Knowledge of Aragonese and Catalan cannot be "assessed" when accessing a position in the public administration of Aragon

Aragonese and Catalan appear as “proper languages” of Aragon in its Statute of Autonomy, although they do not have the rank of co-officials. It is estimated that some 25,000 people know how to speak Aragonese, to which are added another 20,000 who understand and know it but do not express themselves in it. And they declare that some 17,000 people know how to write in Aragonese. Regarding Catalan, there are some 55,000 speakers of this language in Aragon, on the eastern border with Catalonia, and those who understand it would reach as many as 90,000.

The Government of Aragon, chaired by the socialist Javier Lambán, published in 2022 a decree regulating the use of their own languages in the field of public administrations. The objective was “to enable citizens to use the languages of Aragon in the public sphere, in the areas of predominant historical use and to comply with the provisions of current legislation”.

The aforementioned decree, published in the Official Gazette of Aragon, indicated that the public administrations of Aragon “will promote the knowledge of their own languages by all their employees”.

It specified that knowledge of the languages of Aragon “may be assessed in the selection procedures called by the public administrations of Aragon, when the characteristics of the job and the nature of the functions to be carried out so require”.

It added that, for this, the Administration of the Autonomous Community “will arbitrate the appropriate measures for the voluntary training of its workers in the knowledge of the languages and linguistic modalities of Aragon”.

unfavorable report

Now, the Consultative Council of Aragon has issued an unfavorable report that modifies the aforementioned decree. As a consequence, the Aragonese Government will not be able to “assess” the knowledge of the languages and linguistic modalities of Aragon in the selection procedures called by the public administrations, when the characteristics of the job and the functions to be carried out “recommend” it because it is areas of pre-eminent historical use.

As published this Sunday by Heraldo de Aragón, the aspects that raised the most doubts about the decree refer to how the areas of preferential use of the languages of Aragon are determined and whether it is “advisable” that the officials who provide services in them know them.

In both cases, the criteria of the Advisory Council is imposed by accepting the Aragonese Executive that they park, at least for the moment, to advance in the regulatory part with less controversy.

The greatest controversy referred to the effect that the application of the decree could have on the personnel selection tests in the areas of preferential use of Aragonese and Catalan.. In this regard, the opinion states that, although it is only “advised” that officials know the languages of Aragon, it is “contrary to Law.”

He argues that the zones must be established by law and also the “legal regime of the rights of use of the inhabitants of those territories”. It also indicates that the decree does not include “the way to prove the training of personnel in the knowledge of their own languages and linguistic modalities.”

The Advisory Council recalls that the General Directorate of Legal Services affirmed that the precept does not specify the objective criteria by which a call or a qualifying court can decide “that it is not enough to have an official degree and that a candidate must prove otherwise their knowledge of their own languages.

It adds that this could “endanger the principles of equality, merit and capacity in access to public service”, for which reason said article of the decree has been deleted.