Ibarretxe Plan - Possible Scenarios

Possible Scenarios

The Spanish Government, led by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party premier José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and leading academics viewed the Ibarretxe Plan as contrary to the Spanish Constitution, this view being shared by the main opposition party Partido Popular.

It has been argued that other states of the European Union (EU) would disagree with such a move, as many have separatist parties (such as in Corsica in France, Scotland and Northern Ireland in the UK, etc.) that would gain renewed strength in the light of a successful secession. Also, the European Parliament denied having anything to do with it, saying that it was a Spanish internal issue.

The Spanish reasoning is that that if the plan leads to a rupture between the Basque Country and the rest of Spain, the region would disassociate itself from Spain and the EU in such a way that the Basque Country would be able to re-enter the EU only after a complex negotiation process, in which any member state of the Union, including Spain, would have a veto right.