MADRID – Spain wants the European Union to add Catalan, Basque, and Galician as official languages within the Union. However, the EU shows in a calculation that including new official languages in its database is very expensive.
In August, José Manuel Albares, Spain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, sent a letter to the European Council. In this letter, his request was to add Catalan, Galician, and Basque to the official languages of the European Unioni. Spain proposes to introduce Catalan first. The other two official languages can follow later. According to a ‘provisional estimate’ by the European Commission, the annual costs for this are approximately €132 million.
Costs per language are approximately 44 million euros
The Brussels calculation is based on experiences with other languages. ”According to that preliminary estimate, the costs per language are approximately €44 million per year. This amounts to a total of around €132 million for the three languages,” said Balazs Ujvari. He is spokesperson for the European Union Budget Committee.
The European Commission carried out a “preliminary assessment” following Spain’s request. However, the spokesperson warns that a “full financial analysis” cannot be made yet. They have to wait until the Council takes a formal position on the subject. Furthermore, the Spanish government has to explain the proposed “transitional arrangement”. This information is part of the report that the Spanish government will present to the other EU partners in defense of the official status of the three languages.
The issue as a ‘decision point’ on the agenda
The subject is on the agenda of the EU Council of General Affairs Ministers next Tuesday. It is the last Council meeting at which Spain, as outgoing chairman, can determine the agenda. Thereafter, in January Belgium takes over this role. The issue is on the ministers’ agenda as a “decision point”. This was to the ‘surprise’ of many delegations. Several high-ranking diplomats emphasise that they do not have the necessary information to speak out on the subject. They have insufficient insight into the financial impact of the proposal and the legal and practical consequences for the rest of the regions. Spain has also indicated that it will bear the costs of the plan itself.
Time needed to submit impact assessments
At the end of October, Spanish Minister Albares warned that it would take at least “two to three months” before Spain can submit the required impact assessments to the other member states. The European Commission expressed its willingness to ‘coordinate’ the analyses with the rest of the community institutions. The impact of the transition from 24 to 27 official languages must also be estimated.
