The EU’s top court has cleared a path for Spain’s politically charged Catalan amnesty law, but it has not yet cleared Carles Puigdemont’s way home.
The Court of Justice of the European Union gave broad backing on Thursday to the law, finding that it does not breach EU rules on financial interests or conflict with the bloc’s terrorism directive. The ruling came after questions from Spain’s Court of Audit and National High Court, including one linked to a terrorism investigation involving Puigdemont.
The decision matters because Puigdemont, the former Catalan president who led the 2017 independence push, remains under a Spanish arrest warrant. The Luxembourg court did not decide whether the amnesty applies to him personally, leaving that to Spain’s courts.
For now, that means Puigdemont cannot return to Spain without risk. Spain’s Supreme Court has refused to grant him amnesty, arguing that alleged personal enrichment was involved in the use of public funds around the 1 October 2017 referendum. The Constitutional Court is examining his appeal and is not expected to rule until October, after the summer judicial recess.
The amnesty law was approved by Spain’s Congress in November 2023 after separatist parties Junts and ERC made it a condition for supporting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez following elections that produced no clear majority.
The law covers offences tied to the Catalan independence process, including the referendum, the unilateral declaration of independence and some public funds cases. It excludes personal enrichment and terrorism acts that endangered life or physical integrity.
Spain’s People’s Party challenged the law, but the Constitutional Court upheld it in June 2025 by six votes to four. The EU court’s ruling removes another challenge, while leaving Puigdemont’s fate in Madrid’s hands.
