Generalitat spokesperson Sílvia Paneque said on Tuesday that it is “reasonable” to link the European Union’s enlargement process to Catalan becoming an official EU language. For Catalan speakers, the issue matters because Catalan is not currently an official working language of EU institutions and has only limited official use under administrative agreements.

Paneque made the remarks after the Generalitat’s Executive Council meeting on 8 September. The Generalitat is Catalonia’s devolved government.

“It is reasonable to link the EU enlargement process to the official status of Catalan.”

Catalan has limited status in EU institutions

According to the Generalitat’s explanation of Catalan and Aranese in the EU, Catalan is not one of the official and working languages set out in Regulation 1/1958, which establishes the EU institutions’ language rules.

Its present status rests on administrative agreements between Spain and EU institutions. Those arrangements also apply to Basque and Galician, as well as Aranese, the Occitan variety that has official status in Catalonia under the 2006 Statute of Autonomy.

The agreements permit certain official uses of the languages within conditions set by each institution. Catalan and Aranese versions of the EU treaties are held by the Council of the EU’s General Secretariat, but are not legally authentic treaty versions.

Spain plans to raise the issue on 22 September

Spain asked the Council of the EU on 17 August 2023 to amend Regulation 1/1958 so that Catalan, Basque and Galician would become official and working languages of EU institutions, the Generalitat says. The request has since been discussed at meetings without a vote.

Spain is due to press the matter again at the General Affairs Council meeting on 22 September, according to Euractiv’s report of comments by Fernando Sampedro, Spain’s secretary of state for the EU.

  • Current position: Catalan has restricted official use through administrative agreements.
  • Requested change: amendment of Regulation 1/1958 to add Catalan, Basque and Galician as official and working EU languages.
  • Next stated date: the General Affairs Council meeting on 22 September.

Residents who want to check the current legal position, including the uses allowed under the existing agreements, can consult the Generalitat’s official EU language-status information page.

Primary sources: eb.gencat.cat, Eva Pons i Katharina Jiménez Weese, govern.cat. Reported by euractiv.com, gentedigital.es, aldia.cat, elperiodico.com, infobae.com, Vicente José García-Hinojal, europapress.es, ultimahora.es, radio onda cero, cronicaglobal.elespanol.com, Europa Press Barcelona.