MIDDAY BRIEF, IN BRIEF

Today at Commission, Catalonia and more Catalonia

The Commission would not publicly criticize the violence and offered its support to Mariano Rajoy.

On the agenda: Catalan referendum, terrorism, security, agenda.

On the podium: Commission chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas.

Announcements: The Commission sent its condolences after two women were stabbed to death on Sunday in Marseille and praised security forces in the Canadian city of Edmonton after a Somali-born refugee injured five people. Schinas also said the Commission was watching the situation in Las Vegas, where a gunman killed at least 50 people and wounded 200 in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

On the agenda: Before being pressed for 45 minutes on the situation in Catalonia, Schinas said European commissioners will meet in Strasbourg tomorrow to discuss a package of measures on public procurement, which will be presented by Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen and the European Commissioner for the Internal Market Elżbieta Bieńkowska. Pierre Moscovici will on Wednesday present the Commission’s measures on VAT. Commissioners will be also be briefed by Jean-Claude Juncker on last week’s Tallinn digital summit. The Catalan vote is not expected to be discussed as it is not formally on the agenda.

Catalan situation: Schinas said in a statement that the vote held on Sunday in Catalonia was not legal and “this is an internal matter for Spain that has to be dealt with in line with the constitutional order of Spain” — effectively declining calls for the EU executive to step in and mediate. After repeating that if a (legal) referendum was organized “in line with the Spanish constitution it would mean that the territory leaving would find itself outside of the European Union,” Schinas also called “on all relevant players to now move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue. Violence can never be an instrument in politics.” You can read the full statement here.

Siding with Rajoy: Schinas said a phone call between Jean-Claude Juncker and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was scheduled for Monday afternoon. Both are members of the center-right European People’s Party. The spokesman declined to discuss what Juncker’s key messages will be, but said the Commission trusts “the leadership of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to manage this difficult process in full respect of the Spanish constitution and of the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined therein.” Schinas also declined to explicitly condemn police violence.

Dodging questions: A clearly irritated Schinas faced around 20 questions on the Catalan vote. The spokesman said he was only speaking for the Commission after being asked about comments by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar, who expressed their concerns about the violence. Schinas said comparisons with the Commission’s stance against Hungary and Poland did not hold up as the Spanish constitution has been in place for 40 years. He also said the Commission will not compare the Catalan issue with Kosovo as “Spain is a member of the European Union.”

Master of time: Schinas’ appearance in the Commission press room was the first official reaction from the Commission to the events in Catalonia. “We are reacting when all the elements are in place. It is simple as that,” said an angry Schinas when asked if the Commission took too long to react.

Russian interference: Schinas declined to speculate on allegations of Russian interference in the Catalan referendum. But he said he had no doubt “very nasty things” happened in this debate because of internet trolls, websites being shut down and reporters being targeted.

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