Free movement threatened if European arrest warrant abused

Last week, the former Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, was remanded in custody by a court in Germany pending a decision on whether to extradite him to Spain to face charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds in relation to the referendum and subsequent declaration of independence in Catalonia.

Puigdemont's extradition is being sought via a European Arrest Warrant, the EU's flagship crime-fighting measure, a fast-track extradition regime through which an arrest warra...