L'etiquetatge en català: un problema en relació amb la CEE?

Resum

The possibility to label products that are intended for consumption, both in the home market as well as in the Common Market, using the official language of Catalonia presents many different and surprising perspectives. While it is true that within the EEC there is a growing level of respect and protection for minority languages in general, such a situation should also be reflected in the language used in labelling: what is important is that the label conveys the pertinent Information adequately, that the message gets through in an intelligible fashion. The political regulation of Spain, based on a system of£ Autonomies, includes in its front of constitutionality the protection and development of minority languages to which official rank is conceded. But judging from the way the Spanish central Administration is acting on a juridical level, it continues to regard Castilian as a more official language while ignoring the multilingual reality. Such an attitude causes problems with labelling on an internal level, and even its adequacy to European Community regulations is doubtful. A complex network of competence- related, commercial, economic and individual relationships gets all blurred up in this area where labelling is but the spearhead. A committed line of action is needed from the institutions and from civil society —business people, factory owners, consumers— so that what exists already in the Community may also be achieved internally: language is an instrumental means that allows us to transmit a piece of information and it has to be possible to do that in your own language since that is a sign of identity.