- Judge Ana María Martínez decided in September that municipal agents do not have to certify the level B2 of Euskera; she has now ratified the ruling and has given a period of two months to recognize those who were left out of the Arkaute workbench by the linguistic profile in 2021. The Basque Government announced that it was going to appeal the ruling that was published in September, but it has not brought any action, so it has responded to ARGIA that it would not bring any practical consequences.
The Department of Security of the Basque Government pointed out last September that the requirement of the linguistic level is “fundamental for the Basque Police to relate to society” and “to offer a better service to the citizens”, so it would appeal to the ruling of the Administrative Court of Vitoria.
Asked the reasons why he did not finally file this appeal, they replied: “The legal services saw that it would not have any practical consequences or effects, because all the police officers of the Municipal Police were square and the stock exchange remained intact, would not have dismissed anyone.” The government has argued that it had no retroactive effect, but we have told it that it opens the door to not requiring a minimum level of Basque from now on. “Yes, it can influence, but that is a futurible and if it happens it will look in each case.”
“The sentence has to be enforced,” they add.
Observatory: “What will happen when B2 is not required?”
In view of the government’s lack of recourse, we have asked for the opinion of the director of the Centre for Linguistic Rights, Agurne Gaubeka. The Director explains that “when workbags are created, the fact that the knowledge of Euskera is not essential, creates important obstacles for the proper management of them”.
For example, “last summer, despite the fact that different municipalities asked the Arkaute job exchange for candidates with the knowledge of the accredited Basque Country (B2), from Arkaute they were told that there were no free candidates with B2 on the job market, so if they wanted to hire a Municipal Police agent they would have to take the ones that were left without B2 on the job market.”
“In our opinion, it is not to say that all the candidates presented in this case have a contrasting knowledge of the Basque country. The truth is that the non-recurrence of this ruling by the Basque Government could mean the continuity of the situation in the calls for work exchanges from different areas for the coming years and, consequently, the need to continue admitting candidates who have no knowledge of the Basque country in the process”.
"The failure of the Government to repeat this ruling could mean that candidates who have no knowledge of the Basque country will continue to be admitted in the process"
Although the government has told us about "futuribles", we can foresee candidates without knowledge of Basque: "Why on this occasion all the candidates have B2? Surely because they knew it was going to be asked, what will happen when it is not mandatory? Is there no candidate without knowledge?”
Gaubeka is clear that “the Basque Government takes firm decisions on temporary contracts or reverses the situation instead of doing so. It can also legitimise the maintenance or extension of the deadlines for fixed jobs whose mandatory date has not expired.”