THE CATALAN CRISIS’ EUROPEAN DIMENSION: SOVEREIGNTY AND THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION

The article considers the problem of a supranational actor participation in an internal conflict between Catalonia and Spain, with the European Union as such an actor. The objective of the study is to determine the supranational actor’s impact on the conflict. The use of discourse analysis in untangling the European Union’s stance in the conflict represents the article’s novelty. The theoretical framework of the article is based on the discourse theory, the theory of sovereignty and the international law analysis. The main thesis of the paper is that the discourse on independent Catalonia contains two opposite sets of arguments – one supported by the EU, and one ascribed to it by the independence supporters, which was ultimately one of the reasons for escalation. The sides in an internal conflict often appeal to the international law, particularly to the principle of territorial integrity and the right to self-determination, usually interpreted as the right to secede. Despite the abundance of academic works on the apparent contradiction between these two principles, the international practice in enforcing them remains situational and inconsistent. This not only creates preconditions for politicising the international law, but also builds a legitimacy foundation for separatist movements, which is clearly illustrated in the Catalan case. The discourse on independent Catalonia contains the following European Union stances. The pointedly detached stance, adopted by the European officials with considerations for the Union in the case of secession, leaned on the principle of territorial integrity. The stance ascribed to the image of the EU leaned on the right to selfdetermination and was created by the independence supporters to draw undecided, proEuropean voters. The article concludes that the mismatch between the actual and the ascribed stances of the EU contributed to the escalation of the Catalan crisis, with the latter promoting unreasonable expectations among the independence supporters. The existing contradiction between two key international law principles and the associated inconsistency in enforcing helped foster the fake stance and gave it legitimacy. At the same time, the involvement of a supranational actor helped neutralise the extreme scenario, which in that case is Catalonia’s secession.