President aims to 'restore institutional normality' and push for Catalan's official status on first Brussels trip

Salvador Illa will make his first official trip abroad as Catalan president on Wednesday and Thursday, a two-day trip to Brussels for a meeting of the European Committee of the Regions, with additional meeting with political and business leaders. 

His dual objective for the trip is to "restore institutional normality" – something the Socialist government has repeatedly proclaimed and demanded – and to push forward the process of obtaining official recognition for Catalan in the EU and all European institutions. 

The most significant meeting of the trip will be with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. 

It will be with Metsola where Illa will most strongly discuss the official status of Catalan. 

The process to make the language official in the European Parliament is parallel to that of complete recognition across all EU institutions, but Illa knows that it would be an important step towards achieving the ultimate goal, which lies in the hands of the individual EU member states and requires unanimous support. 

Illa will also use the Committee of the Regions meeting to meet with various regional presidents from around the continent, as well as the president of the organization itself. 

The Catalan president will also participate in several economic and business-related forums, tying in with another objective for his trip: his aim to increase Catalonia's presence in decision-making spaces, which he believes will ultimately benefit Catalonia economically by influencing how and how much EU funding reaches Catalan businesses, organizations, and citizens. 

The official agenda of Illa's trip begins this Wednesday at 10am with a meeting with the President of the Committee of the Regions, Vasco Alves Cordeiro. 

After completing his European commitments on Thursday, Illa will travel directly to Madrid, where he is scheduled to meet with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Friday at Moncloa Palace.