The European Affairs ministers of the 27 will meet this Tuesday in Brussels for an ordinary meeting of the General Affairs Council. What they have on the table, however, is anything but usual. In August, as part of Pedro Sánchez’s plurinational plan and the negotiations between the PSOE and Junts, the Government committed to requesting the European Union to recognize Catalan, Basque and Galician as official languages of the European Union, thereby that could be used not only in official documents, but in community negotiations or debates of the Eurocamera. And the first discussion will take place now, in a forum of the highest level and under the delicate umbrella of the Spanish presidency, which requires extreme care in logistics, protocol and respect for institutional neutrality.
There is nothing normal about this process. It has never happened before, nor can anyone imagine it will happen again, that a country suddenly requests the inclusion of three additional languages, something that would not only have an economic cost, but would imply new changes in the structure of the services of interpretation and a possible additional delay in the processing of documentation. It is not normal for a country to do so under its own presidency and without there being even a clear political and social consensus.
It is completely unusual, and even “nonsense” according to several sources consulted, that Spain has presented a proposal for “debate and adoption”, which means that if the ministers or secretaries of State present in the room agreed it could be approved and settled. all in just a couple of hours, with just one previous work session between the ambassadors of the 27, who addressed it for the first and so far only time this Friday. And it is not normal either because although the Government is using all its resources to promote the issue, it is contacting all the capitals and emphasizing how important it is right now, it is evident that a proposal, a challenge of this category, is completely impossible for go ahead. At least not in the short term. But Madrid continues to act more towards the gallery and its aspiring investiture partners than towards its community partners.
The topic is on the agenda of the day and the minister will represent our country Jose Manuel Albares, despite the fact that the Foreign Ministers never participate in the meetings of the General Affairs Council, and delegate to the Secretary of State for the branch. Spain has requested a modification of regulation 1/1958 that affects languages and the legal argument will be made by appealing to article 55.2 of the Treaty of Lisbon, signed in 2007 and which says: «This Treaty may also be translated into any other language determined by the Member States among those that, in accordance with their constitutional systems, have official language status in all or part of their territory. . The Member State concerned shall provide a certified copy of these translations, which shall be deposited in the archives of the Council.’ Spain has already used the clause to deposit a translation precisely into Basque, Galician and Catalan, and only one other country has been interested in the subject since 2009.
But the problem was not, is not and will not be legal. It was already tried 20 years ago and the answer was a clear “no.” There are countries, among them the largest, that consider it “surprising”, at best, that with these precedents Spain has opted for the expeditious route and intends to resolve this without a long prior debate. “We all understand the logic and the reasons, the specific urgency, but things are not done that way,” explains a diplomat involved in the process. “They do what they think they should do and we will do what needs to be done,” he adds, emphasizing that there is no anger or irritation, but there are clear reservations, since these languages have already benefited from a unique status and go further, they say. , out of place.