EU countries reject Spain's proposal to make the official language in Brussels. What are the effects of failure on the internal agenda of the Pedro Sánchez government

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez suffered a significant political failure on Tuesday at the General Affairs Council of the European Union, where the initiative of the Madrid government to include Catalan, Basca and Galician between the official languages ​​of the EU failed to obtain the unanimously necessary support.

European Parliament/Photo: Archive

Although it was not formally rejected, the proposal was practically delayed indefinitely, in a gesture by which the Member States avoided a direct confrontation, but they sent a clear message: the wide support for the expansion of the European linguistic regime is missing.

A political commitment to the European echo

The proposal of the Sánchez government has roots in an internal political compromise. In order to ensure the support of the Catalan Separatist Party Junts in the formation of a minority government, in 2023 the socialist leader committed to promote the formalization of the three regional languages ​​at the level of the European institutions. Instead, Junts was going to support the adoption of the budget and the stability of the government.

Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares wore an intense diplomatic campaign for almost two years to convince the European capitals to support the measure – an effort that finally hit the recurring skepticism of the Member States, concerned with the financial and legal implications.

Transpartinic skepticism and calculated silence

In the meeting with closed doors, ten states supported the elimination of the subject from the voting agenda. Representatives from Sweden, Austria, Finland and Croatia invoked the lack of legal clarity, but especially the administrative costs and the risk of such a gesture.

Currently, the 24 official EU languages ​​involve considerable annual expenses for translations and interpretation. The initiative of Spain would add millions of euros to these costs – even if the Madrid offered to endure these expenses, an unprecedented proposal in the history of EU. However, European officials have expressed doubts about the compulsory legal character of this assumption and its sustainability in the future.

“We want to better understand the legal and financial implications,Said Andreja Metelko-Zgombić, Secretary of State for European Affairs in Croatia, expressing a shared position of several Member States. The Finnish Minister of European Affairs, Joakim Strand, was even more direct: “The proposal is not yet mature enough to be subject to vote,” “ he said, citing the reserves of the legal services of the Council.

Internal risks for Sánchez

In the context in which Prime Minister Sánchez has not yet been able to adopt a national budget in the current term, the failure in Brussels seriously complicates internal political equation. The parliamentary support of JUNTS – essential for the adoption of the future budget – becomes more and more uncertain.

JUNTS officials have recognized, under the protection of anonymity, that Spanish diplomacy acted “in good faith” and that the efforts made were real, but they avoided saying if the party will sanction the failure to fulfill the promise of 2023.

Moreover, a possible budget crisis in Madrid would endanger the defense objectives assumed within NATO. Spain currently allocates only 1.28% of GDP for defense, well below the 2% threshold required by the Alliance and away from the level desired by the United States, under the leadership of Donald Trump, which pressed for an increase to 5%.

Redaled promises, uncertain perspectives

The Spanish government has reported that it will not give up the initiative. The Minister of Education and the Government spokesman, Pilar Alegría, said that Spain will continue to promote the recognition of the “plurilinguistic reality” in the European institutions.

Even though Brussels has not closed the door permanently, the file is, for the time being, stuck in a political drawer-and in the game it is no longer only linguistic symbolism, but also the future of government stability in Madrid.