<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Spain's proposal to include Catalan, Galician, and Basque as official languages in the European Union starting in January 2027 stalled again this Friday following the decision of the General Affairs Council (GAC) to postpone any decision on the issue after several Member States again expressed doubts about the economic and legal impact of this initiative.</strong></h4> The issue was second on the GAC agenda, and although the possibility of a vote had been raised, it was reduced to a mere debate without consequences. Ultimately, the Spanish government decided to postpone the vote due to a lack of support among the 27 Member States. Therefore, the situation at the GAC last May has been repeated, when the Spanish government was forced to abandon the vote due to a lack of consensus, and the then-Polish Presidency decided to postpone the debate. Before the start of the GAC, the State Secretary for the EU, Fernando Sampedro, told the press that the rest of the Member States are perfectly aware that this measure would have "no impact" and, therefore, "there is no argument, neither economic, nor in legal terms, nor in terms of precedents, that can justify delaying this initiative for one more minute." Pedro Sánchez's government had circulated a new proposal in which it insisted that Spain was willing to assume the costs of the initiative and that it was not necessary to modify the EU's operating treaties to make the three Spanish co-official languages official, contrary to the opinion of the Union's legal services. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs considered that this new document cleared up all possible doubts, but it has not convinced some countries. Regarding the legal and financial doubts expressed this Friday in Brussels by four or five EU ministers, Sampedro assured before the meeting that the Spanish government is "convinced" that this decision would have "no impact." "Perhaps there are other reasons that explain their positions, but it's certainly not a lack of information or a lack of explanations," he said. According to the Europa Press news agency, several European ministers made it clear upon their arrival at the General Affairs meeting that "many doubts" persist about the legal, practical, and financial impact this initiative would have on the European Union as a whole. The Danish Minister for European Affairs and Rotating Presidency of the EU Council, Marie Bjerre, reported upon her arrival at the meeting that she did not plan to hold a vote this Friday due to doubts about an issue that requires unanimity to move forward. For her part, the Austrian Minister for Europe, Claudia Plakolm, made it clear that her government would not support the proposal until the legal reservations raised by the Council's own legal service are resolved. The Polish Minister for European Affairs, Adam Szlapka (whose country held the EU presidency until July), insisted that "there are many doubts about this matter among the Member States and there are certain legal doubts." Former Luxembourg Prime Minister and current Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel declared upon his arrival that "it's really not the right time" to approve the initiative, and French Minister for Europe Benjamin Haddad acknowledged that it is a "very important" issue for Spain, but that at the GAC meeting in May it was already clear that there is "no consensus." "I want to continue working with the Spanish people to find constructive solutions to make progress on the budgetary issue and on the legal front," he added.
