Map: which states are in favor, reluctant, and indifferent to Catalan's official status in the EU

Brussels / BarcelonaThe offensive last minute from Moncloa The push for European states to vote in favor of making Catalan, Galician, and Basque official has had no effect. A dozen countries, including Germany, Italy, and Finland, have tabled the postponement of the decision during the discussion within the Council—which is being held behind closed doors—citing economic, legal, and technical concerns. In other words: How much does it cost and who pays for it? Is it necessary to change the treaties? How will it affect minorities in other countries if it sets a precedent? How would it be implemented?

The majority of the Twenty-Seven They have been reluctant to incorporate the three languages and are asking for more time to study the measure, although Spain is also gaining some support along the way. Fewer than a dozen states clearly support the proposal. The Catalan parliament will be held on June 24th, or later in September, at the start of the political year and when budget negotiations begin; it will depend on what Spain requests and what they accept on the agenda.

More and more Member States are in favor of the initiative, although they remain in the minority. Usual allies on issues of linguistic diversity, such as Belgium (which has three official languages in its respective regions: French, Flemish, and German) and Ireland, which achieved in 2022 that Irish received the effective status of an official language of the EUAlso in favor are Cyprus, Slovenia, Denmark, Romania, Portugal, and Hungary, which always swims against the majority of the bloc.

AGAINST

Political pressures

Sources familiar with the State's talks with other European partners suggest that the People's Party pressured Italy, Germany, and Hungary to block it. In fact, the same Catalan PP admitted calls to try to stumble the initiative and Vox claimed that Genoa had asked them to pressure the leaders of far-right families, such as Hungary's Viktor Orbán and Italy's Giorgia Meloni. Abc It also reports that Genoa has contacted Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who is close to the Spanish People's Party (PP) and has reportedly pledged to block the initiative. In this regard, Italy was one of the first countries to request the floor, advocating postponing the vote and requesting a report from the EU Council's legal services.

Reluctance for legal and economic cost reasons

Germany, now governed by the conservative Friedrich Merz, was one of the most vocal opponents of the Spanish proposal. It was the first country to request the floor, urged a postponement of the vote, and threatened to vote against it if it was not withdrawn. However, its main argument is not theoretically political, and it asserts that it simply seeks more legal guarantees. Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Austria have also taken a position in this direction. Furthermore, most of these member states, which are dogmatic about austerity and opposed to increasing the EU budget, fear that Spain will not legally be able to cover the costs of making Catalan, Galician, and Basque official and will end up having to pay their respective shares.

Reluctance because they fear it will set a precedent

The main fear of a significant portion of the member states is that the official status of Catalan, Galician, and Basque would set a precedent and encourage other minority language communities in their territory to demand the same recognition. The Nordic countries (Finland and Sweden), which have several minorities, are also concerned. On the other hand, Denmark, although it has Faroese, with 80,000 speakers, has openly expressed its support.

France is known for its lack of respect for linguistic diversity, and has even officially declared that it has no ethnic, religious, or linguistic minorities, although it does include speakers of Breton, Basque, Catalan, Occitan, Alsatian, and Chorrera. Any movement in favor of linguistic diversity is skeptical, though not outright opposed. It should be remembered that the Bulgarian state also does not recognize its linguistic minorities, such as the Turkish language.

Indifferent

The last group of states includes those that prefer not to take either position to avoid controversy or because they are indifferent to the final decision. These include Greece, Luxembourg, and Malta. Poland remains neutral because it holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council and cannot publicly position itself in the discussions taking place within this institution. However, the Polish government had not made any statements either in favor or against before assuming the presidency, although it has not prevented Spain from discussing the official status of Catalan.