Junts per Catalunya has formally joined the European Democratic Party (PDE), a centrist and federalist European political family chaired by François Bayrou.

The move gives the Catalan party led by Carles Puigdemont an established European platform for its positions on the amnesty, self-determination and recognition of Catalan, according to the party's stated aims. The PDE now lists Junts as a member and describes it as a major Catalan political force.

Junts is described on the PDE's membership page as a “centrist and sovereigntist” party that defends the right to self-determination.

A European network for Junts

Junts said it wants a European Union that is more democratic, federal and respectful of national, cultural and linguistic diversity. It sees membership of the PDE as a way to strengthen its international presence and its capacity to influence debates in Brussels.

The PDE was founded in 2004 as an alliance of centrist parties seeking deeper European integration outside the two larger political families of the European People's Party and the Social Democrats. It defines itself as federalist and social-liberal, with commitments to civil and social rights.

Its members include France's Mouvement Démocrate, the Basque Nationalist Party (PNB), Coalición Canaria, Germany's Freie Wähler and Italy's Italia Viva. Junts is one of four parties from Spain listed by the PDE, alongside PNB, Coalición Canaria and Compromiso por Galicia.

Return to a European political family

The affiliation follows the earlier expulsion of PDeCAT, Junts' predecessor political formation, from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), according to reporting on the announcement.

The PDE sits within the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament alongside ALDE. Junts announced its definitive incorporation on 3 August 2026.

Reported by Ketty Calatayud, Daniel Tercero, Roger Palós, Gerard Fageda, Por Newsroom Infobae Seguir, Silvia Ayuso, Oriol Solé Altimira, elmundo.es, Generalitat de Catalunya | Consell Assessor per a la Transició Nacional, Parlament de Catalunya, Bruselas / Barcelona, EFE, EUROPA PRESS, parlament.cat, Racó Català.