— The main objective is to achieve its inclusion, together with Catalan and Basque, in this online application that allows foreigners to learn languages free of charge

— Valentín García stresses that the study of Galician “opens a perfect gateway to the world of the Lusophone language, which encompasses a total of 250 million speakers”

Strasbourg, February 24th 2023. The Secretary General for Language Policy, Valentín García, participated last week in Strasbourg in the session of the Intergroup of National Minorities and Languages of the European Parliament to discuss the inclusion of Galician, Catalan and Basque in the Online Language Support (OLS) platform of the Erasmus+ programme. This free online application is intended to make it easier for students taking part in the Erasmus European mobility programme and participants in the European Solidarity Corps to learn the official languages of the European Union, as well as Icelandic, Macedonian, Norwegian, Serbian and Turkish.

The representative of the Xunta pointed out that the three Galician public universities “receive more than 1,000 students every academic year to carry out their studies as participants in the Erasmus+ programme”.

In this context, Valentín García emphasised that the slogan promoting Erasmus+ 2021-2027 states that this programme “is more inclusive, more digital and greener”. “The Galician language, the communication code of one and a half million speakers today, must be present in the Online Language Support so that people studying in Galicia can integrate into our society in general and the university community in particular,” he said.

In addition, the representative of the Galician Government took the opportunity to recall that the Galician language, “which formed part of a common linguistic trunk with Portuguese until the 15th century, is still today a perfect gateway to the vast world of the so-called Lusophony, which encompasses a total of 250 million speakers on four continents”. Thus, “by giving them the possibility of learning Galician, we are also giving them a key to open that door”, he said.

The request for the inclusion of the three co-official languages in the OLS was promoted by the Salvia Vives d’Universitats, which includes 22 universities from Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands and Andorra. Over time, it has gained the support of numerous universities and regional governments in the rest of the country, including most recently the Ministry of Universities of the Spanish Government. The final decision will be taken by the European Union after a period of reflection.

The three Galician public universities receive more than 1,000 students every academic year

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