multilingualism

During his campaign to become President of the EU Parliament, Tajani promised to promote the use of the Catalan

The highest Catalan court has clarified how to execute the sentence of the Spanish Supreme Court that had recognised the right of 3 families to school their children in Spanish and not in Catalan. These families will have their individual rights respected, but the current school model will not be changed. Catalonia’s education model has been validated twice by the Spanish Constitutional Court and has been in place over the last 30 years, guaranteeing full knowledge of both official languages –Catalan and Spanish– by all its pupils. Experts advise that the current school model prioritises the weakest official language –Catalan- following the principles of equal opportunities and social cohesion. The model has been praised by UNESCO, the European Commission and the European Parliament.

Despite being the 13th most widely spoken language in the European Union, Catalan is not an official EU language. Special agreements have been signed with all EU bodies to allow for the minimum use of Catalan; however, the European Parliament, representing EU citizens, is the only one where Catalan has been completely banned. The new Parliament’s President, the German Social-Democrat, Martin Schulz, is committed to allowing Catalan MEPs address the plenary in their native language. The measure will not represent any extra cost as many of the Spanish interpreters are Catalan, and can do both jobs.

The spokesman for Education at the European Commission warns that "monolinguals are potentially at a disadvantage" in terms of finding work. “From very young children should speak their mother tongue and two other languages”, he says.