The Single Commonwealth of Iparralde has assumed the competence of “Linguistic and Cultural Policies”. And he explains this on his website: “The Basque country, the gas station and the cultures of Euskal Herria are the basis of the identity of our territory.”

The Baiona sub-prefect and the French Government may not have realised what that phrase says because, if they had noticed, they would not accept it. The French does not appear on this “basis of the identity of our territory”. That is, that phrase says that French is not the basis of the identity of Euskal Herria. It is a phrase that tells the truth, because French is a language that has penetrated hard in recent decades and has transformed the culture of Ipar Euskal Herria and its current identity. Nor does the Basque College say that Euskera and Basque culture are oppressed, undervalued and undermined. The Basque language is not a language that should be extracted and developed from a serious risk, but a “specificity” that must be taken into account.

It is also significant that Euskera and the Gas Station are at the same level in this recognition. The gas is a language rooted in Angelu, Baiona and Bidaxun (Occitan dialect), which today is in danger of extinction. It's not the language of Ipar Euskal Herria. The adoption of measures in favour of the gas pipeline is undoubtedly the responsibility of the Basque College. But the equalization of both languages has much of the will to deny the importance of the Basque Country and the Basque nature of the territory. It is no coincidence that the petition was made by the electorate of Angelu, Guy Mondorge, a fierce rival of the Basque Country, since he and his relatives have always used the argument of the gas in opposition to the Basque country – and not the gas station.

The Basque College does not have the power to implement a real policy that the Basque country needs. The law does not authorize it. Therefore, they have mentioned the “will” with regard to the provision of services in Euskera and Gascon. The first results of this will can be seen in the web of the school and in the magazine that is sent to all the households: many of the contents of the web are not in Basque, and in the magazine the place of the Basque is absolutely symbolic. The President of the Commonwealth of Iparralde, Jean-Rene Etxegarai, said that the minutes of the meetings will not be translated because it "takes too long". Spontaneous translation also has opponents, because some say they are in “France” and that cannot be done. In addition, the law prevents the Basque Country from applying for jobs as a requirement. The Basque College has advocated using the immersion model as an "experimentation", a decision that has just been rejected by the French Government.

The black shadow of the French Constitution is always on us. Also in the process of acceptance of the Basque Country, they have had to make a thousand laps to find the correct formulation: “The Commonwealth of Iparralde officially knows Euskera and the Gas House (Occitan) as the language of its territory next to French.” This does not give the Basque language an official status and therefore does not guarantee the right to the Basque language and to the Basque language. The group, imprisoned in the middle of a crocodile-filled lake, has been claiming for years a bridge or a sturdy boat to get him out of there. In the end, they have been given floats. Let's see how they're saved from those crocodiles...

A few miracles can come from the Basque School, because it has no authority. Symbolically, it is a territorial knowledge of Ipar Euskal Herria; it is true. This knowledge already existed before, with the Development Council, with the Council of Elects, with the Auzapezes Assembly or with the union between the municipalities of Iparralde. The Basque College has more management power, but it is far from the competency, structural and budgetary levels of the institutions of Hego Euskal Herria. It is not an autonomy, it is not an administrative region, it is not a department… it is nothing more than a large community, a giant community, arising from the mergers of those that existed before. The competences of public schools. In addition, the list of competencies that were requested in the 1990s included a booklet; those that the Basque School already has are inserted in a sheet. Moreover, with the exception of the language full of borders, these competences are not the backbone of Basque identity.

The defense of the language, the relationship with the institutions of the CAV and Navarra and the legal recognition of the map of the Northern Basque Country can be recognized by the Basque College. What could happen there? Some pores do. Enough to save a linguistic and popular identity in a state of life or death? No.

Now the question is whether the current Basque College is going to evolve, how and how many years it will need for it. Seeing at what pace political and administrative changes are taking place and what is the situation of the popular and Basque conscience in Ipar Euskal Herria, to see if this people are not blinded by these defeats and starved to death.

(This report has been published in Aktuitate gakoa magazine. If you want a full magazine you can buy it in the Argia market.)