The European institutions They analyzed in mid-2023 the request from Spain —signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares— so that the Catalan, Basque and Galician became official languages ​​of the European Union (EU).

In September 2023, at a meeting of European Union General Affairs Ministers held in Brussels, it was concluded that the measure was postponed until there was a legal opinion of the EU Council on the consequences of the measure and a analysis of its economic impact and practical in the functioning of the bloc. Spain then offered to assume the costs arising from the reform.

For the moment, the European Union continues to rely on 24 official languages:

  • German
  • Bulgarian
  • Czech
  • Croatian
  • Danish
  • Slovak
  • Slovenian
  • Spanish
  • Estonian
  • Purposes
  • French
  • Greek
  • Hungarian
  • English
  • Irish
  • Italian
  • Latvian
  • Lithuanian
  • Maltese
  • Dutch
  • Polish
  • Portuguese
  • Romanian
  • Swedish.

The first to acquire this condition were the German, French, Italian and Dutch Since 1956, the year of the founding of the predecessor of the current EU, the European Economic Community.

In 1973, Danish and English were officially introduced, and eight years later, Greek. In 1986, it was the turn of Spanish and Portuguese. In 1995, it was the turn of Finnish and Swedish. In 2004, several languages ​​were added to the list at the same time: Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese and Polish. The latest to be included in the list (since 2007) are Bulgarian, Irish and Romanian. Together with Croatian, in 2013.

As a general rule, the entry of these languages coincides with the year in which the countries joined to the European Union. On each occasion that member countries have joined, the The list of official EU languages ​​has increased“, the community itself states on its website. In fact, every language that is included in the European list is previously considered an official language in its country.

The case of Gaelic

But this was not the case with Gaelic. It was added to the official list in 2022, while Ireland joined the community in 1963. With its entry, English became an official language and Gaelic a treaty language, lower in rank than official language. In this way, the treaties that were signed also had to be translated into Gaelic.

But Ireland requested in 2005 that Gaelic become a official languagewhich was approved in 2007. However, the lack of translators and technological resources in Gaelic slowed down the translation, which was completed in 2022, according to the Efe agency.

Why did it take so long? The proclamation of an official language It involves translating into this language not only treaties and all the documentation and legislation that is produced from now on, but also all the heritage of the last 65 years of the European projectfrom directives to sanctions, regulations and inter-institutional agreements.

This is reflected in one of the “fundamental principles of the EU, multilingualism”, which is why the Legal acts and their summaries are available in all official EU languages ​​at the same time as the meetings of the European Council and the Council of the European Union are held They interpret into all official languages.

On the other hand, the Members of the European Parliament have right to use any of the official languages when addressing Parliament. To this end, the EU relies on conference interpreters and translators to convey the spoken and written language in the 24 official languages ​​of the EU.

Catalan, Basque and Galician: what needs to change

These 24 official languages ​​are listed in the linguistic regime of the European Economic Communityin its article 1“The official and working languages ​​of the institutions of the Union shall be Bulgarian, Spanish, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian and Swedish.”

Thus, in the case of introducing the Catalan, Basque and Galician Within the list of official languages, it would have to be modify this first point. This is where the Council of the European Unionmade up of the ministers of each EU country, depending on the topic to be discussed. For any change, There is a lack of unanimous position.

That is, the vote in favor of the Twenty-seven, according to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European UnionIf this were to be achieved, all treaties and all documentation and legislation produced from now on would have to be translated into these languages, along with that of the last 65 years of the European project. From directives to sanctions, including regulations and inter-institutional agreements. At this point, Spain has offered to assume the costs arising from the reform, which has been postponed for the moment.