The draft report by the mission of MEPs that visited Catalonia last December to analyze the language immersion model in schools advocates an "equivalent" treatment of Catalan and Spanish in schools. The text, to which the ACN news agency has had access and which will be debated on Wednesday in the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament, asserts that the right to receive education in Spanish "is in the Constitution" and that the authorities "must guarantee that there is no discrimination against children". "The educational system in Catalonia should give equivalent treatment to Spanish and Catalan as vehicular languages", states the text, which also speaks of "intimidation" and "hate speech" against the families who have demanded the 25% Spanish quota in the courts.
The mission, made up of right-wing and far-right MEPs
The MEPs' mission was mainly made up of members of the right and extreme right parties of the European chamber, since it was boycotted by the groups of the Greens and Socialists, who will not be able to add amendments to the text, although they can add annexes to the final part of the recommendations. The document that will be debated on Wednesday calls on the Spanish government to "closely monitor" whether in the organization of the educational model in Catalonia a "balanced" distribution of vehicular languages is respected with an "equivalent treatment to the co-official languages".
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In this regard, the MEPs propose to the Spanish government that it should "review" how the Educational Inspectorate acts in Catalonia to guarantee "minimum standards" of classes in each of the languages, and assert that an "independent analysis" of the model should be carried out. "The study, carried out by independent experts, should offer recommendations to legislators and people involved in how a balanced content in vehicular languages can be established", they suggest. The draft report is also addressed to the Catalan government, demanding that it "improve communication and trust" with the families who have taken the language immersion model to the courts. Specifically, it asks the authorities to open "constructive dialogue" with the affected families.
Disappointment that 25% Spanish quota has not been applied
The text also expresses disappointment that the ruling that imposed a 25% quota of Spanish use in classes in Catalonia, issued by the Catalan High Court, has not been generally applied and states that "respect for the rule of law is one of the pillars of the European Union". For this reason, it states its "concern that citizens, due to the lack of action in implementing the sentence, will have to seek judicial remedies individually".
On the other hand, the document to which ACN has seen expresses "concern" about what it considers "social exclusion or, in some cases, intimidation and bullying of children and parents" who have defended the extension of Spanish use. "We condemn the fact that they have been victims of hate speech, and we ask the regional authorities to closely monitor these unacceptable behaviours", assert the MEPs.
"High level of polarization"
In the report, the MEPs from the mission also say that during their trip they noticed a "high level of polarization" in Catalonia regarding the educational model and "a lack of communication between the authorities and the petitioners". "There seems to be a genuine lack of will to take part in a dialogue", affirm the MEPs, who speak of "distrust" between the parties. In addition, they assert that in some "specific cases" Spanish "is considered a foreign language" and criticize that the authorities "refuse to implement the proportional requirements" of Spanish, making the educational model "de facto monolingual". Also, the participants in the mission regret that they were received by "offensive protests and demonstrations" and that the presence of the police was necessary to guarantee "their safety".