Basque Country
The Basque Country, Euskadi, is one of Europe's oldest nations, home to a people whose origins reach back to before recorded history and whose language, Euskera, stands alone among the tongues of the continent, related to no other. To be Basque is to belong to a culture that has endured for millennia at the western edge of the Pyrenees, between Spain and France.
Recognised as a historical nationality, the Basque Country governs itself under the Statute of Gernika of 1979, which restored its self-government after the Franco dictatorship. It has its own Parliament (Eusko Legebiltzarra), its own government led by the Lehendakari, its own police force, and — uniquely — its own fiscal system, the Concierto Económico, which allows it to raise and manage its own taxes. Euskera is, alongside Spanish, an official language of the territory.
With around 2.2 million inhabitants (2024), the Basque Country combines a strong industrial tradition with one of the most advanced systems of self-government in Europe.
A proud nation within Europe, the Basque Country embodies a conviction at the very heart of the European Democrats' vision: that strong territories and a strong Europe are not rivals but allies, and that the languages and identities of Europe's peoples — Euskera among them — deserve their full place in the Union.
