President Donald Trump has designated English as the official language of the United States. On March 1, a new statement emerged from the Oval Office. executive order which, for the first time in history, determined that the country has "one - and only one - official language." Trump justifies this because this "will not only speed up communication, but will also reinforce shared national values and create a more cohesive and efficient society."

Catalonia's inter-University Council, formed by the Government and universities, has given up on asking graduate students to have a B2 level in English if they wish to obtain a degree. This is a clear step backwards. It can be disguised in many ways, but the facts are the facts: there will no longer be a rule that makes all graduates have a common minimum. And if there is no such requirement, there will be a proliferation of loopholes and excuses for laxity. The result will be that, as a country, we will continue to be at the bottom in terms of knowledge of English. This will make us economically and academically less competitive.

A news item on the ARA website in 2013 advanced: "University graduates will have to prove knowledge of a third language to graduate". The then Catalan Minister of Economy and Knowledge, Andreu Mas-Colell, proposed it so that ''once and for all'' students with a degree would have guaranteed skills in English. A year later, it was specified that ''without a First Certificate level there will be no university degree''. To promote English among students, the Government ruled that year that all graduates from 2018 onwards would have to prove a B2 level in a third language if they wanted the degree. But when this deadline was about to run out, and despite the fact that aid was handed out under the Parla3 programme, universities found that a large percentage of students did not have the required English skills and would not be able to graduate, so they lobbied and ended up getting a 4-year moratorium to apply this requirement. Now, eight years after the announcement and again against the clock, the Government has finally announced that B2 level will not be a requirement for a university degree.