Puigdemont Files EU Complaint Over Spain’s Amnesty Law Failure
BRUSSELS, Belgium / MADRID, Spain — The legal defense team of former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has lodged a formal complaint against Spain before the European Commission, accusing the Kingdom of breaching European Union law by obstructing the full implementation of the national amnesty law. The legal maneuver follows a recent landmark ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) that upheld the validity of the legislation.
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The complaint, drafted by Puigdemont’s lawyer Gonzalo Boye and first reported by VilaWeb, directly targets the Spanish Court of Audit (Tribunal de Cuentas). The legal filing responds to a procedural order issued on Monday, in which the state auditing body asked both prosecutors and defense attorneys whether there is a possibility of denying amnesty to approximately thirty former high-ranking Catalan officials prosecuted for expenses related to the independence push, known as the ‘procés’, if European Union funds were used to finance those activities.
In the submitted document, Puigdemont’s defense strongly rejects this premise, arguing that throughout more than four years of legal proceedings, neither the plaintiffs nor the auditing body itself ever alleged that EU funds were utilized. The filing emphasizes that the court’s sudden inquiry identifies no new or supervening evidence, characterizing the Court of Audit’s actions as a deliberate “obstructionist strategy” designed to delay and undermine the application of the amnesty law.
Dated this Tuesday and addressed to the Secretariat General of the European Commission, the formal denunciation is filed on behalf of Puigdemont, Member of the European Parliament Toni Comín, and former Catalan minister Lluís Puig. The document explicitly requests that the Commission initiate an infringement procedure against Spain under Article 258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This mechanism is typically employed when a member state is suspected of failing to fulfill its obligations under EU law, in this case, the mandate to respect and apply the CJEU’s ruling validating the amnesty.
‼️ Puigdemont denuncia a España ante la Comisión Europea por suspender el plazo para aplicarle la amnistía https://t.co/EBICfUrRHb
— 20minutos.es (@20m) July 21, 2026
Furthermore, the complaint accuses the Court of Audit of actively misleading the public. It alleges that the institution published an official press release that distorted the meaning of the CJEU’s judgment, notably by falsely claiming that the European court had admitted all eight preliminary questions posed by the Spanish tribunal, despite the fact that several of those questions were formally declared inadmissible by the European judges.
In a parallel legal action, Puigdemont’s defense has submitted a separate statement of allegations directly to the Court of Audit. This submission categorically denies that any expenses related to the ‘procés’ were financed by the EU budget. The defense is demanding that the auditing body issue a resolution within the legally mandated maximum period of two months, formally declaring the relevant acts amnestied and closing the matter.
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This latest escalation underscores the ongoing friction between pro-independence leaders and Spanish state institutions in the aftermath of the CJEU’s decision. As the European Commission reviews the complaint, the political and legal battle over the scope and enforcement of the amnesty law is expected to remain a central point of contention in Spanish and European politics.
