Ireland resigns itself to leaving the official status of Catalan in a drawer

BrusselsIreland is a friendly country to the cause, but it cannot force the issue and has little hope. The Irish government is one of those that has always been most openly in favour of the official status of Catalan, Galician and Basque in the European Union, and was the last member state to achieve recognition of its own language in the EU institutions. Despite this, the lack of support from the other European partners means that, at least for now, Ireland sees it as complicated to push the initiative during the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU – the body representing member states – in the second half of this year, which begins this Wednesday.

Irish and Spanish diplomatic sources assure ARA that they have been in contact before Dublin takes over the presidency of the Council of the EU this Wednesday, July 1, to address various issues, including the official status of the language of the Catalan Countries. "It is part of the usual relationship our countries have," assure Irish diplomatic sources. However, the initiative is just as stalled as in previous presidencies that were more reluctant to the initiative.

The same ambassador of Ireland to the EU, Aingeal O'Donoghue, stressed at the press conference presenting the Irish presidency that she "has always admired how the Catalan language has survived". However, "having said that," she admitted that "there is no consensus" among the member states to push for official status. For this reason, the Irish diplomat made it clear that they will "only" consider taking action if they see "movement" in the positioning of European partners since the last time it was discussed at a ministerial meeting, which she assures is not the case.

Junts doubts Moncloa's work

In fact, next July 18th will mark a year since it has been put on the table in a ministerial meeting of the Council of General Affairs of the EU, which is the body that must approve the initiative and at the highest level at which it can be brought for discussion. However, sources from Moncloa tell this newspaper that it remains one of their "priorities" and they "continue working with the rest of the member states" for it to be approved. "It will be brought to the Council of General Affairs when the necessary unanimity has been ascertained," point out the same sources. Sources from Junts – the party that agreed with the PSOE on the official status of Catalan in the EU – doubt that the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, is working hard to convince his European counterparts.

In the last ministerial meeting in which it was discussed, several member states were openly against it, especially Germany or Italy. Sources close to the negotiations of the initiative attribute the rejection of several European executives to the maneuvers of the PP, and point out that Junts' break with the PSOE has caused the Junts members to lose their capacity for pressure on Moncloa so that it works to convince the rest of the partners.

Be that as it may, the various diplomatic delegations of member states to the EU consulted by ARA respond that they have no knowledge of any new developments and assure that Moncloa has not contacted them in recent months regarding the official status of Catalan. Therefore, support among European partners for the initiative remains far from the unanimity necessary for it to be approved, which is why Ireland is refraining from forcing a vote, at least for now.