Catalonia separatists on EU charm offensive

Three weeks after the 27 September regional elections, Catalonia is still waiting for a government, and relations with the Spanish government in Madrid have reached a new low. Meanwhile, Calatan authorities continue to plead the case for independence in Europe. In a dispute that could destabilise the EU's fifth most populated state and fifth economy, the institutions, and the Commission in particular, have to strike a delicate balance. Even if the refugee crisis, the Greek crisis and the 'Brexit' issue pushed the Catalan issue “down on the list of crises in the EU, that doesn’t mean that the issue is not there”, observed Pol Morillas, research fellow at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB). “Something that is still not an urgent problem could become an important political problem”, he warned.