The failure of Catalan in Europe

For many years, The nationalists have reproached the Spanish governments prevent Catalan from being official in the EU. It seemed that, if Spain defended it with determination, it was easy to achieve it, considering that It is a language with more speakers than many others. That this time it has not yet been achieved, despite the Spanish presidency of the Union, since the Government of Pedro Sanchez has offered to pay the cost of the translations, which is tricky because the regulations stipulate that it is a common expense, It shows the complexity of the European construction and other problems that Catalonia does not want to see. Curiously, The most suspicious countries are the smallest (Sweden, Finland or the Baltics), who do not see it as necessary or a priority, they find it expensive and above all they fear an internal contagion effect. Spain is not an exception in linguistic diversity, rather it is an example of excellence in recognition of all its languages, something that the independentists do not want to see because it breaks with their Hispanophobic cliché. When Josep Borrell He was president of the European Parliament, this demand was already raised, and it was more rejected than now. However, Catalan does have a status in Europe: it is the language of communication of the community institutions with the citizens and the most important publications are translated.

For the optimal functioning of the EU, It is not good to expand the number of official and working languages, The sensible thing would be to keep only half a dozen, the most talked about, and English as a lingua franca. The expense of our tower of Babel is enormous and highly complex. But this rational reduction is not possible because it would be experienced as a grievance by the politicians of the excluded languages. And we already know how nationalism works, here and everywhere. Therefore, I see no argument to deny all languages ​​that are co-official in the Twenty-Seven the same right as the others to be so in Europe as well. The problem for the Catalan is not Spain, but the unanimity that is required to modify European treaties and regulations.

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