European Commission would rather give carte blanche for beating up citizens than admit the legitimacy of their desires.

During the Scottish independence referendum, the heavyweights in Europe were the first in line to threaten the Scots. They would never be able to remain a member of the EU. But when the British later decided to leave the Union after the Brexit referendum, it was those same European heavyweights who were the first to call for Scotland to have the right to remain in the EU. Political tactics? Hypocritical mess would be a more accurate description.

It is above all symptomatic of a deeper underlying problem: the EU has failed to find a mature way of dealing with regionalism within its borders. However, the quest for independence by stateless nations has always been par for the course on the European continent. The number of independent countries in Europe has doubled in the last hundred years. Among the 28 EU Member States, there are seven that didn’t even exist in 1990.

No country border lasts for ever. In 21st century Europe, it is also makes sense that border changes should not be achieved through violence but through the power of the vote. Because the vote of citizens today weighs more heavily than the historic happenstance of wars that sometimes lie centuries in the past. There is therefore nothing wrong with a peaceful and democratic quest for independence, even should it take place in a less harmonious relationship with the motherland. Every population has the right to choose its own future. That too is democracy.

Simple fact

This simple fact remains difficult to digest for the European established order. We are all familiar with the Verhofstadt line of reasoning that considers the democratic desire for self-government to be old hat, dismisses requests for independence out of principle, and consigns all flags to the rubbish heap, unless there are yellow stars on them of course. A better way forward would be to recognise that European cooperation can only be strengthened if there is more flexible competition between increasingly influential cities and regions. Progress is not the result of imposed unity, but of a diversity that drives everyone forward.

Embracing this diversity starts with recognising that there are national minorities and stateless peoples in Europe too, consequently making their quest for self-determination and more direct influence within the EU legitimate.

It is astounding that the popular nationalist Catalan movement is being met by so much condemnation while the much more militant Spanish nationalism is being let off scot-free. The brutal crackdown by the police, Rajoy’s supporters who publically support the violence, the movement of military material into Catalonia and the demonstrations by Franco-fascist splinter parties are alarming signals of a state nationalism that has gone awry.

Unionism can have rational arguments; however the fierce sentimentality with which the unity of the Spanish State appears to be defended and glorified by the Partido Popular - “Una, Grande y Libre” in extreme right circles, “one, big and free” - does not give cause to suspect that there is much reason in play.

That is precisely why we are calling for European or international mediation. Not to take both sides by the hand and impose every detail of their new relationship, but rather to ensure that violence is renounced and that they come to the negotiating table as equals. If Europe continues to refuse any mediation role and the escalation persists, the rest of Europe will have to prepare to grant political asylum to Catalan politicians. Flanders and Belgium first and foremost.

Real place

Regardless of the current Catalan situation, it is high time that the European Union and its Member States consider the treatment they give to regionalism. The representation of stateless nations in the European Committee of the Regions is a joke. They deserve a real place in the European decision-making system. The doctrine of former EU President Barroso, who says that seceding Member States automatically put themselves outside the EU, even in a Scotland scenario with an assenting motherland, cannot be justified. For regions that implemented the acquis communautaire sometimes decades ago, there must be fast tracks to membership. It is hard to believe that some people prefer to dream of Turkey as the next Member State of the EU. Wouldn’t Catalonia be a lot more logical?