The use of spanish regional official languages in the court of justice of the european communities
| Author | A. Del Valle Gálvez - M. Remi Njiki |
| Pages | 180-187 |
A. Del Valle Gálvez
Jean Monnet Chair, Faculty Of Law, University Of Cadiz, Spain.
M. Remi Njiki
Substitute Professor, Faculty Of Law, University Of Cadiz, Spain.
Page 180
Europe is an authentic linguistic mosaic[1]. It conglomerates an important variety of languages. In addition to the diversity of languages, there is also a diversity of linguistic regimes in the Member States.
Specifically, the linguistic regime of the EU (European Union) has traditionally been a very complex and sensitive question. Due to both its complexity and sensitivity, a confusing system has been developed to respond to the need to protect the important linguistic heritage acquired from the long and dynamic political and cultural history of the continent.
The recent enlargement of the EU that included Eastern European countries has increased considerably the number of official languages. This and the debate on the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE) have raised questions about the status of other languages spoken in Members States which are only official in a limited part of the Member States' territories. Still more important is the fact that there are regional official languages spoken by a significantly larger number ofPage 181people than some of the EU official languages [2].
Recognition of these regional languages with respect to EU Institutions has been one of the priorities of the elected 2004 Spanish government which has signed several agreements allowing citizens to benefit from the right to choose to communicate with the EU institutions in any of the Spanish co-official languages. Among all of the agreements that have been signed, one of the most important is the Administrative Agreement signed recently[3] with the Court of Justice of the European Communities. This particular agreement is interesting in many respects and we will examine it more closely here.
Art. 6.3 of the EU Treaty[4] states that "the Union shall respect the national identities of its Member States". For this reason, preserving the linguistic pluralism and cultural diversity of the of the EU countries is identified as one of the most crucial[5] aspects of the unprecedented European integration process. Indeed, the option to implement an official multilinguism policy as an intentional political project for the EU is certainly an original initiative. However, experience has revealed that this important task for the EU institutions is quite laborious. Concerns about the remarkable increase in the number[6] of official languages due to the accession of new member states and therefore the risk to drift into a less operative linguistic system has also been a constant issue. As a result, a pending dilemma exists regarding how to guarantee legal security[7] to EU citizens protecting their rights entitled by this position, like for example the right provided for in paragraph 3 of art. 21 of the ECT[8] (European Community Treaty), and at the same time on how to guarantee a good administration of the EU institutions.
The Treaties have not been especially explicit in regard to the status of languages. The status of official languages can be inferred from the primary law treaties when enumerating the languages considered authentic, and listed in art. 29.1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice of the EC. Official languages of the EU coincide by principle with the official languages of the Member States. Meanwhile, Irish can be seen as an exception because it is formally an official language of the EU but not used on a daily basis by the official Journal of the EU. Irish is used in the treaties and primary law[9] acts.
Council Regulation Nº 1/1959 determining the languages to be used by the European Economic Community distinguished between "treaty languages" and "working languages"[10]. Formally that distinction doesn't seem to be relevant, and in practice the EU institutions have developed internal mechanisms to help insure a pragmatic and efficient use of official languages which involves reducing their number for efficiency purposes.[11]
A new category of languages called "co-official languages" is now emerging in the EU as a result of the political advocacy of countries like Spain that is seeking the recognition and use of these languages by EU institutions. Simultaneously, according to regulation 1/1958 and other foundational treaties of the EC, these languages can't be considered "treaty languages" or "working languages" by the EU institutions, because they aren't official languages of the EU.[12]
Co-official languages have nothing to do with the languages referred to in art. 8 of the Council Regulation 1/1958 which declares that, if a Member State has more than one official language "the language to be used shall, at request of such State, be governed by the general rules of its law". This regulation is in reference to countries with more than one national official language. Illustration can be found in the situation of Ireland which has two official languages and requested a change from English[13] to Irish[14]; the latterPage 182becoming one of the 23 official languages of the EU.
For the purpose of this study, co-official languages refer to regional languages that have, at the same time, regional official status. This is true of Catalan, Basque, and Galician in Spain[15]. Their official status is alluded to in art. 3(2)[16] of the Spanish Constitution of 1978. Consequently, other types of regional languages are excluded from this ambit.
Since 1986 Spanish(Castilian) has been considered one of the official languages of the EU, despite the constant claim from nationalist political parties that other languages besides Spanish be official -or somehow used languages- in the EU.
It is only through the political activism of governments[17] that the role of regional official languages in...
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