Spain asks to reactivate Catalan in Europe but links it to the expansion of the EU

BarcelonaThe Spanish government has again requested to debate the official status of Catalan, Galician, and Basque in the Council of the European Union, but now links it to the expansion of the European bloc and, therefore, to the potential entry of new member states. Diplomatic sources explain that Spain's request is to include a point on the agenda of the General Affairs Council — a meeting of EU ministers and Foreign Affairs — on September 22 that will be titled "Official Languages and Enlargement," and the intention is to ensure that if new countries, such as Albania or Montenegro, join the European club, advantage is taken to make Catalan, Galician, and Basque official, along with Albanian and Montenegrin.

The rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, held by the Irish government this semester, received the request on Tuesday and has not yet accepted it. In any case, the Spanish executive has asked that only the official status of the three languages be discussed, and it is expected that Pedro Sánchez's government will again present arguments in favor, but that it will not be put to a vote. In fact, diplomatic sources assure that they do not see any change in the member states' stance on the initiative, and that they have made this move to take advantage of the fact that the debate on EU enlargement is heating up. Be that as it may, this is a move that comes shortly before La Moncloa presents new budget proposals, which would require the support of Junts to be approved.

The official status of Catalan, Galician, and Basque had not been discussed in a Council of the EU since July 18 of last year, although it is a measure that Sánchez pledged to Junts to make a reality before being invested. Furthermore, the EU's enlargement towards the Western Balkans has been stalled for some time, and it is not expected that the community club will grow, especially in the short term.