Spanish opposition derails EU language path for Catalan, says separatist leader

Spain’s main opposition party, the Partido Popular, has “derailed” Madrid’s proposal to make Catalan an official EU language while it holds the EU presidency until the end of the year, separatist JxCat leader and former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont said on Tuesday.

“They (the PP) have had an interest in derailing a proposal that was part of the political agreements that could facilitate a government of the PSOE and (government partner) Sumar,” Puigdemont commented in a lengthy message he posted on X Tuesday.

To ensure a stable left-wing coalition government, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s PSOE (S&D) and the progressive platform of his deputy, Yolanda Diaz, are counting on Catalan separatists – for which having Catalan recognised as an official EU language is key.

However, after it floated the idea of having Catalan, Basque and Galician recognised as official EU languages, Spain, for which the six-month EU presidency runs out by the end of December, has decided that the official status of these languages would not be put to a vote by bloc members.

The high cost of integrating these as official EU languages was likely the deterrent, at least for now, as El País reported last week that making Catalan, Basque and Galician official EU languages would cost at least €132 million a year, with a preliminary EU Commission report pointing to costs for translation, interpretations and other expenses going as high as €44 million a year.

The culprit, according to Puigdemont, is the PP, which he has accused of “‘Spanishising’ European politics beyond what could be allowed” and of having provoked “delirious situations”, such as Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia/EPP) now opposing Catalonia’s status in the EU.

Among the demands of the right-wing JxCat and its rival separatist party, the left-wing Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), in the regional government to support a new Sánchez government was the approval of an amnesty law for those involved in separatist actions between 2012 and 2023, including Puigdemont.

Despite the controversy, the Spanish parliament launched the debate on whether to approve the amnesty law proposed by the PSOE on Tuesday afternoon.

However, during the parliamentary debate, the House was divided into two large blocs, with PP and Vox categorically rejecting the proposal, while PSOE and Sumar, as well as their separatist and pro-independence allies from Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia, firmly backing it.

Still, the controversial amnesty law is expected to be adopted.

Self-determination referendum key

While Madrid will no longer be able to push its language agenda during its EU presidency, sources in the separatist regional government in Barcelona expressed optimism for the future on Tuesday.

“Spain’s rotating presidency of the EU is ending, but not its commitment. And we will continue to demand that it (the government) does what it is committed to”, the Generalitat’s spokeswoman Patricia Plaja warned.

After the summer, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares (PSOE/S&D) had pledged to defend the official status of Catalan and the other official languages of Spain in EU institutions, which, according to Puigdemont, is “an unprecedented and positive fact, but insufficient”.

Meanwhile, the president of the Catalan regional government, Pere Aragonès (ERC), called on Sánchez to be “brave” in agreeing to hold a referendum on self-determination for Catalonia, which is prohibited by the Spanish Constitution (of 1978), as this would be a “historic opportunity” to resolve what Catalan separatists call “the conflict” with Madrid.

(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)