Europe has been unifying for the last decades. But also, calls for autonomy or independence have increased rather than seized: In 2006, the Catalonian people approved in a referendum the Statute of Autonomy which allows Catalonia to be called a “nation” within Spain. The Scottish government has expressed its intention to hold a referendum on independence from the UK in late 2014. In Belgium, many Flemings are sick of solidarity with the economically under-performing Wallonians and would like go on on their own. Not to forget the incredible process of “balkanisation” that has been taking place on the Balcans since the dusk of Yugoslavia: Where once there was one state there are now seven.
At the beginning of 2011, the Basque terrorist group ETA has announced a permanent ceasefire, which does not mean that the voices calling for a stronger recognition of the Basque culture on both sides of the France-Spanish border have faded. On our way from Paris to Lisbon, we stopped in Espelette, a village of 2000 people famous for its chillies: Reminding visitors of the traditional drying method, the chillies still hang in troops down the white walls and in-between the red shutters today. Over a traditional Basque meal with lots of chillies, we were lucky to talk to the mayor of Espelette, Gracianne Florence, about regions, nations and Europe.
Learning the Basque language (that, by the way, does not belong to the family of Indo-Germanic languages) is getting popular again. Promoting the Basque culture and language has been the well-known and violent endeavour of the ETA and separatists groups in the Spanish part for many years. Now, also the French Basques increasingly embrace their culture again, as Gracianne tells us. Whilst her son only learnt Basque in his twenties, her grandchildren speak Basque to her. If parents think that bilingual schools are not Basque enough for their children, they can also have them educated in Basque-only prep schools. Together with a couple of other regions in France (e.g. the Alsace), the Basques are pushing the French authorities towards the recognition of their language as official – so far, the French government has resisted.
According to the European Charta of Fundamental Rights, minority languages are to be recognised and protected by the nation states. As Gracianne tells us, funding by the EU has helped the French Basques protect their regional cultural heritage and language very much. The French authorities have been less enthusiastic, she says.
What is the place for regions and their particularities in-between European unification and often centralistic nation states? The simple equation the French-Basque example might point to: With diminishing power of nation states, but Europe sticking to the principle of subsidiarity, the regions, Départements or Länder have to (re-)gain competences. France, for example, might accept that French is not the only official language in France. In our recent interview (soon to be on this blog), Farid Tabarki, founder of Studio Zeitgeist and professionally reflecting on the future of Europe, made exactly this point: Europe will have to pay more respect to its regions. Inter-regional cooperation will become more, national borders less important. After all, some regions in Upper Bavaria are in many respects closer to Austria than to the north of Germany. What many people like about Europe, is its diversity, the fact that you can explore many cultures on a small continent. This diversity is very often much more about regions than about nations. In the European menu, the regions are the chillies.
