There is no prospect of a short- or medium-term solution for the official status of Catalan in Europe. The efforts of the Spanish People's Party (PP) to obstruct the initiative by influencing the Christian Democratic party—particularly the German government—have borne fruit. Right now, the issue is at a standstill. The aggravating factor is that the negotiating moves by Minister José Manuel Albares over the past two years have ended up producing diplomatic fatigue in most countries, even those in favor of it, which has led to his refusal to discuss it further for the time being. The states currently do not consider it a priority issue and further believe that the lack of consensus, and therefore of new developments, makes it pointless to discuss it again. The refractory position of the Merz administration is what has derailed the proposal, which no one expects now.
With 10 million speakers (20% of the Spanish population), Catalan is the fifteenth most widely used language in Europe. But it is not a state language. The native languages of Malta and Ireland, much more minority, are official languages in the EU. Quantitatively, but also qualitatively (Catalan has a long historical and literary tradition, and a solid cultural vitality today), there is no doubt about the importance of Catalan in Europe. But community policy does not seem to take into account social and cultural reality. The request for Catalan is also linked to Basque and Galician, the other official minority languages in Spain, which makes it even more meaningful in terms of respect for Europe's diverse linguistic heritage, but which complicates and increases the cost of the eventual implementation of the measure.
So far, the difficulties have outweighed the solid arguments. And strategically, things have not been done well. Since August 2023, when, following the demands of Junts (Junt's Party), the first official Spanish request to reform the EU language regulations to add Catalan, Basque, and Galician was made, not much progress has been made. And in the labyrinth of European institutions, not moving forward often means going backward. At that time, with Puigdemont pressuring the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), there was haste and overreaction without even the slightest ties. And everything points to a boomerang effect. Right now, we're probably in a less receptive position on the part of the Twenty-Seven than when the official proposal was first put on the table in Brussels. And it must be remembered: it will only prosper if there is unanimity among all governments. It wasn't, and won't be, easy.
Minister Albares's initial optimism was ill-founded. There will be much more convincing from the Spanish government, much more diplomatic discretion, and also more unanimous and coordinated pressure from Catalonia. This last point is not minor and, apparently, not easy either: until now, everyone has wanted to claim victory, everyone has prioritized their own posturing. When what should be done is to work together (the Government, Junts, and ERC) to pressure Sánchez's executive and lobby together in Brussels. Is this possible? Or will partisanship once again overrule a national issue like language?
