Spain’s acting Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares (main image) said on Tuesday that ‘progress’ has been made in the Spanish government’s request to have the Catalan, Basque and Galician languages added to the European Union’s existing official languages.
Speaking at a press briefing after Tuesday’s meeting of the EU’s General Affairs Council in Luxembourg, Albares said: ‘Today we made progress. The inclusion of the three languages is closer.’
However, the foreign minister will now have to present an ‘adapted proposal’ to the other member states, which should prevent other countries from using Catalan, Basque and Galician as precedents for new languages to receive official EU status.
Tuesday’s meeting was the second time European ministers have discussed the request made by Spain but the issue, which requires unanimous support from all 27 member states, was once again not put forward to vote. ALSO READ: Spain must wait to see if EU will accept Catalan, Basque & Galician as official languages.
A statement issued after the meeting read as follows:
‘Ministers took stock of progress on the request by Spain to include Catalan, Basque and Galician in Regulation No 1/1958, which governs the EU’s language regime. The request was notified to the Council presidency on 17 August 2023, in a letter by Spain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs. At the General Affairs Council meeting on 19 September 2023, ministers had a constructive exchange and decided to continue working on the request by Spain to amend Regulation No 1. Since then, the Commission has been requested to prepare a technical analysis of the cost implications of the Spanish request. The Commission confirmed that it is ready to present such an analysis, working in cooperation with the other EU institutions. An adapted proposal will be tabled. The General Affairs Council agreed to remain seized of the matter.’
The next meeting of the General Affairs Council takes place on 15 November.
Speaking at the press conference following the meeting, Albares said there are concerns from some countries that other communities may cite the case used for Catalan, Galician and Basque and their unique legal situation as a precedent to get other minority languages approved.
The meeting on Tuesday was ‘another step’ in negotiations to add these three langauges to the bloc’s existing 24 official languages, he said.
The adapted proposal will make it clear that language reform ‘is limited to Spain’s case’ because it ‘meets unique requirements within the EU’.
‘Other languages will not be able to rely on this reform’ if their respective member countries are against their inclusion, Albares said, stressing the legal status of Catalan, Basque and Galician in Spain, their use in Congress and the Senate, and in administrative agreements with some European institutions.
Despite pointing out the progress made, the Spanish government has not set a date for a vote on the issue.
According to the Spanish Statistical Office, 9.1 million people speak Catalan, while 2.6 million and 1.1 million speak Galician and Basque respectively.
The EU already has 24 official languages. All legal EU documents — treaties, laws and international agreements — must already be translated into those 24 languages and there must be translation available in them at leaders’ summits and ministerial meetings.
ALSO READ: Spain allows MPs to speak Catalan, Basque and Galician in Parliament – Vox walk out.
En la reunión del #CAG hoy hemos avanzado para lograr la inclusión del catalán, euskera y gallego en el régimen lingüístico de la Unión Europea. pic.twitter.com/35Hh5QZ366
— José Manuel Albares (@jmalbares) October 24, 2023
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