La normativa de la Generalitat de Catalunya sobre l'etiquetatge i la lliure circulació de mercaderies

Resum

The Catalan Government has issued several rules about labelling with an additional goal: to promote linguistic standardisation, making possible the use of Catalan as a commercial language. The aim of this article is to analyse the compatibility between the Catalan provisions and the Community principles and directives in a particular matter: the language of labels. Nevertheless, it is necessary to analyse, in the first place, the conflict arisen between the Government of the State and the Generalitat in this matter. According to the rules of the Catalan Government, the labelling of goods which are commercialized in Catalonia can be carried out in Catalan, Spanish, or in both languages; the decision depends on the manufacturer. The Spanish Government states that labelling must be carried out «at least in the official Spanish language of the State». Thus, the fact of labelling only in Catalan clashes with the State legislation. According to the EEC legislation, the Catalan rules about the language of labels do not damage free movement of goods, and not even essential aims such as health and consumers or environment protection. As a matter of fact, the terms used in some EEC directives, when referring to the languages that the States can demand on the labelling of the goods commercialized within their territories, does not damage at all linguistic standardisation of Catalan in commercial activities.