Spain moves to reopen debate on Catalan’s official status in the EU 

The Spanish government has requested that the official status of Catalan, Galician, and Basque be discussed again at the upcoming Foreign Affairs Council meeting of the Council of the European Union, which will take place on May 27.

Diplomatic sources have confirmed to the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that Spain formally submitted the request to include the issue on the agenda of the meeting.

The last time the 27 member states debated the matter was over a year ago, in March of 2024. Then, the discussion lasted only ten minutes, and the proposal has stalled on several occasions.

Despite informal talks with Hungary, the matter was sidelined during the Hungarian presidency of the Council in the second half of 2024.

But the Polish government, which is currently holding the rotating presidency, stated earlier this year that the recognition of Catalan, Basque, and Galician as official EU languages could be taken up again if the member states showed “willingness” to do so.

Granting official EU language status to the three countries requires unanimity of the 27 member states in the EU Council.

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