Will Catalan, Basque and Galician enter European institutions? Not for now, anyway, and probably not for a while. Thus decided the European Affairs Ministers of the Twenty-Seven, who examined, on September 19, a request to this effect from Spain, at the head of the Union until the end of the year. Coincidence of the calendar: the same day, in Madrid, these three languages – as well as Aranese, a variant of Gascon Occitan spoken only in the Val d’Aran – were used for the first time in the Congress of Spanish Deputies. A coincidence which very concretely raises the question of linguistic diversity in Europe.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE THIS NEWSLETTER? >> Click here
Let’s start again. In Spain, a total of five languages have official or co-official status: Castilian (the language of Madrid) for the whole country, but also Basque, Catalan, Galician and Aranese. in the regions where they are in use. Hence the Hispanic demand: with the exception of Aranese, which is too little spoken, these languages should be added to the list of official languages of the Twenty-Seven. “Catalan has at least 10 million speakers, more than Maltese, Danish or Latvian,” argues the delegate of Catalonia in France, Eva Doya Le Besnerais. There is no reason why the Catalans – in in the same way as the Basques and the Galicians – are obliged to use a language other than their own to dialogue with Europe.”
But, actually, what is the rule in this matter? As soon as the Treaty of Rome came into force, the Community, as it was then said, opted for French, German, Italian and Dutch. “A completely revolutionary choice, which we still struggle to explain today, but which we assume made it possible to avoid any conflict in Belgium”, underlines the jurist Pierrick Bruyas, in a very interesting article published on The Conversation website. Subsequently, a form of tradition was established: with each enlargement, the official languages of the entering countries became ipso facto official in the Union: Greek for Greece, Bulgarian for Bulgaria, etc. A rule which, however, suffers from exceptions: Luxembourgish, for example, does not have this status in Brussels, any more than Turkish, in use in Cyprus. As a result, the European Union today has 24 official and working languages.
When Spain arrived in 1986, however, it only offered Castilian. For what ? “At that time, we were just emerging from the Franco dictatorship, a period during which only this language had the right to be cited, continues Eva Doya Le Besnerais. Due to this repressive policy, the use of Catalan was in decline. The priority was “Therefore, attention was given to the establishment of an effective language policy in schools, the media, administrations, etc. Today, this work has borne fruit and we are ready to use our language at European level.”
A symbolic fight
We will have understood: the fight is largely symbolic* to the extent that the daily use of 24 languages – and, a fortiori, 27 – is almost impossible. In fact, the European Commission favors English, which represents around 80% of uses (15% for French). A situation that has not really changed since Brexit.
Whether symbolic or not, this fight is nevertheless far from won. In this matter, in fact, the rule of unanimity is required and it is an understatement to say that not all countries view the Spanish request favorably. If they have not (yet?) vetoed it, several of them – including France – have requested additional studies to examine the consequences of this decision, a polite way of saving time. They were also concerned about the additional cost of translation – an issue that is not really an issue since Spain has offered to cover it.
These delaying tactics fool no one: the real fear lies elsewhere, and it is political. In fact, the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, is bringing this issue under pressure from the separatists led by Carles Puigdemont, whom he needs to stay in power. France therefore fears that such a precedent will give ideas to the Corsicans, the Bretons or the Martinicans. The same is true in other countries with linguistic minorities. “There will be no snowball effect, Eva Doya Le Besnerais tries to reassure. For a new language to be accepted by the Union, it must first have official status in its own country. And the request must come from the government in place. These two conditions are not met in France.” It was therefore predictable that the Spanish initiative would not succeed immediately.
Is she definitely buried? It’s not yet certain. The question will indeed be debated again in the coming weeks. A period during which Pedro Sanchez will make an argument of a completely different order. Essentially ? “There is only one alternative: either I remain in power; or I give way to the right, which is allied to Vox, a far-right Vox party that is fiercely anti-Brussels.” Conclusion ? If Paris, Berlin and the other capitals want to avoid having anti-Europeans in Madrid, they have no other solution than to help Sanchez find an agreement with the Catalan separatists. However, they have three main demands: a vote on independence, amnesty for their leaders and recognition of Catalan in Brussels. All in all, giving up on the Catalan language is the least expensive solution…
Will Europeans be sensitive to this rhetoric? We will know very quickly. To remain at the head of the government, Pedro Sanchez must form a coalition with the Catalan separatists by November.
FIND VIDEOS DEDICATED TO FRENCH AND THE LANGUAGES OF FRANCE ON my youtube channel
* It would nevertheless have some practical consequences. Today, when a Basque or Catalan company wishes to benefit from European aid, for example, it must use Castilian to send its requests to Brussels. A procedure which lengthens response times and reduces its chances of success.
READ ELSEWHERE
Regional languages in the media: Arcom… will do nothing
Lately, Arcom (formerly CSA) ended up responding to questions from L’Express regarding improving the distribution of artists in regional languages. And his position is clear: the audiovisual policeman will do nothing. Excerpts: “Radios can fulfill all or part of their obligations by broadcasting songs performed in a regional language used in France. On the other hand, there is no specific ‘sub-quota’ of songs in a regional language.” Should the law be changed? “Adding a new regime in the law to impose a quota in regional languages could contribute to making the regulations a little more burdensome.” Uplifting…
Writers in regional languages at school: the Higher Program Council contacted
Ministers change, objectives remain. The collective behind the petition “For a real place for literature in regional languages at school”, which has collected more than 10,000 signatures, has just contacted the Higher Program Council. He hopes to obtain from the Minister of National Education, Gabriel Attal, the response that his predecessor, Pap Ndiaye, had not seen fit to give them, despite the support of numerous personalities, including the historian Mona Ozouf, the writer Azouz Begag, the singer Francis Cabrel or the deputy Paul Molac…
The Brittany region wants to be able to train teachers in Breton and Gallo
This is one of the measures requested by the elected representatives of the regional council as part of its report on the multi-year plans for the development of education in Breton and Gallo. The community also proposes to integrate the letter not to the list of signs used by civil status (allusion to the first name Fañch, subject of legal battles).
Controversy surrounding a comic strip in Breton
Inès Léraud and Pierre Van Hove, the authors of the successful comic strip Green algae. The forbidden story – which I mentioned last week – as well as the translator Tugdual Carluer requested the withdrawal from sale of the Breton language version of this work and its replacement by an edition that they would have validated.
Neologisms, new spellings, digital words… Should we be worried about the evolution of French? No, answer the authors of this collective work directed by linguists Stéphanie Pahud and Pascal Singy. According to them, we must “debunk once and for all the ideological tyranny of a single ‘good’ Frenchman”. And to quote Proust: “The only people who defend the French language […]they are the ones who ‘attack’ him.”
No tongue-in-cheek! under the direction of Stéphanie Pahud and Pascal Singy. Favre, 248 p., €22.
A book in Picardy dedicated to homosexuality
Proof if any were needed that so-called regional languages are not condemned to speak only of a bygone rural world, a young 29-year-old author, Cyril Ducatez, publishes a bilingual Picard-French book on homosexuality. A polyglot, this lover of languages tries to promote the linguistic diversity to which he was made aware through his interest in the Sami, an indigenous people of Northern Europe. A journey which led him to get closer to the Picard spoken by his grandmother, a woman to whom, in his novel, the hero reveals his sexual orientation. An original way to contribute to the survival of a threatened French language.
Yvonne, by Cyril Ducatez, bilingual Chti Picard from Nord-Pas-de-Calais/French. The Involved, 72 p., €11.
“Develop a superpower, learn Occitan!”
It is under this title that, every Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., starting September 28, the Mediatèca occitana in Béziers (Hérault) offers Occitan learning workshops. Free registration at: [email protected]
Regional languages: a conference in Bordeaux on September 30…
The deputy Paul Molac, the constitutionalist Véronique Bertile, the deputy mayor of Bayonne 12th Occitan Mascaret festival. Theme of their interventions: “The future of regional languages in France. Legal context and linguistic policy”. Information: [email protected]
…and two conferences in Perpignan on October 5
“What is the point of speaking Catalan in Northern Catalonia” and “How to save regional languages”. These are the titles of the two conferences that I will have the pleasure of giving in Perpignan, on October 5, at the invitation of the Franco-Catalan Transborder Institute, the University of Perpignan and the Llibreria Catalana.
TO LISTEN
How do you live with a Picard accent?
The Picard accent can sometimes be discerned during a conversation. If these intonations are sometimes claimed with pride, they are still often the subject of much mockery and discrimination.
TO WATCH
Songs “made in Alsace”, by Schnapps
“There were five of us, one too many to make a belote: hence the idea of creating a rock group, but singing in Alsatian.” The Schnapps group releases its third album, as well as a 169-page anthology including the texts – often humorous – of their songs.
REACT, DEBATE AND FIND MORE INFORMATION ON THE LANGUAGES OF FRANCE ON the Facebook page dedicated to this newsletter