The next General Affairs Council will be held tomorrow in Brussels, where the official status of Catalan, Basque and Galician in European institutions will be debated – but not voted on – as has been done in the last few sessions held since September.

In a media briefing prior to the General Affairs Council meeting, Meritxell Serret i Aleu, the Minister for Foreign Action and European Union of the Government of Catalonia, stated that even though the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union concludes on 31 December, “this does not mean the end of the commitment of the Spanish government to do everything in its power to achieve the unanimity and full confidence of all European partners for the official recognition of Catalan".

"We could not rely solely on the Spanish government, but it is essential that we keep the pressure on Madrid to ensure that the official status of Catalan remains on the European agenda," added Minister Serret.

The Catalan Government has already had contacts with Belgium, which will assume the next presidency of the Council of the European Union after Spain. Belgium will have the capacity to keep the debate on the official status of Catalan on the agenda, including the possibility of a vote, in European institutions.

"From the very beginning, we have been as demanding of ourselves as possible, and that's why we have tried to make progress in all scenarios,” said Minister Serret. "We are in contact with the next presidency of the Council of the European Union, Belgium, to do everything in our power to ensure that the issue is not forgotten and remains on the agenda in the coming months."

Finally, Minister Serret assured that "we remain optimistic, nothing is over, we will continue to be as demanding as possible so that Catalan will be the next official language in European institutions sooner rather than later".