Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Jaume Duch, European Parliament’s chief spokesperson, becomes Catalonia’s regional minister for the European Union and external action under Salvador Illa’s new government.
The European Parliament’s chief spokesperson and director-general of communication, Jaume Duch, will be the latest regional minister for the European Union and external action, in the newly instituted Catalan government, ruled by Socialist Party leader Salvador Illa.
What is Jaume Duch’s career background in EU institutions?
Formerly a lawyer, university professor, and reporter, Duch took up his post in the European Parliament in February 2017, after more than a decade as the institution’s media director.
A passionate pro-European and expert on the EU institutions, where he has maintained several positions, guarantees the Illa government a good degree of contact within the bloc. Between January 1997 and July 1999, he acted as spokesman for the then President of the European Parliament, José María Gil-Robles (Partido Popular/EPP), as an advisor in his cabinet responsible for communication.
He was also liable for the parliamentary formation of the ways that prepared the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Constitution. Since June 2006 he has been a representative for the European Parliament, and from February 2017 he was nominated director general for communications.
After a career traversing more than three decades, in 2022 he applied to evolve the European parliament’s secretary-general, the most elevated post in the institution, but the role instead went to the head of cabinet of parliament president Roberta Metsola, following a controversial selection procedure that was opposed by members of the European Parliament (MEPs), parliamentary staff and international transparency organisations.
How did Duch’s EU experience influence his Catalan appointment?
As a spokesman for the EU Parliament, he has on many events been a staunch supporter of the official status of Catalan in Europe, while cautioning against the risks of the rise of the far-right. He is also the writer of various publications, articles and communications on matters relating to the institutions of the EU and its laws.
Duch’s nomination comes as lla, who succeeded the snap Catalan elections held on 12 May – albeit without a bulk to govern alone – has been forced to deal with the separatist party, the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), along with other pro-independence formations, to achieve power.
In exchange for their consent, Illa had to make major political and economic compromises which strengthened Catalonia’s self-government. He took the post on Saturday (10 August) at the seat of the regional government (Generalitat) in Barcelona, constituting an executive of mostly technical and moderate politicians, in which Duch works perfectly, given his previous EU career and moderate posts. Many analysts suggested on Monday (12 Aug) that Illa’s government – with 16 regional ‘ministers’ – opens a new era in Catalonian politics.
