The Court of Auditors has raised a preliminary question to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the amnesty law, considering that the alleged diversion of funds for the “referendum” of October 1 and the external action of the ‘procés’, for which the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and 34 other people are indicted, affects the financial interests of the EU.
In an order, the councilor of accounts Elena Hernáez also agrees to suspend the procedure “until the resolution of the prejudicial incident” ruling out ruling on the requests for the application of the amnesty law.
In her letter, the counselor warns that “it could be the case that the extinction of accounting responsibilities could be declared for purposes that are not really those foreseen in the amnesty law”. The counselor considers that the law, in one of its points, “would be contrary to what is established” in several European norms. “Taking into account that, on the one hand, such regulation would mean eliminating a remedy established in national law to protect the financial interests of the EU, leaving these unprotected” she warns. All this, it adds “taking into account that the alleged accounting liabilities claimed in the present refund procedure involve an affectation of the financial interests of the EU”.