The EU lowers expectations for Catalan and will not put it to a vote.

StrasbourgNew cold water jug from the European Union in Spain on the official status of Catalan, Galician and Basque in the European institutions. Given the reluctance of several countries, the EU Council Presidency has decided not to put the recognition of Catalonia's own language to a vote at the next General Affairs Council meeting on July 18, as requested by the Spanish government. Thus, according to the agenda for the ministerial meeting, the member states will only discuss the initiative presented by the Moncloa government and do not plan to make any final decisions.

However, the agenda for the General Affairs Council includes an asterisk in the section on the discussion of Catalan and adds that Spain could request a vote. In any case, diplomatic sources tell ARA that these types of initiatives are usually only put to a vote when they have sufficient support to move forward. In fact, at the last ministerial meeting where a vote on the official status of Catalan was planned, the vote was ultimately not taken due to the explicit opposition expressed by at least seven member states.

Thus, diplomatic sources from several countries confirm that the situation regarding the initiative has not changed much since the last General Affairs Council meeting, where it was discussed. In this regard, they point out that some countries, such as Germany, remain opposed. It should be remembered that the German government was the first to request the floor at the last meeting and threatened to veto the initiative, which requires unanimity for its approval, if Spain and the EU Council forced a vote despite the reluctance of its EU partners.

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