At the European Parliament in Brussels, members were trying to make sense of what was emanating from Catalonia.
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Philippe Lamberts, from the Belgian Greens:
“Dialogue is what we need. Some space was created for it when the Catalan Prime Minister Puigdemont refrained from unilaterally declaring independence and when Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish Prime Minister, refrained from suspending Catalan autonomy. Now it’s for the two to talk to one another, and if they do not take the initiative, maybe the EU Commission should offer its services to help reinstating dialogue.”
But any EU mediation remains highly controversial, not only for the Spanish Socialist Juan Fernando López Aguilar.
“The answer is no to a mediation. Its not the role of the European Union. On the contrary. The European Union has been consistent on the message which is clear: that there is no room in the European Union for a self-proclaimed Catalonian republic as a new member state of the European Union.”
So far, there is virtually no support for Catalan independence in Brussels – and no signs that this might change.