- The Catalan Minister for Foreign Action and European Union, Meritxell Serret, has told the Spanish Government that the official status of Catalan must “determine the negotiations” related to the political and institutional scenario created by the European elections of 9 June
- The Government of Catalonia believes that it is necessary to “take a step forward” to “unlock” the negotiations, which are currently “at a standstill” despite the fact that there has been no veto from any European Union member state
The Catalan Minister for Foreign Action and European Union, Meritxell Serret i Aleu, told the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, that the official status of Catalan in the European institutions must “determine the negotiations” related to the political and institutional scenario created by the European elections that took place on 9 June. The Catalan Government is thereby putting pressure on Spain to make its votes for the presidency of the major European institutions conditional on the proposal for Catalan’s official status being taken into account.
The Catalan executive believes that it is necessary to “take a step forward” to “unlock” the negotiations on the language’s official status, which are currently “at a standstill,” despite the fact that there has been “no explicit veto” by the member states or any technical obstacle.
“We call upon the Spanish government to use its ability to exert the utmost political and diplomatic influence on other states in order to reach a consensus,” declared the Minister.
Meeting with Hungarian Embassy officials
A few days ago, Serret also held a meeting in Madrid with Hungarian embassy officials, the country that will hold the next presidency of the Council of the European Union which begins on 1 July 2024.
The minister explained to the Hungarian representatives the arguments which provide the basis for the proposal for the official status of the Catalan language, in order to ensure that the issue remains on the Council’s agenda, and she found her listeners “receptive and positive.”
The minister has made 16 trips all over Europe since September to advocate official status for the Catalan language, and the Government has held more than 30 high-level meetings and engaged in hundreds of formal and informal contacts. It has never received an explicit veto from any member state, and for this reason, the Catalan Government insists that in order to unblock the issue politically, the Spanish government “must believe in it and use its capacity for influence to the utmost”.