Resumen de Diversitat cultural i lingüística a la Unió Europea: reflexions i propostes des de Catalunya
Using the current status of Catalonia and the Catalan language within the European Union as a point of reference, this article offers a series of proposals aimed at promoting cultural and linguistic diversity within the European Union, in accordance with the principles and values espoused in community documents.
Today, Catalonia enjoys the status of region within the European Union and, it is still not a European electoral district. This means that Catalans gain access to the European Union through the representatives of Spain, and Catalonia has no direct access to community decision-making bodies. Within the European Union, Catalan has the status of "regional language", although 11 million Europeans in three member state territories (Spain, France and Italy) are familiar with it. And then there is the Principality of Andorra, where it is an official language. With the upcoming expansion in 2004, the European Union will welcome ten new countries and Catalan will be the tenth most spoken language in the European Union. Nevertheless, it is improbable that it will be granted the status of an official European Union language, despite the fact that it has this official consideration in three European regions with a legislative branch.
Guibernau highlights the fact that Catalonia¿s relationship with the European Union, as is the case for other European regions with a legislative branch, poses problems of recognition. Illustrative of this point is the fact that the citizens of the 75 European regions within the European Union that have a legislative branch, many of which enjoy specific cultures and languages, are requesting the European Union to recognize the legislative and administrative importance of regional authorities and their contribution to the service of democracy. These regions make up 56.3% of the European Union¿s population, and they make their argument not only in terms of the principle of subsidiarity, but also because of the impact that these regions have on the functioning of the European Union.
The article studies the growing complexity of European language and cultural diversity, a diversity which is only accentuated by the expansion and by the increase in the number of immigrants.
Relying on the principles and values of the European Union, Guibernau presents a series of proposals in three areas: 1) protecting the cultural diversity of the European Union; 2) protecting and developing the languages currently defined as "regional or minority" languages, while at the same time requesting official status for Catalan within the European Union, and 3) adopting steps to take for new immigrants to the European Union and dealing with the new challenges their increasing numbers will entail.
