The aspiration for Catalan, Basque, and Galician to be official languages in the EU remains blocked. The last time the Spanish Executive managed to have the issue debated in the General Affairs Council was in July 2025, during the Danish presidency. With the semester led by Cyprus about to close, the matter has not reappeared on the agenda due to the lack of the essential unanimity for the Spanish request to prosper.
Consequently, Spain has opted not to request that this point be included in this Tuesday's meeting of ministers in Luxembourg, according to community sources, having noted that the partners' positions remain unchanged. In fact, several capitals consulted by Europa Press emphasize that they do not consider it a priority to address this matter in such a delicate international context with other open fronts that, in their opinion, require more immediate attention from the EU.
La Moncloa registered the request to incorporate the three co-official languages into the community linguistic regulation in August 2023, within the framework of the agreement with Junts that allowed Pedro Sánchez's investiture. Taking advantage of Spain holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU that semester, the Government tried to speed up the process as much as possible.
During that period, it brought the matter to the General Affairs Council, the body competent to make the decision, on four occasions, taking advantage of its control over the agenda in the second half of 2023. Subsequently, it again requested its inclusion on the agenda in three other meetings, already under the presidencies of Belgium, Poland, and finally, in July 2025 with Denmark at the helm.
Despite this, the current semester, led by Cyprus, will conclude without Spain having attempted to reopen the debate among ministers even once in these six months, according to several European sources consulted by Europa Press.
The unanimity requirement, the central knot of the blockade
Since the beginning of the process, the obligation to have the unanimous support of the Twenty-Seven has been the main obstacle, despite the Government's repeated attempts to clear up its partners' reservations, especially those of a legal nature and those related to the fear of setting a precedent that would encourage other minority languages in the EU to claim the same status.
To overcome these reservations, the Executive has offered to fully cover the additional costs—which the European Commission calculates at around 132 million euros annually, using the case of Gaelic as a reference—and has even proposed a gradual implementation once official status is recognized, in order to reduce the immediate burden on institutions.
Specifically, in the spring of 2025, the Government proposed to its partners that Catalan, Basque, and Galician become official in 2027, but that, from that date onwards, only the regulations of the Council and the European Parliament would be translated into these languages, which in the previous legislature accounted for around 3% of the total legal acts.
To refute the argument of precedent, the Spanish Executive insists that the three co-official languages are already protected by the Constitution since before Spain's accession to the EU, are habitually used in the Congress and the Senate, and, moreover, the country translated both the treaties and a substantial part of the community acquis into these languages years ago.
Likewise, in the proposal submitted a year ago, which Europa Press had access to, Spain suggested incorporating an annexed declaration that makes it clear that future requests will be examined "on a case-by-case basis" and must meet "strict criteria," including being a language historically originating from the applicant state and being recognized in its Constitution for at least twenty years.
Skeptical Partners and Germany as a Key Player
Despite these concessions, the Government has not managed to dispel the doubts of a sufficient number of partners. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has stated on several occasions that 20 out of the 27 Member States already do not oppose the official status of the three languages, although there would still be seven reluctant ones. Other European sources, however, put the number of delegations that have expressed reservations at at least a dozen.
Among the most skeptical countries is Germany, as evidenced in the General Affairs Council of July 18, when the German representative was the most forceful and relied on the oral opinion of the Council's legal service, according to which a reform of the Treaties would be necessary to guarantee the legal basis for official status.
Aware of Berlin's weight among the Twenty-Seven, the Spanish government opted to explore a solution at the bilateral level and agreed with Germany at the end of October to open a dialogue that would allow "a response" to the Spanish request "in a way that is acceptable to all Member States."
However, that channel has not borne fruit. This became evident after the meeting held on May 20 between Albares and his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul. The official status of Catalan, Basque, and Galician was discussed "in extenso," in the words of the Spanish minister, but the German Foreign Ministry later specified to Europa Press that Berlin had not changed its position and continued to harbor doubts, especially from a legal perspective.
Madrid presents it as a priority, Brussels does not see it that way
The Executive, with Albares as its main proponent, has reiterated that the incorporation of the three co-official languages into the EU's linguistic regulation constitutes a "priority," especially in phases of greater tension with Junts, which has linked this matter to its parliamentary support. However, this perception is not shared in many European capitals.
A diplomat from one of the countries that maintain their reservations admits to Europa Press that it is difficult to consider this issue as a priority when the EU faces a war like the one in Ukraine on its doorstep and is also dealing with the repercussions of the conflict in Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Another diplomat from a state that, in principle, would not oppose supporting Spain expresses himself in the same vein. This representative emphasizes that several partners find it difficult to understand that the government is demanding support for this initiative as if it were a capital issue, and yet does not show the same degree of solidarity or European commitment on dossiers that particularly concern many Member States, such as relations with China or the position towards the US president, Donald Trump.
Furthermore, capitals are still waiting for the EU's legal service to prepare a formal opinion that definitively clears up doubts about the legal viability of the proposal, but for that report to be initiated, Spain needs to request it, and the Executive has not yet taken that step. "Concerns" persist about the legal, financial, and practical aspects of the Spanish initiative, acknowledges a diplomat from a third EU country.
Added to this is the fact that the Government has not requested from the European Commission a detailed impact assessment that precisely quantifies the economic and operational cost of the measure, despite Brussels declaring itself willing to do so if Madrid asked for it. Spain has reiterated to the Twenty-Seven that it will assume the bill, but the partners demand concrete figures and a clear legal framework before making a decision, given that one of the central elements of official status is, precisely, that the expense falls on the community budget.