The Basque School is the name we have given the media in Basque. He who has a name has had it. I mean, personality. Own identity. In Iparralde the last century without Basque nationalism, there would be no institutions of their own today. However, its constitution has generated the greatest doubts and mistrust among the Abertzales. On the other hand, under the name of “democratic doubt”, are the opposites to the institution, those who work in the line of Jacobinism that runs through all the French parties.

The first official assembly of the Single Commonwealth of Iparralde took place on 23 January. In order to carry out the Assembly, the members of the management of the organization were obliged to reach basic agreements on Governance and Taxation. However, the opponents of the College had already lodged a third appeal to prevent the establishment of the institution. It also confirmed that the Basque Football College would assume the competence of linguistic and cultural policy, at the request of the Basque Confederation and the Royal Academy of the Basque Language.

Its president is Jean-René Etchegaray. Centrist politician and member of Batera. It endorses the demands of the Abertzales. Surely French Jacobinists and Basque nationalists share this view: If the Mayor of Baiona (Etchegaray) had not been involved in the project, the current political situation in Iparralde would be different. The creation of the Single Community of Iparralde has raised many questions in the political debates, both on the one hand and on the other. Etchegaray is at the heart of politics. One of these questions is: Is compatibility between nationalism and Jacobinism possible?

The Basque College took the first step: knowledge. On the same day, the lehendakari presented the ground to comply with the historical demands of the Basque institutions. The five basic starting points are as follows: 1. The interurban structure. It is made up in proportion to the population and the representatives of all peoples. 2nd Competencies. It has gathered the competences of the ten public schools to date: urbanism, interurban transport, waste management... 3. Budget. It has the same money as the ten schools of the past. As more areas develop, it will gain more competences and increase the budget. 4. Territoriality. It does not have its own competences, but it represents for the first time in history Lapurdi, Baja Navarra and Zuberoa. 5. Evolution: the College has, as seen, few competences. In other words, it is far from having the necessary competences to build an autonomous institution. Its capacity will be developed according to the evolution of the organisation. The capacity will depend on the correlation of the forces of the political representatives of the institution and the impetus of the citizenship.

The NOTRe law has made possible the Single Commonwealth of Iparralde, but at the moment there is only soil to build it. It must go down the road within the framework of French law. The historic demands of the Abertzales have no place in the new de facto institution. The local political players, with the parties in the lead, will force French legality on the basis of the consensus they will achieve. For example, in the Hexagon, language is not official, so the Basque language is not official either. In the first assembly, the elected candidate of Hendaia (EH Bai), Iker Elizalde, asked to use Basque and French. Bokale's elect, Francis González, rejected the petition, saying aloud: “We are in France.” Angelu Guy Mondorge's elect confirmed his statement, valuing the gas in the Basque country. Etchegaray has solved all the doubts: “My border is French law.” The member of the Batera movement and lawyer, besides knowing the law well, distinguishes between desire and reality. It assumes the cooficity of the Basque Country, but it wants to ensure the stability of the new institution. Therefore, the Basque country has no place in the activity of the institution. The minutes of the institution, for example, will not be received in Basque.

On 14 February, the names of the members of the College’s Executive Committee were announced. Collegial affinity is characterized by the plurality of the representation of the elected representatives, but the presence of the representatives of the right centre is a majority in the committee. In general, the representatives of the EH Bai and Les Républicains coalition have the largest number of seats, with four representatives each. PSN, UDI, MoDem and PNV, each. Ideological identification is evident. In practice, however, most of the voters were and continue to be elected without their acronyms. Among the defendants are Alain Iriart, Mayor of Biarritz, Peio Claverie, Mayor of Biarritz, and Daniel Olzomendi, Mayor of Izpura, Mayor of Bilbao. However, in Angelu there are also the mayors of Claude Olive, the president of the Basque Country, Sebastián Aturri Hirigunea, Emmanuel Alzuri and the aforementioned Francis González. The designations have been made within the logic of the correlation of forces, but it is not logical that the latter should be among those who have filed the three appeals against the institution.

The President of the College, Etchegaray, has been characterised by his “agreement and balance”. Among the nominees, Beñat Arrabitena has given something to say. He is a member of the PNV, Mayor of Arrosa and President of the municipality community of Garazi-Baigorri (Iparralde). He is Vice-President of the new Commonwealth and responsible for the linguistic policy of the Basque Government. The MEP of the Basque and Basque Left has been surprised by the appointment of lehendakari in the Basque Parliament. Beñat Arrabit has acknowledged that he did not expect appointment either. It also states that it does not have any new means of developing the language department. For example, he has indicated that the first task is to merge the Public Body of the Basque Language (PPE) in the Basque College. There is nothing new at the starting point. The most significant news about the College has been the symbolic. On 2 February, Etchegaray – before being officially appointed – and the lehendakari of the Basque Government, Iñigo Urkullu, met in Baiona. A working group was announced to define the nature of the relations between the two institutions.

Number of different heads. However, if we look at the historical claim of the political status of Iparralde, it is not so far from the evolution of the other two territories, the CAV and the Foral Community of Navarra. The pioneering political agents in the country promote demands “beyond legality” of the states and the owners of the “law” adapt their demands according to the political situation. As in Navarre, although the PNV is a nationalist minority, in Iparralde the PNV has also taken its first step in the creation of the first historical institution. This character has a name and surname: political possibility.