EU again delays debate on making Catalan an official language

EU foreign ministers will not address the official status of Catalan, Basque, and Galician in the upcoming meeting scheduled for February 20.  

The Belgian presidency of the Council once again has excluded the issue from the agenda, as it did in the January meeting. 

Diplomatic sources told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that the lack of progress in reports on the administrative, legal, and financial impact is the reason why the Spanish government's request remains stalled. 

Vote held off in December

In December, the Spanish government decided not to hold a vote on granting official status to the Catalan, Galician, and Basque languages in the EU after failing to garner enough support. 

It was the last chance that Spain had to approve the proposal during its presidency of the Council of the European Union, which passed to Belgium in January.

The proposal to legally change the EU's language policy is an issue that requires the unanimous support of the 27 member states, and several member states have doubts on the matter for economic, political and legal reasons.


 

Belgium to take issue forward

The Belgian ambassador to Spain, Geert Cockx, assured in January that making Catalan, Galician, and Basque official languages was among the topics that the Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU wanted to "take forward".

"We are a multilingual country, and multilingualism is very important to us," said Cockx at the time.