Catalan gets off to a bad start in the EU: "Traditions are important, but now is not the time."

BrusselsCatalan is off to a bad start at the ministerial meeting to discuss its official status in the European Union. Several member states have expressed reluctance to join the EU General Affairs Council and do not expect a final vote to be held this Friday. Even some of the countries that have always been most supportive have asked for more time to make a decision. "Traditions are important, but now is really, really not the time," said Luxembourg's Foreign Minister, Xavier Bettel, who has prioritized discussing issues related to the war in Ukraine and Gaza. They have also expressed ambiguity and noted the legal and economic doubts about the proposal from countries such as Poland, Finland, and, among others, France.

There is no reason to believe that the European Union will process the initiative this Friday. Furthermore, diplomatic sources from other countries opposed to the proposal assure the ARA that their position has not changed, and the agenda for the ministerial meeting no longer includes the official status of Catalan as a voting point, but simply as a discussion. It only foresees that a final decision could be made if Spain ultimately considers it has the necessary support. However, the Spanish Secretary of State for the EU, Fernando Sampedro, did not entirely rule out this possibility at the outset of the meeting and still holds out hope that a unanimous consensus can be reached to approve the proposal.

However, the Foreign Minister himself, José Manuel Albares, admitted last Monday that there is currently no unanimity and, therefore, the initiative would not win the vote and would not be processed. In the last meeting where it was discussed, at least seven member states explicitly expressed their opposition: Germany, Italy, Croatia, Austria, Sweden, Finland, and the Czech Republic. As for France, its position was so ambiguous that some sources believe it was in favor and others against.

However, sources from the Moncloa indicate that they are continuing to work to dispel the doubts raised by the Spanish proposal in some countries. The main fear of these states is that the official status of Catalan, Galician, and Basque would revive the demands of minority or minority linguistic communities in their respective territories. On the other hand, they are also skeptical that it is legally possible to approve this initiative without modifying the EU treaties or that Spain would actually end up assuming its translation and interpretation costs.

Spain maintains that all these conditions are possible, but as ARA has learned, the legal services of the Council of the European Union They claim that it is necessary to modify the treaties to make Catalan, Galician, and Basque official. Furthermore, some EU partners also have doubts about whether it is legally possible for Spain to pay the translation and interpretation costs for these languages, as promised by the Moncloa.