21.02.2014 - 06:00
Josep Rull, the organizational secretary for Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya, one of the parties that comprises Catalonia’s ruling CiU coalition, was interviewed by VilaWeb Global this week. Rull explained the difference between CiU’s two coalition members and how they plan to achieve the independence of Catalonia. He also talked about membership in the EU and EFTA, the harsh rhetoric coming out of the EU, and what the campaign is doing to help convince reticent business leaders.
Can you explain to an international audience just what CiU, Catalonia’s ruling party is?
CiU is a coalition between a liberal party, Convergència, and a Christian Democrat party, but both Catalanist. Catalanism is a movement, a political movement, that wants freedom, democracy, and the recognition of Catalonia as a nation. During 40 years we have been inside Spain and now we are asking for freedom, for independence.
Can you tell us about the two parties that make up CiU?
Unió Democràtica is in favor of the right to self-determination and they ask for a confederal model. So, first reach the state, and then negotiate the relationship between the new Catalan state and Spain. We, Convergència, we think the best way is to open a new scenario with an independent state, a Catalan state, in Europe, not in Spain, in Europe, in the European Union. That’s our hope. We want to give the decision to the Catalan people. So we say, “Let people vote, let people decide for themselves, let the Catalan people decide what they want to be.” So the first step is to hold this referendum/consultation. We say both things. A referendum needs the authorization of the Spanish state; the consultation we can organize with our own laws.
What’s the next step after the referendum?
And then, obviously, if we win, we will have to negotiate the result of the referendum with the Spanish government and with the international community. That’s the last step. But there is a very important difference between Catalonia and Scotland, that the British government allows the Scottish people to vote, but we have a lot of trouble with the Spanish government because they don’t want us to decide our future and they prohibit us from voting. That is, I think, the most important difference. I insist that the first step is to vote. And we ask for help from the international community. We think that democracy is a universal principle that is supported by all modern nations at least in Europe.
Recently, European Commission president, José Manuel Durão Barroso, has had harsh rhetoric for Catalonia’s independence movement. How do you respond?
Barroso, what did Barroso say for instance in 1990 with the reunification of Germany? The treaties at that time didn’t accept the possibility of German reunification. And how did 60 million Eastern Germans join the European Community at that time? So we think the problem is not just legal, in Europe. It is an issue of political will and we do think that the European Union will not build walls in the middle of Europe. I mean, I cannot imagine Catalonia as an island inside Europe with closed borders. I cannot imagine that, and the Catalan people cannot imagine that and I think that the European people and the European Commission cannot imagine that position. Because this position is very negative for Catalonia, for Spain, and for Europe too. So, at the end of the day, the EU will accept democracy and will find a solution, a political solution.
Do you think the harsh rhetoric from the EU is turning Catalans off, making them less interested in Europe? And what about EFTA?
No, I don’t think so because we are Europeans and I think the majority of the Catalan people want to be Europeans and want us to be a member of the European Union. Our priority is to be a full member of the European Union but the second chance, the second option is to be a member of EFTA, that is, a member of the common market.
What will you do if the Spanish government doesn’t let you hold a referendum?
We have another possibility which is to use an election, an ordinary election, and use this election to allow the Catalan people to vote, with parties sharing a single point of an electoral program, that is, ‘do you want Catalonia to become a new state, a new independent state of Europe?’ And if we win a majority then the Catalan Parliament will be allowed to proclaim independence with the legitimation of the polling boxes.
Lluís Corominas said recently that “we have to be prepared before declaring independence”. In what way?
We need international recognition; we have to build our own treasury; we have to prepare different state structures, I mean, the day after the proclamation of the Parliament we have to be prepared to support the new situation.
There have been recent statements by business groups against independence. How are you trying to convince them?
The aim of businessmen is to do business. And to have a good scenario to do so. And we are trying to explain to them the advantages of having the same tools of other nations: the tools of state. But we do think they will accept the result of this referendum. Many of them, many of these businessmen, business organizations, are in favor of the right to self-determination. They say, “let people vote and then we will accept the result”. Obviously this is not comfortable for some of those companies but they are in favor of democracy and many of them have expressed that situation. And now we are also explaining to them that it is impossible to go ahead inside the Spanish State because the situation is very difficult for us: we have significant unemployment: 22% of people here in Catalonia. But we have a very important GDP. So which is the problem? We give a lot and we receive less than we give. So this is not fair, this is not good for business companies, for people, for the whole population. And we have tried to change this situation, to have a fair funding model with the Spanish State, fair for Catalonia and in solidarity with the other regions of Spain. And this has been impossible during the last thirty years.
Can you tell us how you frame the Triple Yes campaign in favor of independence?
The opportunties we will have. We can build an extraordinary nation. We want to live from our own efforts. That’s what Catalan people are asking for. This is a hopeful movement. These are our reasons. And another thing. We have tried to reach an agreement with the Spanish State and this has been impossible.
