The European Parliament will ask for the same treatment for Catalan and Spanish in schools and for Brussels to monitor that it is fulfilled

BRUSELAS, 13 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The preliminary report being finalized by the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament on the mission that visited Catalonia last December will ask for equal treatment in the use of Catalan and Spanish in the schools of the autonomous community and will include a call to the European Commission to "closely follow" the respect for "cultural and linguistic diversity" by the Generalitat.

This is stated in the draft that the MEPs of the Petitions Committee will debate this Wednesday and that its recommendations may still undergo modifications in the amendment period, until it is adopted in its final form in mid-March.

In its conclusions, collected by Europa Press, the text reflects the "concern" with which the mission of MEPs confirmed that several families who requested additional classes in Spanish had to face "difficulties and resistance" that "raises concern about speeches of hate".

It also takes note of the failure by the Generalitat to comply with judicial rulings that require at least 25% of classes to be taught in Spanish and also echoes cases in which Spanish has been excluded from the educational model to the point of that it be considered "like a foreign language."

The December trip included four MEPs, including Estonian liberal Jana Toom and members of the European People's Party, the Conservatives and Reformists and the Non-Attached Party, but none of the progressive groups in protest of what they considered instrumentalization. In the preliminary report Toom regrets that the delegation was received "with protests and offensive demonstrations" in front of the European Parliament facilities in Barcelona and had to request the presence of the Police to guarantee their safety.

Along with these MEPs, half a dozen Spanish MEPs also traveled as accompanying members: Dolors Montserrat and Rosa Estaràs from the PP, Maite Pagazaurtundúa from Ciudadanos, Jorge Buxadé from Vox and Diana Riba from ERC.

Already in the recommendations, which can still be amended, the MEPs recall that the right to receive education in Spanish in all autonomous communities is enshrined in the Spanish Constitution and therefore the system in Catalonia must ensure "the same treatment of Spanish and Catalan as teaching languages".

In this context, the preliminary report warns that the educational system itself must "take the necessary measures" to compensate for deficiencies that may occur in either of the two languages, as established by national legislation.

Thus, the MEPs ask the European Commission to "closely monitor" the way in which article 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union is applied in Catalonia and, says the text, especially "in relation to respect by the regional authorities of cultural and linguistic diversity".

They also ask Brussels to take into account the conclusions of the parliamentary mission in its next report on the rule of law in the countries of the European Union, which is published every summer and which includes specific recommendations by country, although so far it has not been referred to. to this issue in evaluations of Spain in previous years.

Finally, it also asks the Community Executive to establish a "dialogue" with the country and offer technical support to address fundamental rights issues.