Catalan president to discuss Catalan language status with European Council head

Catalan president Salvador Illa will meet with the President of the European Council, António Costa, in Brussels on Thursday.

The meeting will have two focal points, the work being carried out toward making Catalan an official European language, as well as the current global geopolitical situation.

The proposal to make Catalan official in the European Union is on the table of the EU's General Affairs Council, where the ministers of the member states sit. Spain introduced the proposal when it held the rotating presidency of the EU Council in 2023, but the topic remains gridlocked due to the reluctance of some states.

Illa will also meet with Teresa Ribera, a member of the Spanish Socialist Party, who now holds the role of Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Clean, Just and Competitive Transition. The two will meet to address challenges such as the ecological transition and sustainable mobility.

This will be the first meeting between a Catalan president and the leader of the European Council since 2011, when Artur Mas met with Herman Van Rompuy.

Spokesperson for the Catalan government, Sílvia Paneque, explained that the objective of this trip is to ensure Catalonia's place in the European sphere.

"There are many resources on issues such as housing that are very important and from which we can benefit," Paneque said of the European institutions.