Below we reproduce a statement from the International Federation of Catalan Entities of the day 6 July 2010:
The FIEC calls on the Catalan communities abroad so that the day 10 of July express their rejection of the sentence of the Constitutional Court
In the drafting of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia (EAC) from 2006, the first that the FIEC (International Federation of Associations Catalan) he proposed was something very simple and obvious: that the status of Catalan be recognized for all those people who, for reasons of any kind, have decided, permanently or provisionally, develop their activity outside the physical territory of Catalonia. Another fundamental aspect for Outer Catalonia to be fully integrated with the rest of the country was and is its unrestricted electoral participation. We also considered it essential to guarantee the teaching of the Catalan language to Catalans abroad, both for Catalans living abroad and for anyone interested in its study.
The text of the new Statute of Catalonia, submitted to referendum on 18 June 2006, refers to the Catalan communities abroad in the article 7 (the political condition of Catalans) i in the article 13 (the Catalan communities abroad) in terms that the FIEC, which was one of the entities consulted in the appearance procedures prior to the final drafting, he considered, despite not collecting everything that could have been collected, as broadly satisfactory.
Four years later we have to see that the ever-decreasing democratic quality of the institutions of the Spanish State has not allowed what the EAC envisaged for the Catalan communities abroad to be applied from the way we would like. Although the recent ruling of the Constitutional Court does not question the two articles mentioned (7 and 13) referring to the Catalan communities abroad, it does question the text of the article 125.3 regarding the capacity of the Generalitat in the execution of foreign trade powers, el of the article 127.1 regarding the international projection of Catalan culture (powers that can be exercised "as long as they do not disturb state competence") and those of Chapter III on the external action of the Generalitat ("activities with external projection... must be understood as limited to those that do not give rise to immediate and current obligations towards foreign public powers... do not affect the foreign policy of the State and do not generate responsibility of the latter towards... inter or supranational organizations").
These specific decisions may affect Catalonia Outside of Catalonia and the external action of the Government of Catalonia, besides all those of a general character (unconstitutionality of the article 6.1 on the preferential nature of the Catalan language; of the article 8.1 on national symbols; of 33.5 about the language; of 34 about attention in Catalan; of 35.1 about schooling; of 50.5 on the promotion and dissemination of Catalan; of the articles 110 and 112 on powers of the Generalitat; of 122 about inquiries, etc.) which affect the entire Catalan population regardless of their place of residence. All this could, as applicable, limit cultural action, linguistic and commercial of the Generalitat abroad and could have a negative impact on some of the activities of entities that are part of Catalonia Outside Catalonia.
To these potential limitations arising from the judgment of the Constitutional Court, we must add the recent decisions proposing the limitation of the right to vote for Spaniards living abroad adopted by the Constitutional Commission of the Congress of Deputies which will soon be discussed in the plenary session of Congress. A proposed law that does not respect the principle of electoral equality between Catalans contained in the EAC and which are also contained in other Catalan and state regulations.
For all these reasons the Board of Directors of the FIEC (www.fiecweb.cat) calls on all the entities that make up the Catalan communities abroad to express themselves next Saturday 10 July, in the way they think is most convenient, symbolic or practical, and in the form they think is most adapted to the reality of each of the host countries, his rejection of the sentence of the Constitutional Court and to express his support for the demonstration called in Barcelona that day under the slogan "We are a nation: we decide".
The Catalan communities abroad consider ourselves an integral part of the Catalan nation and this is how we want to express it in these difficult moments that need the widest civil unity of all Catalans wherever they reside.
International Federation of Associations Catalan