Although significant progress has been made in recent decades in some areas and areas of the Euskaldunization process, in public administrations the Basque Country faces serious obstacles and threats. In addition to the offensive against the Basque people that is taking place in the courts, and the use of the Basque people that is being reduced in the Basque Country in general, access to public services in Basque is not guaranteed at all. It is primarily for the Administration to take measures to ensure language rights, including the UPV/EHU.

Some of the measures taken recently, as well as the 4th Governing Council of the UPV/EHU adopted on 11 June. The content of the Euskera Plan has concerned us. The III International Congress of Basque Studies was a pride in the difficult challenge of euskaldunizar the UPV. The new plan is more pathetic than the plan. Despite trying to have a different outcome, we have been rejected by the contributions made to the drafts. The lack of concreteness in the Plan is evident, with very general objectives and actions and with very few indicators to measure the level of demand. In addition, there is a clear lack of courage to take the necessary measures. The plan is continuous, immersed in the comfort of inertia. But in the inertia we have in the UPV/EHU we see clear threats mixed with new worrying elements. In fact, we note that over the last two decades some criteria have been put in place for Euskaldunization by the UPV/EHU leadership. A situation is detected in which, despite the efforts made, it is believed that the criteria can be mitigated. Perhaps we are at a turning point in the Euskaldunization process where the smooth slope has begun? Time will tell, but there are measures and trends that warn you.

With regard to undergraduate education, the goal set for 2027 is to achieve between 94.4% and 96% of compulsory credits in Basque. Given the difficulties and exceptions (mainly in philology), it is not acceptable that, 44 years after the implementation of the UPV/EHU, many Basque students are not guaranteed the right to receive undergraduate courses in Basque at the public university. The subjects they are have been identified, but no plans or schedules have been seen to offer them in Basque. And what to say about optional undergraduate courses, where the offer is much lower. The only objective that has been set is that the degrees with elective subjects in Basque reach from 53 to 56, which would be achieved with the offer in Basque of a subject in each degree…

In the case of master's degrees, although the increase of credits in Basque proposed in the plan (14.1% to 19%) is significant, it would be concentrated in very few master's degrees. In fact, the vast majority of the masters will continue without the presence of the Basque Country.

Although it is not included in the Euskera Plan, the progressive increase in the English offer raises doubts. Immersed in internationalization and aware of the importance of knowledge of other languages (not just English), it is a competition with the Basque Country. More and more subjects are taught in English, but in many departments, some subjects of the degrees (especially optional) are not yet offered in Basque (and in the masters, what to say, no…). If the resources are not increased clearly and the criteria are not clearly set (and they are not clearly defined), we can intuit who is going to lose in that competition…

As for the professors' Euskera profile, 66% currently have a C1 profile and the goal is to reach 70% in four years. The effort to reach these percentages has been made for many years, and that is how we must acknowledge it. However, we have identified some specific points that are worrying. Previously, except for some exceptions, permanent jobs had an Euskera profile. Lately, there are more and more non-Basque places that reach the decision-making committees, and the management team is increasingly accepting.

We are also facing a qualitative change. In fact, researchers with accreditation I3/R3, instead of destined for permanent researcher positions, are destined by the management to permanent faculty positions, adjusting the linguistic profile of the position to each person. At the OPE of 2023, 35 permanent faculty positions were approved for this group. Those that have been created so far have no Basque profile and, in view of the linguistic reality of researchers, we can anticipate that most of the places that will be created will be without Basque. This is not correct because the C1 level of Euskera has been demanded from the rest of the professors. In addition, new professors without Euskera will not be able to take on the teaching in Euskera of their co-workers, provided that they leave abruptly. The opening of this new contract is at serious risk. It can be expected that the pressure to create jobs without Euskera in some departments is increasing: if you have not asked another professor for Euskera, why would this candidate, being in the section for a long time, refuse the teaching position? (Yes, endogamy is very present in universities, including the UPV…). With the door a little open, the increasing pressure (whether by departments, trade unions or heavy people) can increasingly open the door, making it very difficult to retreat.

In the case of Technical and Management Staff and Administration and Service Staff, the objectives set out in the Plan are modest, although in four years the increase from 42% to 50% of the staff who are accredited to language profiling 3 represents a significant step. However, the plan will not guarantee care in Euskera in many internal services and will continue to fail to meet the mandatory dates for the Euskera profile in many jobs, among others, because it will allow in the OPE under way there is no mandatory Euskera profile the jobs have.

Care in Basque will not be guaranteed in external companies either. Although the subcontracting clauses state that companies must ensure care in Euskera, it is not complied with in many places. Every Basque who passes through the cafeterias, copists and other campus spaces knows it well…

Public university is not just a place to get an academic degree or to work. It is also a very important space for influencing Basque society, which is key for Euskaldunization and for keeping Euskera alive. The relaxation and results of the less noise changes that are taking place at the UPV/EHU will be seen in the coming years and decades, perhaps too late. It is up to all the Basque workers and students we are in the UPV/EHU, as well as all those sectors that want a quality education in Basque for the next generations. Both for the adoption of measures and for demanding their implementation. It is essential to maintain tension. Without tensions, the Basque country has much to lose, also in the public university.

Iñaki Etaio and Nere Alkorta, representing the trade union section of the UPV/EHU LAB trade union