The end is uncertain and the times are longer than those expected by the nationalist parties, but the negotiation to achieve the official status of Catalan, Galician and Basque in the European Union has begun without great resistance and in a less hostile environment. what might be expected given the background. The Government, however, for the sake of the agreement yesterday proposed "prioritizing" the deployment of Catalan as an official language over the other two, a decision that did not sit well with the Galician and Basque nationalist parties.
The matter was on the agenda of the General Affairs Council (CAG) held yesterday in Brussels. Having overcome the initial surprise of the European capitals at finding, at the return of summer, that the Spanish Government intended to “adopt” in one day a reform of the linguistic regime of the community institutions to include their co-official languages, the Council held a debate “ “constructive” on the proposal, as confirmed by its current president, the Secretary of State for the EU, Pascual Navarro.
There was no unanimity to move forward with the initiative and a rejection would have meant the end of the legislative path, but all the countries expressed their willingness to study it and the discussion has now passed into the hands of technicians and diplomats, under the supervision of the ministers, to try resolve the legal, budgetary and operational concerns it has raised. “The CAG will discuss it in future meetings,” Navarro added without venturing when the debate could be more mature and return to the ministers' table.
The debate lasted just 45 minutes. A total of 21 delegations took the floor. They all asked questions and asked to delve deeper into the legal, practical and political implications in other countries with regional languages or when the EU enlarges. Specifically, the Secretary of State of France, Laurence Boone, wants to consult the Council's legal service, an option that she remains open but that will only be resorted to when there is a consensus text.
The Netherlands, which backed down on the initiative in 2004, said that the measure should be studied “in depth,” a comment “often repeated” during the different interventions, according to European diplomatic sources. Italy and Poland especially insisted on the need for “caution” regarding the proposal. On the other hand, the representatives of Slovenia, Portugal, Belgium, Cyprus, Romania and Ireland expressed a clear willingness to support it.
The day started with the surprise of some statements in Catalan by the Finnish Minister of European Affairs, Anders Aldercreutz, who contextualized the reservations expressed by his Government last week. He introduced himself as a “great friend” of Catalan culture and supported diversity, but warned that it is “too early” to make a decision. In his intervention within the Council, he showed understanding towards Spain's request, but raised whether an “alternative” solution would not be possible that would involve creating a new status of languages in the EU, so that, without reaching full official status, they can be used in institutions.
The Government, however, remains firm in its request to obtain full official status for Spain's co-official languages. In his intervention in the Council, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, stressed the “specificity” of the Spanish case – a “practically unique” constitutional linguistic regime – and explained that these languages are already used in Congress. His definition fits with the Lisbon treaty's description of co-official languages.
The minister clarified that these are not “minority languages” but rather have millions of speakers, more than many official EU languages, and recalled that Spain would assume the costs of the measure. Albares also recalled that it is not a “new or unprecedented” proposal on the part of Spain, since it has been requesting it for 20 years and last year the Government reactivated the dossier in the European Parliament. The minister thus implicitly rejected that it was exclusively due to the political needs of Pedro Sánchez. But the context is clear and France, for example, has expressed its desire to “help” Spain, while Germany declares itself open to the initiative.
At the end of the meeting, Albares revealed to the press that he had proposed “prioritizing” the deployment of Catalan as the official language over Galician and Basque, which would be done “following.” “Some member states have suggested that including three languages at once was more difficult and we have opened ourselves up” to the language that the authorities have requested with “most insistence” and that has the most speakers “be the first in its deployment,” justified Albares, who insisted that the final objective “does not change” and that recognition is requested for all three.
There is no evidence that any country explicitly said that it would be better to start with one language, but the Government, at the risk of angering Basque and Galician nationalists, has chosen to prioritize Catalan to speed up the negotiation. Albares launched the idea at the end of the meeting and it has not been debated. The dossier now passes into the hands of the Council's working groups and the ambassadors. “There have been no vetoes” and “we have launched” the reform of the community regulations, the minister celebrated. “The Spanish Government has fulfilled its commitment.”
