Andorran government says it does not hold BPA’s accounts and forwards PS request to AREB
Casal says the government does not have the documents requested by the PS and that the agency will assess the request on legal grounds
The Andorran government has forwarded the request for information on BPA’s accounts to the State Agency for the Resolution of Banking Institutions (AREB) after receiving a letter from the Speaker of Parliament following the PS’s appeal for intervention.
Government spokesperson Guillem Casal explained that the government is awaiting the agency’s response, which it will then relay to the General Council, Andorra’s parliament.
Casal defended the government’s role as an intermediary, saying that it does not hold the requested documents. “This information is not in the government’s possession,” he said during the press conference following the Council of Ministers meeting.
The spokesperson stressed that the government had acted as a “conduit” to AREB, which holds the information, and would perform the same role once the agency responds.
AREB to assess whether it can disclose the information
According to Casal, AREB will examine the request from a legal standpoint, taking into account both the applicable legislation and the provisions of the General Council’s rules of procedure governing parliamentarians’ access to information.
The minister emphasised that the agency is an independent, autonomous body. The response the government forwards to parliament will therefore depend on AREB’s assessment.
The press conference provided no clarification on when that response would arrive or whether the requested accounts would be disclosed.
Casal plays down the appeal to the Speaker
The spokesperson also sought to put the Speaker’s intervention into context, describing the expression “appeal for the Speaker’s protection” as “perhaps alarming”, while stressing that it refers to a procedure established under parliamentary rules.
He explained that any member of the General Council who believes they have not received information to which they are entitled can appeal to the Speaker, who then forwards the request to the government. Casal added that this is not the first time the mechanism has been used.
The minister was questioned about the letter in which the Speaker highlighted parliamentarians’ preferential right of access to information. Casal’s response leaves the request pending AREB’s legal assessment.