​On 31 January, members of the European Committee of the Regions held a debate with Mr Frans Timmermans, 1st Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, Rule of Law and Charter of Fundamental Rights. During the debate, president of the European Alliance group and member of the Flemish Parliament Karl Vanlouwe severely criticised the attitude of the European Commission towards Catalonia.

Mr Vanlouwe stressed that a democratic call for more autonomy made by Catalan people should not be beaten down in an undemocratic way and added that the situation in Catalonia exposes the hypocrisy of the EU which regularly addresses reprimands to different countries about the rule of law and fundamental rights but remains silent when the same rights and freedoms are violated in one of its own member states.

Mr Vanlouwe further asked Mr Timmermans about his opinion on arrest warrants issued against elected representatives who are being persecuted for their political opinions and added that "we are living in the year 2018 and still one of [EU's] member states has political prisoners behind bars."

The point was reinforced by Ms Mairi Gougeon, Member of the Scottish Parliament who added that "democracy does not mean living in fear of violence" and that violent suppression of one's political opinion is not the future of Europe.