Flemish MEP scolds Schulz for not allowing Catalan language in the plenary as promised

Strasbourg (ACN).- Mark Demesmaeker, MEP of the Flemish nationalist party N-VA, lamented on Wednesday that the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, had breached his promise to allow Catalan MEPs to address the plenary in Catalan. During his intervention in Strasbourg, he said that it is "a shame and a democratic deficit that Catalan - the 13th most spoken language in the EU, with more than 10 million speakers - cannot be used in a house that is supposed to be open and democratic". "I urge you to think that over again and fulfil your promise", concluded Demesmaeker, who was one of the observers of the 9-N non-binding referendum on Catalan independence last year.

In January 2012, the President of the European Parliament, the German Social-Democrat, Martin Schulz, promised to make an important step for regional languages within the EU. In particular, he said he would allow MEPs to address the plenary in Catalan for the first time. Catalan is not one of the 24 official EU languages, despite being spoken by more than 10 million speakers and being an official language in an area with some 13 million inhabitants. Many Catalan citizens and their representatives have been complaining for many years about the lack of recognition, even taking to the streets to protest in Brussels.

In March 2012, the President of the European Parliament promised Artur Mas, President of the Catalan Government, that he would “work hard” to enable the use of Catalan language at plenary sessions. However, he did so without committing "to any date" and underlining that "it would not only depend on him". 

Currently, the European Parliament hosts 9 Catalan MEPs. Last year, eight Catalan-speaking MEPs addressed a letter to Schulz requesting to use Catalan in the plenary. In the letter, they underlined that the use of Catalan would not imply any additional cost as many of the Spanish interpreters speak Catalan as well. Moreover, they stated, it would bring the European Parliament closer to Catalan-speaking people in Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Southern France and the city of Alghero in Sardinia.