Catalan language in EU institutions will be a reality but 'takes time,' says foreign affairs minister

The Catalan European Union and Foreign Affairs minister, Jaume Duch, believes that the Catalan language will become official across EU institutions but will "take time" to convince the 27 Member States.

Duch also remembered that the Catalan language could also be used in the European Parliament as part of another agreement, also under assessment, he said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País.

"We believe that if we can speak Catalan in the EU Parliament, it will seem everything is more normal," he said.

"It is not impossible to achieve official status for the Catalan language. It will take time, but we will achieve it. It is just linguistic justice," he added.

The current minister served as Director-General of Communication and spokesperson for the European Parliament between 2017 and 2024.

Duch's comments come after the Spanish government had proposed to recognize Catalan, Galician, and Basque as official EU languages due to an agreement between the Catalan pro-independence parties and the Socialists to see Pedro Sánchez reelected as PM.

While Spain held the EU Council rotating presidency when the proposal was presented, it did not get enough support and the request continues its procedure.

During this year's EU election, it was one of the main topics across candidates.

States blocking

In September last year, the Spanish government and Catalan pro-independence parties joined forces in an attempt to make Catalan official in the EU during Spain's presidency. 

However, the proposal faced setbacks as it was met with skepticism from several member states, particularly regarding its legal, political and economic implications, and the issue eventually stalled. 

The EU presidency passed to Belgium at the turn of the year, but despite Belgium's intention to move the proposal forward, discussions were once again postponed due to a lack of progress in assessing its impact.   

At the time Catalan Foreign Minister Meritxell Serret already held informal talks with Hungary, before they took the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, to ensure that efforts to make Catalan an official EU language continue.

The proposal to change the EU's language policy requires unanimous support from all 27 member states, and while no European state has outright vetoed it, doubts remain, especially in countries with other minority languages, such as Lithuania or Finland. 

In addition, an economic analysis by the European Commission and a legal report by the Council are required