EU: “at this moment”, Catalonia’s vote is Spain’s “internal matter”
13.13.2013
Brussels (ACN).- The referendum in Catalonia was on everyone’s mind at this Friday’s European Commission press conference in Brussels. 20 minutes of the conference were devoted entirely to the Catalan issue, with journalists from Catalonia, Spain, and many other countries asking over a dozen questions on the matter. The EC Spokesperson Pia Ahrenkilde, has confirmed that the “important issues raised” by Catalonia’s self-determination vote remained “an internal matter for Spain”. Ahrenkilde did not wish to stray away from the official EU stand on the issue, despite the persistence of journalists: “The EC has no comment to make on the matter”, she insisted. Pia Ahrenkilde added that it “was really not for the EC to qualify, assess or judge these [referendum] questions”. Yesterday Catalan parties reached an agreement on the exact question wording and date to held a self-determination referendum. Besides, the Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Viviane Reding, also addressed the Catalan referendum issue this Friday. She explained that even though “it is true, and here the Government of Madrid is right, that the Spanish Constitution does not allow one region to break out”,she “hoped common sense imposes itself in Spain, in order to solve that problem”. (More)
