"Enough. Today the representatives of the municipalities of UEMA have come to say that it is enough", with these words the urgent hearing of UEMA in Usurbil starts on Thursday afternoon, the day after the decision of the Spanish Constitutional Court. This court of Madrid has decided that in the municipalities of Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, where all agents and representatives know Basque, the internal functioning of the administration in Basque "violates linguistic rights".
The Spanish Constitutional has revolutionized the Law on Local Entities that the Basque Parliament approved in 2016 by a large majority, in which it recognized the possibility that municipalities may prepare internal documents – minutes, agendas, various criteria and formalities… – entirely in Basque, provided that there are no councilors who claim that they do not know Basque. In other words, this law particularly affected small and Basque peoples. They were internal documents and did not regulate the treatment of citizens.
After the constitutional decision there is far-right, complaint by the VOX two years ago. He went to the Court of Justice of the Basque Country and from there, this court, in doubt that it could be "irreplaceable", transferred him to the Spanish Constitutional.
UEMA clearly states that it does not start from scratch: "We take into account the problems that a few years ago we had in the municipalities of UEMA in relation to this, the prohibitions of making minutes in Basque, the obstacles for the municipalities to enter UEMA... And that sentence brings us back to the situation then. The judgment is a direct attack on the municipalities of UEMA. And we are not starting from scratch: in recent times we have received several sentences with the same tone. It is clear that the courts are eroding the legal punishment to promote Euskera."
"We have to come together."
The municipalities of UEMA are currently studying the practical consequences of the judgment and the steps they can take now. "Our intention is to continue taking steps in the Euskaldunization of the municipalities of UEMA, to deepen the path that has been taken in recent years," they stress.
But the situation needs an "answer": "On the one hand, to say that the answer is enough. Judicial aggression must be suspended."
They also stress that it needs a "solid legal response": "The legal framework that has been the foundation of linguistic policy for years is being eroded and it is time to adapt the legal site of promotion of the Basque Country in collaboration. After the last sentences we have already begun to take a few steps, but this latest resolution by the Constitutional Court has reinforced the need. Let us join, let us obtain a renewed legal framework to take decisive steps in the promotion of the Basque country. There is need, we have responsibility. Let's look for ways."
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