Administrative arrangement between the Kingdom of Spain and the Council of the European Union
Date: 2006-02-17
Institutions: Council of the European Union, Spain
Subjects: Council of the European Union, Spain, regional language, use of languages

C 40/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

17.2.2006

ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENT BETWEEN THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN AND THE COUNCIL
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

(2006/C 40/02)

The Kingdom of Spain, of the one part, and the Council of
the European Union, of the other part,

Having regard to the conclusions adopted by the Council on
13 June 2005 on the official use of additional languages within
the Council and possibly other Institutions and bodies of the
European Union,

Whereas there are languages within the Union other than those
referred to in Council Regulation No 1/1958 whose status is
recognised by the Constitution of a Member State in all or part
of its territory or the use of which as a national language is
authorised by law,

Whereas, in the framework of efforts being made to bring the
Union closer to all
its citizens, the richness of its linguistic
diversity must be taken more into consideration, and whereas
allowing citizens the possibility of using these other languages
in their relations with the Institutions is an important factor in
strengthening their identification with the European Union's
political project,

to

agreed

conclude

Have
this ADMINISTRATIVE
ARRANGEMENT to allow the official use at the Council of
the languages other than Castilian (Spanish) whose status is
recognised by the Spanish Constitution.

Written communications to the Council of the European
Union

1. Where,

in application of Spanish law, a Spanish citizen
wishes to send the Council a communication written in a
language other than Castilian (Spanish) whose status is
recognised by the Spanish Constitution:

(a) He shall send the communication to the competent
body designated by the Spanish Government for that
purpose, which shall forward it to the General Secre-
tariat of the Council with a translation of the commu-
nication into Castilian (Spanish); the date of receipt of
the communication, particularly in cases where the
Council has a fixed period of time in which to reply to
the citizen, shall be the date on which the Council
receives the translation from that body.

(b) The Council shall send its reply in Castilian (Spanish)
to the said body, tasked by the Spanish Government
with providing the citizen with a translation of the
reply in the language of the communication.

(c) In no case is the Council's responsibility engaged by
these translations; a specific reference to this will be
made in the text of the translations.

the fixed period of time in which he has to act on that
reply will commence from the date on which the reply is
received in Castilian (Spanish). The Council will send a
copy of its reply to the competent body tasked by the
Spanish Government with providing the citizen with a
translation of the reply in the language of the communica-
tion. The Council will inform the citizen in question of
such dispatch. In no case is the Council's responsibility
engaged by these translations; a specific reference to this
will be made in the text of the translations.

3. If a Spanish citizen sends a communication directly to the
Council in one of the languages referred to in paragraph 1,
the Council shall return the communication to the sender,
informing him of the possibility of addressing the commu-
nication to the Council in that language via the competent
body designated for that purpose by the Spanish Govern-
ment.

4. The parties to this administrative arrangement undertake
to adopt the necessary measures to maintain standards for
the confidentiality of the communications covered by this
arrangement at every stage, particularly as regards the
translation made by the competent body designated by the
Spanish Government.

Speeches to a meeting of the Council

5. The use, where necessary, by a Spanish representative at a
Council meeting of one of those languages, other than
Castilian (Spanish), whose status is recognised by the
Spanish Constitution, shall be possible under the following
conditions:

(a) At the beginning of each six-month period, the Perma-
nent Representation of Spain shall send the General
Secretariat of the Council an indicative list of those
Council meetings where a request to use one of the
above languages is likely to be made.

(b) At least seven weeks before the Council meeting, the
Permanent Representation of Spain shall send the
General Secretariat of the Council the request for a
Spanish representative to use one of
the above
languages during his speeches (passive interpretation);
definite confirmation of the request will be made at the
latest 14 calendar days before the Council meeting.

(c) In principle the request will be acceded to, unless the
General Secretariat of the Council, having consulted
informs the Permanent Representation of
DG SCIC,
Spain that the necessary staff and equipment are not
available.

2. Where the citizen who wrote the communication has a
fixed period of time in which to act on the Council's reply,
and by derogation from paragraph 1(a), the Council will
send its reply in Castilian (Spanish) directly to the citizen
at the same time as to the competent body. In that reply,
the Council will draw the citizen's attention to the fact that

6. The direct and indirect costs of passive interpretation,
including in the case of cancellation, as invoiced to the
Council by DG SCIC, will be paid by the Permanent Repre-
sentation of Spain in accordance with paragraphs 11 and
12 below.

17.2.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 40/3

Making public of acts adopted in codecision

Costs

7. The Spanish Government, or the body which it designates
for the purpose, may make certified translations into the
above languages of acts of the European Union adopted in
codecision, as published in the Official Journal of the Euro-
pean Union, and forward them to the General Secretariat
of the Council by electronic means.

8. The Council shall add those certified translations to its
archives and shall provide copies on request to any citizen
of the Union, as far as possible by electronic means.

9. The Council shall establish a link from its Internet site to
the Spanish Government website offering such translations.
A mention of
those translations do not
that
engage the responsibility of the Institutions of the Union
and have no legal value shall also appear on the Council' s
Internet site in the official and working languages.

the fact

10. In each certified translation, attention will be drawn to the
fact that the translation does not engage the responsibility
of the Institutions of the Union and has no legal value. A
in the language
statement to that effect will be made,
concerned, on the first page of each certified translation
and as a header on each of the following pages, as well as
on the home page of the Spanish Government Internet site
on which they are available.

11. The Spanish Government

shall assume the direct or
indirect costs resulting from implementation of this admin-
istrative arrangement as regards the Council.

12. To this end, the General Secretariat of the Council shall
present a note to the Permanent Representation of Spain
setting out the above costs in detail every six months. This
sum must be reimbursed by the Permanent Representation
of Spain within one month from the date of notification.

Final provisions

13. This arrangement will apply from the date on which the
Spanish Government informs the General Secretariat of the
Council of the body which it has designated to make the
translations referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 7, subject to
the General Secretariat of the Council having informed the
Spanish Government that the measures necessary for the
implementation of this arrangement by the General Secre-
tariat of the Council have been put in place.

14. The parties may agree by common accord to revise or
terminate this administrative arrangement. The parties
shall examine its implementation one year after its entry
into force.