EL 'DRET A DECIDIR' I ELS VALORS FUNDACIONALS DE LA UNIÓ EUROPEA

The European Union provides in the article 2 TEU the shared values of the Union itself and its member states, the observance of which are required to obtain the membership in the Union and also to remain in that status. These values have a structural nature and their effects are projected on the competences, the European law and the local sphere of the states as well. From this premise, the working hypothesis of this paper is to determine how these values can compromise the performance of the state in the political and legal treatment of a process of internal territorial secession and in which extent the foundational values (especially those of democracy, legality and respect for the rights of minorities) can influence this behaviour. Specifically this paper analyses, according to the meaning and effects that should be given to the previously mentioned values, if their integrity is respected when a State, in this case the Spanish State, systematically denies the possibility of doing a consultative referendum or a plebiscite on the political future of Catalonia against the democratic will expressed by majority and repeatedly, enshrining this negative only in a restrictive and formalistic reading of the internal legality. The article also compares this situation with other international scenarios and assesses the political and legal consequences that could be from the European perspective considering the efforts of communityinstitutions in recent years to establish early warning mechanisms and precursors to prevent threats to the integrity of founding values.