EU member states on Tuesday postponed a vote on the official status of Catalan, Basque and Galician being recognised as official languages of the European Union, due to the reluctance of several countries.
Following an unsuccessful attempt in 2023, Madrid brought the initiative back to Brussels again this week, succeeding at least in having it discussed at a meeting of EU ministers on Tuesday.
However, the scheduled vote on the official status of the three languages was postponed due to the lack of unanimous support by all 27 member states in the General Affairs Council in the EU.
Several member states had pushed Spain to withdraw the matter from Tuesday’s agenda over legal and economic doubts, according to media reports.
There were seven countries that asked Spain to postpone the vote to keep negotiating: Germany, Austria, Croatia, Italy, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Finland. The countries in favour of the Spanish initiative were Belgium, Slovenia, Portugal, and Romania.
The matter could still be taken up on the next the next meeting of the General Affairs Council in the EU, scheduled for 24 June.
This renewed effort comes as Spain’s socialist-led coalition government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, relies heavily on Catalan parliamentary support to pass key legislation.
However, the proposal has sparked apprehension across the bloc’s 26 other members. Several fear that granting Spain’s request could pave the way for similar appeals from speakers of regional or minority languages elsewhere in Europe.
Currently, the EU officially recognises 24 languages, but around 60 minority and regional tongues are spoken across its 27 member states.
All official EU documents – such as treaties, legislation, and agreements – must be translated into the 24 recognised languages, and interpretation is provided at high-level meetings.
Any addition to the list requires unanimous agreement from all member states – a threshold not yet reached for Spain’s proposal, despite some countries expressing sympathy.
‘I think linguistic diversity is important, and we are always constructive,’ said Finnish minister Joakim Strand, although he also advocated for a delay, suggesting the matter was not yet ‘mature’ for a formal decision.
One diplomat warned of the risks of ‘making a European issue out of a national one’, while others expressed concern that their own regions might push for similar recognition.
In the Baltic states, for example, officials are wary that Russian widely spoken by parts of their populations – might be proposed as an official EU language. ‘That’s a real concern,’ said Marko Stucin, Slovenia’s state secretary for European affairs.
Legal experts from the European Council have also raised red flags, saying that fulfilling Spain’s request could require amendments to the EU’s founding treaties.
Some nations, however, have suggested a middle ground: limiting new additions to regional languages that already enjoy official status within a member country.
Under such a compromise, only Basque, Catalan, and Galician would meet the criteria.
Spain contends that these three languages – especially Catalan, with more than nine million speakers – are distinct from other minority languages and warrant special consideration.
The issue of cost has also surfaced, particularly as the EU allocates significant resources toward bolstering its defence and navigating economic tensions with the United States.
As proposed in 2023, Spain has promised to cover the additional expenses for translation services.
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