The French Basque Country is usually seen as a case of weak institutionalization of Basque identity, especially when compared with its Spanish Basque neighbours. However, changes in territorial governance since the 1990s have led to the emergence of a new policy in favour of the Basque language and culture. Despite the apparent immutability of the French linguistic regime, a local institutional arrangement was set up in the Basque Country. The Basque language movement worked in favour of the institutional completeness of the Basque-speaking community first through self-organization and community organizations, then by placing the language issue on the territories’ public policy agenda. This incremental institutional change resulted in an intermediary linguistic regime. The Basque-speaking community, however, is still experiencing a situation of institutional incompleteness which renders uncertain the future of the Basque language.