TC lifts suspension of Generalitat offices abroad
Maintains suspension of references to "diplomacy" and to Catalonia as an "international actor"
Spain’s Constitutional Court (TC) has lifted the precautionary suspension of the article in the Catalan law of foreign policy that referred to delegations of the Generalitat abroad, though it maintained the suspension of parts of the text, among which were those that alluded to public, cultural, economic, and sports "diplomacy". The TC had agreed to hear the Spanish government’s appeal against this law and accepted the request to suspend it automatically.
According to the Thursday issue of the "Official Bulletin of the State (BOE, the Spanish state’s gazette), the TC has lifted the suspension of articles 29 to 33, which regulated the representation of the Generalitat abroad and the "delegations of the government" to the EU and foreign countries, as well as its "sectorial offices".
In this respect, it has also lifted the suspension of articles that promote "the maximum projection of Catalonia and the maximum promotion of its interests abroad" and "the positioning of Catalonia before the EU and the participation of the Generalitat in European institutions."
In addition, aims such as "the promotion of the interests of the whole of Catalonia abroad" and "the international promotion of its language and culture" are no longer suspended. The TC also lifted the suspension of the articles that refer to the functions of Parliament, the government, the administration, the president of the Generalitat, and other institutions, and the relations of the executive with other administrations.
Diplomacy remains suspended
Nevertheless, the high court maintained the suspension of articles 34 to 38, which regulate "the public diplomacy" of Catalonia, and specifically, the "support to the internationalization of civil society", the "international projection of Catalan nationals", the "civil society associations involved in foreign policy", the "foreign communication of the Catalan executive", and their coordination.
Also still suspended is the allusion to the "positioning of Catalonia abroad as an international actor active on matters pertaining to the Generalitat or of interest to Catalonia".
