The great battle between Germany and Spain over Catalan in the EU: "It could be a step backwards"

BrusselsThe seventh time's not the charm either. The European Union has once again postponed the vote on the official status of Catalan, Galician, and Basque, the seventh time Spain has brought this initiative. in the EU General Affairs CouncilAccording to diplomatic sources told ARA, a large part of the member states remain reluctant to embrace the initiative, and at least ten countries intervened in the meeting to openly express their legal concerns about the proposal. The most forceful representative was once again Germany's Secretary of State for Europe, Gunther Krichbaum, and several sources claim he had a heated conversation with Spain's Secretary of State for the EU, Fernando Sampedro.

The discussion began when the German representative asserted "quite forcefully that it is legally unfeasible" and the Spanish representative reacted "aggressively." "This has not helped the debate at all. It could even mean a step backward [for the initiative]," adds another source. "It wasn't dramatic, but there was tension," adds another diplomat present in the meeting room.

Faced with German refusal, Spain has raised the stakes, and diplomatic sources report that the Moncloa has proposed that the entry into force of the official status of Catalan, Galician, and Basque be conditional on a positive ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). However, the Spanish government has been unable to convince the German government, and Germany is opposed at all costs. Furthermore, it is not alone: it has at least had the support of Italy, France, Finland, Sweden, Bulgaria, and Croatia.

In turn, the legal services of the Council of the EU have insisted that it is necessary to amend the treaties to include Catalan, Galician, and Basque as official languages, as reported by ARA this Thursday. Along the same lines, they believe that adding more official languages to ministerial meetings or the EU Committee of the Regions is not the same as adding more official languages to the European institutions as a whole, as it would require much more work and resources to translate all legal documents. However, the Spanish Secretary of State for the EU insisted in statements to the media that the "treaties are very clear" and, therefore, should not be amended.

Germany's desire to hinder the initiative has gone so far as to request a postponement of the Catalan debate because its Secretary of State for Europe and Foreign Affairs was running late and could not be present in person. Thus, the EU Council, now chaired by Denmark, agreed to Krichbaum's request and changed the agenda; the next European budget was discussed first, followed by the Spanish proposal on the three languages. In fact, this Friday's EU Council focused primarily on discussing the next EU general accounts, with Spain's proposal being completely relegated to the background.

Furthermore, only four countries—Belgium, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia—voted in favor of the initiative, and many of the states that have always been most supportive also requested more time. "Traditions are important, but now is really, really not the time," summarized Xavier Bettel, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg, a country in favor of the initiative, in statements to the press. On the contrary, the Luxembourg representative has prioritized discussing issues related to the war in Ukraine and Gaza.

The Moncloa raises its tone against its European partners.

Regardless of the opposition of a large part of the member states and the opinion of the legal services of the Council of the EU, Moncloa insists that it has allayed all the legal and economic doubts of the rest of the European partners, and they attribute their opposition to political motives. The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, who did not attend the Council of the EU meeting as he had done on previous occasions, has described as "unacceptable" that some countries say they "have doubts" but do not express "what they are or sit down with Spain to discuss them." "These are not legitimate doubts; it is simply a delaying tactic," he said in an interview with SER Catalunya.

Along the same lines, Sampedro has accused some countries of unnecessarily "hijacking" and "delaying" the processing of the proposal, and has offered to provide more information to reluctant member states and to request further reports on the potential consequences of the initiative from the European Commission and the Council of the Commission. Furthermore, the Spanish government has long accused the People's Party (PP) of exploiting the influence of the conservative political family at the European level, which has the most governments in the bloc, to hinder the initiative. In fact, Germany's strong opposition to the initiative began precisely when the conservatives, led by Friedrich Merz, regained the German chancellery at the expense of the Social Democrats, who seemed open to accepting the official status of Catalan, Galician, and Basque in the European Union.

For his part, the president of the Generalitat (Catalan government), Salvador Illa, has asserted that he will not stop working to achieve official status for Catalan in the EU. "We will not stop because it is a relevant issue," the Socialist leader said at an event in Vigo. Shortly after, former president Carles Puigdemont responded via social media, reproaching him for the fact that, until Junts requested it, the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) and the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) "didn't give a damn" and "were putting spokes in the wheels." "If I had done my homework when it was time, our language would already be official today," the leader of the Catalan government tweeted.