Following the decision made by EU Foreign Affairs Ministers to give citizens the possibility of using additional languages in their relations with the EU institutions, the Assembly Government Ministers and officials are discussing the practicalities with regard to Welsh with the UK Government and the European Institutions.

Once the outstanding practical issues are resolved, then the UK Government could start formal negotiations which, if successful, will mean that ; Welsh could be used in speeches at the Council of Ministers and plenary sessions of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) ; correspondence to the CoR, Council and Commission in Welsh would be answered in Welsh ; and that European legislation translated into Welsh may be sent to the Council for addition to its archives.

Minister for Culture, Sport and the Welsh Language, Alun Pugh said :

“This is another positive step forward. The Welsh language is one of the oldest languages in Europe so it is right that citizens in Wales should be able to correspond with the EU in either of our national languages, and that the language can be used in the Committee of the Regions and the Council.

"If the Assembly Government’s proposals are accepted then the Assembly Government will be responsible for bearing the costs of translation."

Such an arrangement contrasts with those made for Catalan, Basque and Galician where the Spanish state covers the costs and not the autonomous governments.

Speaking to Eurolang a Welsh Government spokesperson added that : "What happens next is for Welsh is to finalise practicalities with the interpreters and translators in the EU, then when we’ve agreed a way forward, we will then ask the UK Government to negotiate on our behalf."

While welcoming the proposal Welsh MEP Jill Evans (Plaid - EFA) said that "this proposal does not go far enough. The First Minister dismisses the possibility for people to correspond with the European Parliament in Welsh because it hasn’t yet been accepted by the Parliament. This is only because a few Conservative MEP’s in the parliament’s governing body have blocked action on this. Thanks to my parliamentary group they now have to reconsider this decision.

"The National Assembly must push for Welsh to be used in the European Parliament as well. We can’t let a few Tories decide that citizens can’t write a letter and get a reply in their language of choice.

"And the funding must come from the UK Government not out of the Assembly budget for promoting Welsh, which is already stretched. In the case of Catalan, Galician and Basque the Spanish state is funding translation, not the devolved administrations. We should follow their lead." (Eurolang 2006)

Brussel- Bruxelles, Wednesday, 28 June 2006 Ecrit par Davyth Hicks