UNIA EUROPEJSKA WOBEC NARODOWYCH ASPIRACJI KATALOŃCZYKÓ
EUROPEAN UNION IN THE FACE OF THE CATALANIANS' NATIONAL ASPIRATIONS

Summary/Abstract: Two identities coexisted and competed among Catalans: some consideredthemselves a regional variant of the Spanish nation, while others claimed to represent aseparate nation. While four decades ago the first orientation prevailed, today thesecond attitude is more common. National identity has largely replaced ethno-regionalidentity. Catalans distinguish between the concepts of "nation" and "state," according towhich there can be a nation without a state as well as a nationality residing in morethan one state, while mostly in Western Europe these concepts are not distinguished:states are nations and nations without a state do not exist. The European Union wasbuilt on the basis of this very formal-political definition of a nation. Nations without astate in the EU have been "crammed" into the category of ethnic groups, which the EUdoes not deal with, or into the category of regions completely dependent on the stateson whose territory they are located. Having changed the identity of the Catalans, it isdifficult to "cram" them into the category of an ethnic group, so they have become aproblem for the European Union. The purpose of this article is to explain the situationthat has led to a contradiction between the rule of law and the principle of democracyin the EU. The rule of law was the basis for the EU institutions' ignoring the Catalandeclaration of independence in 2017, but on the other hand, the concern for democracyresulted in the refusal to surrender to Spain the Catalan leaders who were on EUterritory and were being prosecuted by the Spanish authorities.

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