Plataforma per la Llengua is launching catalaoficial.eu to kick off an intensive campaign for Catalan to be made official during the Spanish presidency of the EU and, in particular, before the Council meetings on 19 September and 23 October, prior to Pedro Sánchez possibly being reinvested as Prime Minister

After getting the official status of Catalan on to the political agenda, and the Spanish government making the first request for Catalan to become an official and working language of the EU, the Catalan NGO is asking citizens to endorse the campaign with their signatures on the new website, while placing all the responsibility for achieving the goal on the Spanish government

Every day, the website "Catalan: the 25th official language of the EU" is publishing a disadvantage suffered by Catalan because it lacks official status. It also includes a section of frequently asked questions that clear up the main doubts about the issue and give information about the actions forming part of the campaign More info about "We are launching a website to press for Catalan to be made official in the EU as we begin an intensive three-month campaign on the issue"

The Catalan NGO is releasing a video summarising studies by two jurists specialising in the European language system to explain that there is no legal barrier that makes official status impossible

The organisation recalls that the Spanish government has never mounted a European court challenge to opinions claiming that any official language must also be included in the Treaties More info about "We launch a video in Catalan and English to demolish any legal excuses for refusing Catalan official status"

In the article, the president of Plataforma per la Llengua explains the launch of the organisation's campaign to promote Catalan 

Escuder stresses that official status is feasible as long as Spain works with a real will to achieve it, as it depends strictly on negotiations between the States  More info about "We launch the campaign for the officialisation of Catalan in the EU with an article in El Punt Avui newspaper headlined: ‘Estem a punt’ (We’re ready)"

The organisation celebrates the letter from Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares asking for the reform of Regulation No. 1 of 1958 but urges caution because of all the unknowns waiting to be resolved More info about "Plataforma per la Llengua urges the Spanish government to make public the memorandum it will present to the EU Council asking for Catalan to be made official"

The Catalan NGO makes a projection on the facade of Barcelona City Hall asking the mayor if he will request official status for Catalan in the EU, as he has said he would several times in his socialist party's election manifesto

The president of Plataforma per la Llengua sent a letter to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez last Wednesday calling on him, as president of the Council of the European Union until the end of the year, to ask that Catalan be added to its list of official languages More info about "We ask Mayor Collboni: “Will you ask the European Union to make Catalan official?”"

The president of Plataforma per la Llengua, Òscar Escuder, is writing to the Spanish Prime Minister now because Spain holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, which happens only once every 13 years or so

"From today until the day of the Spanish General Election, there will be five meetings in the context of the Spanish presidency of the EU. These are five opportunities to raise the official status of Catalan: we ask you to take advantage of them," says Escuder in the letter

The Catalan NGO has secured confirmation from the Council of the European Union that the Spanish government has never requested that Catalan should become an official European Union language More info about "We are sending a letter to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to request the recognition of Catalan as an official European Union language"

In a coordinated initiative between Plataforma per la Llengua and Irish MEP Chris MacManus, the Council of the European Union confirms in writing that it has never been requested by this institution to make Catalan an official language in the EU

The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs had stated at the end of last year that the Zapatero government had requested the official status of Catalan and that this was not possible because it required treaty reform More info about "The Council of the EU refutes the Spanish government and confirms that Spain has never requested Catalan to be official in Europe"

Mireia Plana, vice-president of the organisation, says: "There are nine meetings as President of the Council from next Saturday, when it begins, until 23 July, and that means nine opportunities to request the reform of the Council Regulation that establishes the official languages"

The event "Catalan, 25^th Official EU Language" has set out the consequences for the Catalan language of not being official in the European Union and the importance of making a great effort to press this cause just before Spain takes on the rotating presidency of the Union in July

Antoni Bassas, a journalist with a long career in international politics; Narcís Mir, jurist and the Catalan government's head of monitoring EU regulations, and Halldor Mar, a singer-songwriter known for his TV appearances in the programme Katalonski, have taken part in an event led by journalist Magda Gregori More info about "Plataforma per la Llengua asks the Spanish government to make Catalan official in the EU before the elections"

Maria de Lluc Muñoz, international officer for Plataforma per la Llengua, attends the annual general assembly of the NPLD last Thursday and Friday in Rennes, Brittany

The NPLD is a European network of governments, academic institutions and civil society organisations aiming to achieve language policies that promote diversity More info about "Plataforma per la Llengua, re-elected as a member of the steering committee of the European Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity"

The Belgian courts are investigating the facts reported in the criminal complaint presented by Plataforma per la Llengua based on an expert report which reveals that various members of the NGO have had their mobile phones infected with cyberespionage software

Because some of the spying victims live in Brussels, we have been able to take the case to the Belgian courts, which will have to investigate whether the Spanish State has ignored the legal procedures for tapping telephones in other European States, and demand that it identifies those responsible for the espionage  

Spying on the Catalan NGO is a violation of the individual rights of people who have made a voluntary commitment to defend the Catalan language, and it proves that language continues to be one of the Spanish State's main battlegrounds More info about "Plataforma per la Llengua makes a criminal complaint against the Spanish State for spying on us via the mobile phones of members of our executive board"