The president of Plataforma per la Llengua, Òscar Escuder, has sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Spain and President of the Council of the European Union, Pedro Sánchez, to ask him to request the recognition of Catalan as an official European Union. Spain has held the rotating presidency of the EU since last 1 July and has the chance to request the reform of Regulation n.1/1958 to add Catalan as the 25th official language of the union of States.
The president of the organisation reminded Sánchez that, before the Spanish General Election, there will be up to five meetings in the context of the Spanish presidency of the European Union which "constitute five opportunities" to add Catalan in the list of languages in Regulation n.1/1958.
In his letter, Escuder explained that "the official status of a language in the European Union has legal consequences, and the fact that Catalan is not official makes it difficult to protect and use it in our own territory".
He also criticises Sánchez for his attitude, which contrasts with that of the prime ministers of Malta and Ireland when it comes to defending the languages of their States: "Languages with much smaller numbers of speakers than Catalan - for example, Maltese and Irish - have this recognition." He also reminded him that these two countries have managed to make the two official languages in their States (Maltese and English, and Irish and English, respectively) also official in the European Union. "Why do you not demand that the languages forming the linguistic heritage of the State also have the same protection as the other 24 official languages of the EU?" he asks in his letter.
Òscar Escuder also highlights the contradiction that for five years the Spanish government has been saying it has "an agenda for a new relationship with Catalonia" and that it "defends the linguistic and cultural diversity of the State" while, at the same time, it does not request the recognition of Catalan as an official language of the European Union when it has the chance.
He also wants to remind Prime Minister Sánchez that his Socialist party (the PSC) has shown support on several occasions for Catalan becoming an official EU language, and that this has even been part of the party's election manifesto.
The president of the organisation, Òscar Escuder, has sent this letter following Plataforma per la Llengua's announcement on 1 July that it had written confirmation from the Council of the European Union that the Spanish government has never formally requested the inclusion of Catalan in the list of official languages of the European Union.
The European Union reveals Spanish government lies
Plataforma per la Llengua, in an initiative coordinated with Irish MEP Chris MacManus, has managed to obtain confirmation from the Council of the European Union that the Spanish government has never requested that Catalan should become an official European Union language.
In late 2021, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares stated that the Zapatero government had already applied for official status for Catalan in 2004 and that its request was refused because the reform required amendments to treaties.
Official status is one of the main planks of the #VotaPerLaLlengua campaign
The call for official status for Catalan in the European Union is one of the main points raised by Plataforma per la Llengua with the parties standing in the Spanish parliamentary elections on 23 July, as included on the www.votaperlallengua.cat website.
Specifically, the Catalan NGO makes two very clear requests: firstly, it asks the political parties standing in the Spanish elections to call for the next government to make Catalan official in the European Union; secondly, it asks them to work so that the Spanish government ensures compliance with the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML), which is intended to protect historic languages that do not have official status in Europe.
Catalan, the 25th official EU language
Plataforma per la Llengua works continuously to ensure that Catalan will become an official language of the European Union. For example, on 27 June, it organised an event called Catalan, the 25th official EU language, where it set out what the fact that Catalan is not an official language in the European Union means in practical terms, together with the importance of making an effort for this cause, just before the Spanish State took over the rotating presidency of the EU this July.
The vice-president of the organisation, Mireia Plana, used her intervention in this forum to demand that the Spanish government work to make Catalan official in the European Union, taking advantage of its presidency of the institution for the next six months. Plana said that "What we are asking for is not a chimera: it requires only the reform of a regulation of the Council of the European Union that has already been reformed as many as seven times. Official status has real consequences for the use of Catalan".
