Welsh and Scottish Gaelic will soon be echoing around the European Union's corridors of power under an agreement that Britain is about to sign with its EU partners. The deal, which could be rubber-stamped as early as Tuesday, will mean that individuals will be able to write to the EU's Council of Ministers in either language - and that the Council, where governments take political and legislative decisions, will have to reply in the same tongue.

British representatives may also use the languages in official Council meetings. Once the agreement is formalised, Britain will negotiate similar arrangements with the European Commission, the European Ombudsman - which handles complaints - and other EU organisations involving parliamentary, regional and business representatives.

Depending on your point of view, the move is either confirmation that the EU is turning into a latter-day Tower of Babel, adding two relatively little-used languages on the fringes of Europe to the 23 that already have official status; or it gives 580,000 Welsh and 60,000 Gaelic speakers the same rights as millions of other citizens to communicate in their native language with Brussels institutions, whose decisions increasingly affect their daily lives.

A spokesman for the British Government said: “This is great news for those British citizens that speak our regional languages and demonstrates that the Government does deliver for the regions in Brussels. We believe this is also an important part of bringing our citizens closer to the EU.”

The expense involved in providing translators and interpreters will be met by the Scottish and Welsh administrations. Costs are likely to be low, since few expect major use to be made of the new linguistic opportunities. The interpreters of existing EU languages will not suddenly have to brush up on their Gaelic and Welsh. Whether they are Spanish, Greek or Finnish, they will need only to tune in to the English booth, take the interpretation from the original on relay - as they do for certain other lesser-known languages - and translate from that.

Wales, which asked the Foreign Office to negotiate the agreement last year, is prepared to take advantage of the new rules. It has already set up the necessary administration, and with Welsh routinely used in the Assembly - and spoken by one person in five in the Principality - it has a good supply of translators and interpreters.

Scotland is not so far advanced. The Government still has to sort out the practicalities of the agreement, such as getting correspondence in Gaelic translated into a language spoken in Brussels. Despite efforts to promote the language, Gaelic does not enjoy the strength of Welsh and the chances of a Scottish minister addressing his EU counterparts in Gaelic are slim.

Kenneth Murray, the chief executive of Bòrd na Gàidhlig - the Gaelic Development Agency - welcomed the deal but acknowledged the problems: “There are some excellent interpreters and translators of Gaelic in Scotland but we need many more.”

The status that Welsh and Gaelic will enjoy are based on the same arrangements that Spain's regional languages - Basque, Catalan and Galician - have had with EU institutions since 2005.

Ironically, the agreement will be endorsed as the EU presidency is held by France, a country with a history of trying to suppress its regional languages. Nor is there any chance of Breton being given similar recognition, since to achieve it, the EU insists that the language is recognised in the country's constitution.

Lost in translation

The principle of subsidiarity is at the heart of the European Union

Gaelic ‘S ann aig cridhe an Aonaidh Eòrpaich a tha prionnsapal an t-sìneadais

You may not like the Common Agricultural Policy, but we need to protect French farmers

Gaelic ‘S dòcha nach toil leibh Poileasaidh Coitcheann an Àiteachais, ach feumaidh sinn tuathanaich na Frainge a dhìon

Welsh Mae’n bosib nad ydych yn hoff o’r Polisi Amaethyddol Cyffredin ond mae angen gwarchod buddiannau ffermwyr Ffrainc

Is that banana sufficiently curved to pass EU inspection?

Gaelic A bheil caime gu leòr sa bhanana ud airson riaghailtean an EU?

Welsh Ydy’r tro sydd yn y ffrwchnedd yna’n addas ar gyfer safonau’r UE?

I want my money back

Gaelic Tha mi ag iarraidh mo chuid airgid air ais.

Welsh Rydw i eisiau fy arian yn ôl

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