Plan to make Catalan an official EU language stalls

The official status of the Catalan, Galician and Basque languages in the European Union will not be discussed at the next General Affairs Council of January 29, as reported by the newspaper Ara on Friday and confirmed by the Catalan News Agency (ACN) through diplomatic sources.    

The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union has asked Spain to present an alternative proposal with an analysis of the administrative, legal and financial consequences, "compatible with EU treaties". 

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.