- The Minister for Foreign Action and European Union met with the Ambassador of Belgium, the country that will next hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union, and with the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares
- From September to today, Serret has made seven trips focused on the official nature of the Catalan language and attended some 30 high-level meetings, in addition to making other informal contacts
The Minister for Foreign Action and European Union, Meritxell Serret i Aleu, travelled to Madrid today to continue the diplomatic campaign in favour of the official status of Catalan in the European institutions, and met with the outgoing and incoming presidencies of the Council of the European Union, Spain and Belgium.
On the one hand, Serret held a working meeting with the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares. On the other, she met with the Belgian ambassador to Spain, Geert Cockx, with the aim of keeping the proposal for the official status of Catalan on the table of the Council of the European Union. Belgium will take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 January 2024.
The Minister pointed out that “we have thanked Belgium for its collaboration and willingness” and explained that the Government will maintain channels of work and communication with the new presidency. “And we continue to make the highest demands of the Spanish Government,” she added.
These meetings, Serret pointed out, are “a declaration of intentions with a view to 2024”, which she stressed should be the year in which Catalan finally becomes official in the European institutions. The Government of Catalonia will further intensify the sending of information to European institutions and to all European Union member states, especially to the future Belgian presidency, so that the official status of Catalan becomes a reality as soon as possible.
“It is the most important diplomatic campaign that the Government has ever carried out,” assured Minister Serret from Madrid. Since September 2023 Serret has made seven trips focused on the official status of Catalan, and held some 30 high-level meetings, in addition to other informal contacts.
Minister Serret explained that “as of January we will restart the round of contacts with the different states” to “persist and continue working to generate every confidence in the proposal in order to achieve the unanimity of the member states”. “We are reinforcing the transfer of information to the European institutions in order to give all the solidity to the different technical reports that must continue to be drawn up over the coming months,” she added.
The Minister also wanted to remind people that the Spanish Government's commitment to the official status of Catalan in Europe “has not yet ended” and that “there is still a lot of work to be done”. “And we want to do this work in the best way possible and in a coordinated manner, and to continue contributing to this issue, which is a top priority for us,” she insisted.
The last European Union General Affairs Council of the Spanish presidency was held in Brussels on 12 December. The Generalitat continues to work with the utmost commitment to dispel all doubts among the member states, both the legal implications and the economic costs and all the other aspects that have arisen in recent weeks. In this respect, even though the Spanish presidency is over, the Generalitat is keeping up its demand that the Spanish Government achieve the adoption of the official status of Catalan during the next presidency.