Top EU Justice confronts judicial deadlock and continues Pegasus espionage investigations

The Chief Justice for the EU, Didier Reynders concludes his visit to Spain on Friday September 30 with a series of recommendations.

Reynders expressed concern at the current deadlock in the Spanish judicial body, the CGPJ, which has not seen elections since 2018. Reynders stated that the body needs urgent reform but the ideal solution would be for judges to elect a new governing body themselves.

Reynders also continued his investigation into Pegasus spyware, asking the Spanish EU delegation to provide a written report of its findings on the scandal in the country and see whether the technology was “used in compliance with European standards”. Reynders explained that he has made the same request to Polish, Greek and Hungarian delegations.

Pegasus is a software that was used for espionage since its development by an Israeli cyber group in 2016. It targeted journalists, human rights activists, and opposition activists, including against Catalan and Basque independence leaders and advocates in Spain. Pegasus was also used against Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez in 2021.

Reynders highlighted that the purpose of the investigation is for security of all EU member states.