Europe | Cataloniablog

Catalan in the European institutions

Last week, Catalan MEP Oriol Junqueras tabled a block of 17 parliamentary questions in respect of each of the Spanish government’s failures to comply with agreements concerning Catalan: 5 questions to the European Council, 4 to the Commission, 3 to the Parliament and 5 to the Ombudsman.

As the Horitzó Europa think-tank recently pointed out, the [...]

Share and enjoy:

Spain’s unfortunate beginning

Having your website hijacked by a fan of Mr Bean (although at the end it turned out it was not a formal intrusion attack) whilst media accross europe as well as some Member States such as the United Kingdom are mumbling about Spain’s capacity to lead the Union amid these times [...]

Share and enjoy:

Forget about administrative agreements: Catalan must be official

The Spanish Government is playing the victim when it comes to making Catalan a normal language in Europe. As Ireland did with gaelic, Spain could simply ask the Council of Europe to accept Catalan as just another official language in the Union. The petition would need to be unanimously approved by all member [...]

Share and enjoy:

Europe is our goal, not our mum

Many Catalans still fancy a good-hearted saver that will, in one way or another, help Catalonia to become an independent state or whatever we decide we want to be in the future.

Not so many years ago, many –and this includes myself- thought that joining the European Union would be the key [...]

Share and enjoy:

Ingenuity in international politics strategy

Historically, Catalans have been very sensitive to other stateless nations, minor regions oppressed by powerful states and any other group of people with political, social or cultural problems.

Thus, we have found ourselves joining campaigns in favor of minority languages, dismembered nations at the verge of being assimilated by the dominant nation [...]

Share and enjoy:

The Icelandic way

While Catalans discuss about never-ending statutory reforms, financing systems, fiscal deficits, and speculate about the upcoming sentence of the Spanish Constitutional Court, a small nation of just over 300,000 located just below the Arctic Circle is on a fast track to joining the European Union.

Last year was terrible for the [...]

Share and enjoy:

Kosovo’s independence is legal
Following up a complaint from Serbia, he U.N. General Assembly requested taht the International Court of Justice (ICJ) -on... »
The real Catalonia
"This is not the real Catalonia" is one the most recurrent arguments used by pro-Spanish Catalan politicians when they attempt... »
Barcelona brought to standstill by massive demonstration
Last Saturday, 1.5 million people (1.1 million according to the police) gathered in Barcelona in what was the first massive ... »
Laporta to lead his own political party
After several months of uncertainty, the former president of FC Barcelona,Joan Laporta, has confirmed through his website that... »
There’s only one way
(for a comprehensive overview of the whole statute of autonomy process read this) So this is it, the end of autonomism and,... »
Referendums in the metropolitan area
The referendums on the independence of Catalonia have reached the metropolitan area, the theoretically worse possible scenario,... »