Government greenlights draft law on audiovisual communication in Catalonia 

The government has given the green light to the draft law on audiovisual communication in Catalonia. 

The aim, presidency minister Laura Vilagrà said on Tuesday, is to "bring it up to date" because "the country has changed and there are new values that must be promoted." 

Vilagrà stressed the importance of extending existing measures guaranteeing the use of Catalan and Aranese, not only on radio and television, but also on operating systems and consumer equipment, as well as encouraging their use in the digital realm and on social networks. 

The legislation also includes "innovative measures" to deal with phenomena such as aesthetic pressure in news, commercial and advertising content. 

On language quotas, it proposes that out of the minimum European production, which has a threshold of 30%, a minimum of 51% of production is in Catalan or Aranese (spoken in the Val d'Aran in the Pyrenees), but Vilagrà acknowledged that this could only be applied to audiovisual platforms based in Catalonia. 

"As we live in a global world it is difficult," to impose language quotas, she said, "but it is a declaration of intent to promote Catalan." 

Asked about possible sanctions for those who don't comply with the percentage, she clarified that it is the Catalan parliament with the power to legislate on the issue, and said it was a "possibility" that would have to be "developed." 

The rule only applies to platforms whose headquarters are in Catalonia.

The minister also highlighted that the CAC, the Audiovisual Council of Catalonia, will expand its functions. Until now it could not monitor on-demand media, but if the draft law is implemented, it will be able to widen its scope of operation. 

The draft law builds on Catalonia's current audiovisual communication law from 2005. The new legislation's nine chapters and 122 articles will now come before parliament to be debated.  

National Pact

Parallel to the implementation of measures to strengthen the use of Catalan, the government said that it continues to work on the National Pact for the Language, which will be "the basis" of Catalonia's language policy in the coming years.