EFA Secretary General Jordi Solè will substitute Oriol Junqueras as MEP

President Sassoli of the European Parliament is today nominating Jordi Solé to substitute Oriol Junqueras as MEP for Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC).

Given the open question of Junqueras’ status and immunity as an elected Member of the European Parliament, the mandate has now been passed on to Solé, Secretary General of EFA, whilst awaiting the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Solé’s mandate is retroactive in character, going back to 3rd January 2020, the date when the Spanish Supreme Court notified that, following his prison sentencing, Junqueras would be barred from holding office.

After Junqueras and Diana Riba MEP, Solé is next on the list of ERC’s European election candidates, and was an MEP for the EFA group in the previous parliamentary mandate, working as a full member of the Foreign Affairs and Budgetary committees. 

Jordi Solé said:
“I come back to the European Parliament under very special circumstances. I wish that justice is done and Oriol can exercise as an MEP. In the meantime, I will be working for a better Europe without political prisoners and where the right to self-determination can be exercised without arbitrary repression”.

President of EFA, Lorena López de Lacalle said:
Whilst we await the CJEU’s decision on Oriol Junqueras, we will now have a strengthened group in the European Parliament, working not only for Catalonia, but for the self-determination of all peoples. As the Conference on the Future of Europe gets underway, EFA will have an even stronger voice. Jordi is a both an experienced and hardworking politician, and a cherished member of the EFA family. We wish him all the best. Endavant.

The European Free Alliance warmly congratulates Jordi Solé on his new position as an EFA MEP, and looks forward to continuing to work together for a Europe of all Peoples.