Brussels charges against Catalan labeling: "It raises barriers to companies"

BrusselsBrussels always pushes for more integration between European markets and to prevent, for example, different regulations in each autonomous community in Spain. However, the European Commission this Wednesday goes a step further in the economic and social assessment of Spain presented semi-annually by the European Commission and directly attacks the labeling in Catalan on products sold in Catalonia.

The European Commission considers that labeling in Catalan, which is only mandatory in some provisions, complicates things for Spanish or European companies. "Differences in regional regulation in Spain increase compliance costs and create barriers for companies operating between regions and from other European Union countries," says the report issued this Wednesday by the community executive, which gives the example of "obligations to label products in both Spanish and the corresponding regional language".

It is a criticism from Brussels almost three years after the Spanish government, at the request of Junts, asked the other European partners for the official status of Catalan in the European Union institutions. This request, however, remains stalled and for months no progress has been reported for the approval of the initiative, especially due to the opposition of member states governed by the right, such as Germany. It should be remembered that, among other protections, official status in the EU would allow Catalonia to mandate labeling in its own language for products sold in Catalan territory.

The community executive, however, not only criticizes policies that defend minority languages such as Catalan, Galician or Basque; but also attacks regulations approved by some autonomous communities and not for the whole of the Spanish state. In this regard, the European Commission gives the example of extra taxes on sugary drinks applied in Catalonia.

Along the same lines, the European Commission requests in various points of the semestral evaluation that bureaucracy be reduced and regulations be unified throughout the Spanish state, as it would also like to see happen across all member states of the European Union. In fact, the first three recommendations of the report are "simplify regulation, improve regulatory tools, and reduce administrative burden and regulatory fragmentation between regions" throughout the State.