The European Union's member-states on Tuesday postponed making a decision on designating three regional languages -- Catalan, Basque and Galician -- as new official languages in the Union, in anticipation of the presentation of a cost analysis of this proposal made by the Spanish government.

During a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council configuration (FAC) in Brussels, representatives of the 27 member-states discussed the proposal moved by Madrid. In order for those three languages to be added to the current 24 official languages of the EU, the unanimous support of all the 27 members is required.

“During a ministerial meeting in Brussels, the appeal fell far short of the required unanimous support and it’s unclear when the issue could be put back for discussion,” Euronews reported.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told the press after the 40-minute meeting that no country vetoed the proposal, however, there was also no vote on the motion.

Many participants in the meeting expressed concern over growing costs for translating documents and public speeches in EU institutions in the case of the addition of three more official languages.

The Spanish TVE broadcaster reported that a score of the members demanded a cost analysis and impact on the EU budget.

Croatian Foreign Ministry State Secretary Andreja Metelko-Zgombic was quoted by TVE s saying that “we would like to be provided with more information about the status of those three languages at the national level in Spain”.

Catalan, Basque (Euskara) and Galician are official languages alongside the Spanish language in that country. They are spoken in Catalonia, Basque and Galicia.

As of this month, those three languages can be used in the Spanish parliament during debates.

On Monday, the Croatian foreign ministry did not send an answer to the question about Zagreb’s attitude towards the proposal of the Spanish government for declaring those three regional languages official languages in the EU.

“The designation as EU language would imply the translation of every legal act, including the daily publication of the official journal, into the three languages and real-time interpretation during debates in the EU Council and the European Parliament,” Euronews noted.

“The Spanish request is directly linked to (Prime Minister Pedro) Sánchez’s tortuous quest to secure the necessary votes for a successful investiture following the inconclusive results of the general elections held on 23 July,” they said.