In an agreement signed today with the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, Spain has won the right for its citizens to use any one of the country's official languages in this, the European Union's highest court.

According to Diego López Garrido, Spain's Secretary of State for the European Union this is a 'clear demonstration of the government's commitment to all the autonomous regions with their own languages, giving them a proper voice in European institutions'.

The agreement does not apply to certain written legal documents, for example those that make reference to legal regulations or those whose aim, directly or indirectly, is to win any kind of advantage (for example, an EU grant) or an official duty (for example a job application).

In all other cases, anyone wanting to use catalan, valenciano, basque or gallego in the European Court of Justice needs to submit their documents to the Office of Official Languages at the Ministry of the Interior.

From there it will be translated into Castilian Spanish before being transmitted to the European Court and the reply, in Castilian, will then be translated back into the source language.

All costs incurred in the application of the agreement will be borne by the Spanish government.