Graham Watson - Liberal Democrat MEP for South-West England and Gibraltar

European Liberal Group leader clarifies position on use of Catalan in European Parliament

5.40.19pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 3rd May 2006

Responding to reports in the Catalan press following a vote last week in Parliament's governing body which rejected solutions to facilitate the use of Catalan in the European Parliament, Graham Watson MEP, Liberal group leader, underlined his group's long commitment to the rights of minorities and his group's official support for initiatives which would allow Catalan citizens to address the European Parliament or read about its activities in their own language.

"Liberals and Democrats strongly believe in devolving power and responsibility to the level of government closest to the citizen and defending the use and perpetuation of lesser-used languages across the EU. Languages such as Catalan are part of Europe's cultural and historical heritage and represent a key element of the identity of millions of EU citizens."

"Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament support initiatives to facilitate the use of Catalan and Basque in Parliament's business. It is self evident, since the fate of Europe's Constitution remains unclear, that Europe needs to make ever greater efforts to win over the confidence and trust of its citizens. This is one small yet practical area where Parliament could make a contribution."

"The ALDE group has been blamed unfairly for the failure of moves to allow Catalan to be used. In fact, the difficulties with the introduction of new languages since the last enlargement and the accession of Romania and Bulgaria are the main cause for delay. I hope we will soon see Catalan in use in the European Parliament.

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