Spain proposes to vote the official of Catalan in the EU to fulfill the agreement with Junts | Spain

Spain seems willing to bet strongly with the official of Catalan In the European Union. After more than a year without official movements – which not among scenes – in Brussels, the Government of Pedro Sánchez has achieved that the question of recognition of Spanish co -official languages ​​at European level is again discussed, and even perhaps subjected to vote, between the twenty -seven, in the next Council of General Affairs in Brussels, on May 27. The issue is a crucial condition of the agreement that sealed together per Catalunya with the PSOE to give parliamentary stability to Sánchez in exchange for the Catalan language to have its own personality in community institutions.

According to the agenda of the appointment, made under the presidency of the EU Polish shift and published on Monday, the issue should be taken to “adoption”, that is, vote, although it is not clear yet if it is still secured the unanimity that this type of issues requires, various diplomatic sources coincide. In any case, the intention of Spain is, as the Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has assured again and again, since he made the first request in the summer of 2023, go to the end in an issue in which he has been working intensely for almost two years.

The background of the agenda must still be discussed at the level of European ambassadors, in an appointment on May 21. And the possibility of ending up with the voting proposal is great. The only time Spain proposed to submit this issue to vote was In September 2023when he first presented the proposal to the Foreign Ministers, although he finally did not promote his vote, in view of the fact that there was no necessary consensus.

In an appearance this Monday from Waterloo (Belgium), Carles Puigdemont has implied that the recognition of the official of Catalan in the EU is an issue that can be resolved shortly. The former Catalan president has referred to this when he has justified that Juns Per Catalunya departs from the National Pact for the Protection of Catalan, signed by PSC, ERC and the Commons, with the support of entities such as Òmnium or Platform per La Flengua. Junts does not adhere to the agreement claiming that there are open issues, and imminent resolution, which can vary the context on the situation of Catalan. Puigdemont has expressly alluded to the official of Catalan in the EU and the sentence that the Constitutional Court has to pronounce on The 25% Spanish share in the classrooms of the Catalan schools.

Some diplomatic sources consulted have shown their surprise for the new vote proposal, since it does not seem that all countries with reluctance have changed their minds or, at least, in Brussels their representatives have not received instructions in this regard, they point out under condition of anonymity. Other sources believe that it is a way to try where the positions are after a long year of intense diplomacy away from the spotlights, but they doubt that finally the point will be subjected to the vote on the 27th.

In any case, all the sources consulted coincide, until the same day of the Council, the opinions may be the Spanish order – they have changed and the agenda is modified, so that no one dares to predict a result of the encounter, at least for the moment.

The last time that the official of Catalan was discussed in a Council of European Ministers was in March last year, when the government sent a report to the Foreign Ministers arguing that Catalan, Basque and Galician have constitutional recognition in Spain and that that It places them in a position other than that of other minority languages. But in the absence of advances on the ground, the presidency of the Belgian shift that semester decided to withdraw the point of the Spanish co -official languages ​​of the agenda, which did not return during the controversial Hungarian presidency, last semester.

However, Albares reactivated the plans at the end of 2024, when he asked by letter to his Polish pair, Radoslaw Sikorski, which during the EU Polish semester that It started in January and ends at the end of June it will advance to achieve an agreement that allows us to include the three languages ​​in the regulations set by the linguistic regime of the Union.

During all this time, Spain has tried to convince, in multiple diplomatic contacts, the most reticent countries, especially those who fear that the Spanish proposal can open the door to similar demands of linguistic minorities in its territory. The Spanish government has assured by active and passive that its proposal is a suit to measure the Spanish case that cannot be used as a precedent that arouses nationalist or linguistic impulses in other community countries. In addition, he has pledged to take care of all the expenses involved in the step. In fact, the cost of the bilateral administrative agreements that has signed with the main European institutions – Salvo La Eurocamara is already assuming, where all attempts have failed – from the first Spanish attempt to achieve the officiality of Catalan, in 2004. Despite the fact that the official of Catalan is one of the conditions of Junts to support the government of Sánchez, the executive of Madrid ensures that the executive of Madrid is not a matter (…) But of national identity, a Spanish state and constitutional issue ”, although the key is whether the other capitals also see it.