EU delays, once again, official status of Catalan due to concerns from Member States

The foreign affairs ministers of the European Union have, once again, delayed the vote on recognizing the official status of the Catalan, Basque, and Galician languages among EU institutions this Friday.

During the week, Spain had been trying to push forward a vote, but there were very few expectations that the 27 Member States would unanimously agree to decide on the issue officially. In fact, many countries had raised their concerns, while Spanish authorities accused reticent countries of "kidnapping" the initiative in the EU Council.

The General Affairs Council meeting, after many ministers raised their doubts, ended up debating on the initiative rather than voting.

"I think the momentum is really not the right one," Xavier Bettel, Luxembourg's foreign affairs minister, told media outlets ahead of the debate.

Some of the major concerns continue with the budget and the legality of the proposal. A similar situation was already seen the last time the initiative was on the agenda in May.

Meanwhile, Spain's secretary for the EU, Fernando Sampedro, had accused the countries of "kidnapping" the initiative in the General Affairs Council and basing their opinions on "legal" or "financial" arguments to "delay" the vote.

"This proposal does not have any negative impact on any other Member State; therefore, we understand that it should be possible to greenlight it as soon as possible," Sampedro said.

The debate was scheduled to last around 45 minutes, it ended up lasting around one hour, and while it was the first topic on the agenda, it was relegated to the second point. The Danish rotating presidency of the Council of the EU decided to first vote on the multiannual EU budget.

Diplomatic sources told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that the next debate on the official status debate of the three languages will "probably" take place in the next scheduled meeting, on September 16.

'Illegitimate concerns'

Spain was represented by Sampedro, but the Spanish foreign affairs minister, José Manuel Albares, did not stay quiet after the debate held in Brussels.

In an interview with Catalan radio station, SER, Albares said that the doubts raised by Member States are "not legitimate." 

"What is unacceptable is for countries to say they have doubts, but not explain which ones, nor seat down with Spain to work on them," he said before adding that "these are not legitimate doubts, it is just a delaying tactic."

Albares continued saying that they "will start working from now, in all levels, with the very few states that continue to say they need more time."

Similar meeting

Diplomatic sources detailed that during the meeting, Spain has presented a new proposal as well as "all the work performed since the last meeting." And more than half of the Member States took part in the debate on Friday and addressed the room.

"From the debate, you can understand that Member States understand the reasons behind the Spanish proposal and the importance of the initiative, but they have also raised some judicial and practical concerns," some sources told the Catalan News Agency (ACN).

Once out of the meeting, Swedish EU Affairs minister Jessica Rosencrantz said that the debate has been very similar to the one from May and that "many Member States" have asked more details on the proposal.

"The debate has been very similar to the one from two months ago, and many countries have asked for the specifics on several financial and legal aspects," she said.

"I believe that there will be more meetings in the upcoming future," she added.

Keep working

Catalan president Salvador Illa said that they will “continue non-stop” to see Catalan become an official language of the EU, as well as Galician and Basque. He said so on Friday in Vigo, a city in Galicia, after issuing a joint letter with the Basque president (Lehendakari) Imanol Pradeles this week.

Illa said that these "are not regional languages as some argue," and regretted that the president of the Xunta of Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, did not sign the joint letter with the Basque leader. The letter was sent to leaders of the EU.

During his speech, which was partially in Galician, Illa said that these languages "are a privilege and are richness."

Following Illa's steps, Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni wrote a letter to 31 mayors of different cities, asking for their support in making Catalan an official language across EU institutions.

He sent the letter to 14 different countries, especially those that were more reticent, explaining that "Catalan is a language with more speakers than 12 out of the 24 official EU languages; therefore, it must be official."

Hours after the debate in Brussels, the Danish Minister for European Affairs, Marie Bjerre, said that the team will "continue working" for a consensus.

"There still remain many concerns on the item on the Spanish language, concerns due to budgetary concerns and also legally concerns," she said during a press conference from Brussels.

"We had the council legal services to explain the situation, and it is clear that there still remain judicially concerns, and we will continue the work in the council," she concluded.

Filling the Sink podcast

The Spanish government is pushing to make Catalan, Basque, and Galician official languages in Europe as it's part of the deal struck between the Socialist Party and Junts per Catalunya for the pro-independence group to support Pedro Sánchez's Prime Ministerial bid in 2023.

Spain's proposal needs unanimous support to be officially approved.

Listen to our podcast from October 2023 to learn more about the origins of the efforts to make Catalan an official European language.