The Court of Justice of the European Union has delivered its most significant legal endorsement to date of the amnesty law introduced by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for those involved in Catalonia’s failed independence bid.
The Grand Chamber concluded on Thursday that EU law does not prevent the legislation from taking effect. It found no conflict with EU rules protecting the Union’s financial interests or with the bloc’s anti-terrorism directive. The Court also stressed that granting an amnesty is a matter for individual member states, with its own role limited to deciding whether the law breaches specific provisions of EU law.
The ruling responds to questions referred by Spain’s Court of Auditors and National Court. Luxembourg concluded that the use of Catalan public funds to organise the illegal 2017 independence referendum and promote the separatist cause abroad did not, in itself, harm the EU’s financial interests.
It also held that the EU directive on combating terrorism does not regulate national amnesties. EU law therefore does not prevent Spain from dropping criminal cases covered by the law, provided they did not intentionally involve serious human rights violations.
The Court did, however, place an important limit on the legislation. It said the law cannot be applied in a way that prevents Spanish courts from waiting for a ruling from Luxembourg after referring questions to the CJEU. If the law’s two-month deadline for closing cases were interpreted in that way, those provisions would have to be ignored.
The judgment does not automatically grant an amnesty to former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, nor does it settle the criminal cases against him in Spain. That decision remains for the Spanish courts. The arrest warrant against Puigdemont remains in force, while Spain’s Constitutional Court has yet to rule on appeals against the Supreme Court’s refusal to remove the embezzlement charge against him.
That legal distinction does not diminish the political significance of the ruling. The law formed part of the agreement between Sánchez’s Socialist Party and the Catalan separatist party Junts after the 2023 general election. Junts’ seven MPs backed Sánchez’s re-election as prime minister, and the agreement explicitly included the passage of an amnesty.
The measure was not included in the Socialist Party’s election manifesto, nor did it emerge from any wider national consensus. It was the price of securing the parliamentary support Sánchez needed to remain in office. Plain and simple.
Luxembourg deliberately avoided passing judgment on that political bargain. The Court noted that the stated purpose of the law is to reduce political and institutional tensions in Catalonia and promote reconciliation. Its task was limited to deciding whether the legislation is incompatible with EU law, and it concluded that it is not. However, by accepting that offences linked to a specific political movement may be treated differently in the name of reconciliation, the judgment is likely to be cited in future debates over politically motivated amnesties.
The issue no longer concerns Spain alone. If a parliamentary majority can wipe away criminal or financial responsibility for the politicians whose votes keep it in power, and present the deal as reconciliation, other governments may take note. Europe already faces several territorial disputes and separatist movements that could draw lessons from this judgment.
