The Catalan Language and a New Statute of Autonomy for Catalonia

• Published in: Revista de llengua i dret Vol. 41; no. Sept; pp. 141 - 174
• Main Authors: Vernet i Llobet, Jaume, Pla i Boix, Anna M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Catalan
• Published: 01-01-2004
• ISSN: 0212-5056

This article proposes an analysis of the various proposals for reforming the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia that have a bearing on language. Consequently, it outlines the principal questions that permeate the air in the political & parliamentary debate. For a broad sector of the Catalan parliamentary spectrum, the treatment given to language under the Statute should be reviewed. Different political parties represented in the Catalonian Parliament (CIU, ERC, PSC-CPC, & ICV) have introduced proposals to improve the Statute of Autonomy. Such proposals extend into the legal & linguistic sphere to improve the language of the Statute, armor-plate the successes achieved by the legislation & set in stone the Constitutional Court rulings favoring the extension of the knowledge & use of the Catalan & Occitan languages. Formally, the article is structured in three parts: the first describes the content & the extent of the debate on the increase in self-government in Catalonia as relates to language. It identifies what the proposals are from the experts who have appeared before the Parliamentary Study Commission on Expanding the Level of Self-Government & puts forward the postulates that appear in the initiatives endorsed by the Catalan parties in this area. The study of these partisan initiatives is set forth in the second part of the article, where the content of the different proposals from the parties for modifying the framework of the Statute currently in force is studied. The objective common to all the proposals focuses on having the Statute guarantee a full standardization of the Catalan language, bearing in mind the identity-oriented, symbolic, & cultural dimensions of the language. Starting from this point of departure, the parties propose different measures, some of which are not entirely new. As a matter of fact, in certain cases, the language proposals appearing on the projects studied in this paper had already been part of the parties' political agenda for years; some were even voiced during the discussion of parliamentary papers on the Statute in force in 1979. An analysis of the electoral programs & a careful review of parliamentary papers issued by the parties allow us to conclude that part of the proposals formulated in certain documents had already been put forward & debated for some time. Finally, the paper studies the propitiousness, procedure, & points of commonality among the proposed modifications in the Statute. A comparative study of the ensemble of proposals allows us to conclude that the different projects share a catalog of terms in which there is a broad consensus in favor of the modification of the Statute. Among these issues, the following stand out: those having to do with the specific inclusion of language as an area of skill; the recognition of multilingualism on the state level, the European Community level, & internationally; the definition of the content & scope of the laws regarding the autochthonous language & the official language in Catalonia, or the proposal for guaranteeing the official status of the Aranese language in the Aran Valley through a change in the law. Adapted from the source document