Brussels: A top legal adviser to the European Union’s highest court has recommended that Spain’s amnesty law for people involved in the Catalan independence movement should be allowed to stand, giving a major boost to the Spanish government’s effort to ease long running political tensions.

Advocate General Dean Spielmann of the Court of Justice of the European Union said the law appeared to be part of a real attempt at political and social reconciliation and did not amount to a self amnesty. His opinion is not binding, but EU judges often follow such recommendations.

The amnesty covers more than 300 people who faced charges linked to the Catalan push for independence between 2011 and 2017. The adviser also said the measure could apply to embezzlement related accusations, which may benefit former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who has lived in exile since the 2017 referendum.

Spain’s justice minister welcomed the opinion, saying it validated the government’s effort to promote dialogue. Puigdemont also praised the development, claiming it showed that delays in applying the law had been unnecessary.

The law was approved after intense negotiations between Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist party and Catalan separatist groups. However, the separatist party Junts recently withdrew its support for the government, arguing that Spanish courts were slow in applying the amnesty. Their decision has made it harder for the government to pass new laws.

Spain’s constitutional court had already backed the legality of the amnesty earlier this year, although it stressed that the law must be applied fairly. With the EU adviser’s opinion now in place, all eyes are on the final ruling from EU judges, which will determine whether the measure can move forward without further legal obstacles.