Pompeu Fabra University has always had a policy of using Catalan normally in its administration and teaching and, in view of this, established in its Statutes that Catalan is the University's specific and official language. A law has recently been promulgated which seeks to consolidate the process set in train by the Language Normalisation Law in public administration and education, and move forward in other areas such as the media, the cultural industries and the socioeconomic sphere with a view to achieving generalised knowledge and normal use of Catalan. The Law also has the aim of attaining full equality in regard to language rights and duties, in particular the right and duty to know both of Catalonia's official languages -Catalan and Spanish - and use them. In the realm of university education, the Law contains measures to promote teaching in Catalan and establishes the right of teaching staff and students to express themselves orally and in writing in whichever official language they prefer. Universities, in their double capacity as establishments of higher education and public administration, must ensure compliance with the Law in order to guarantee the university community's language rights.
The Law stipulates that, within its powers, the University must put in place measures safeguarding and fostering the use of Catalan in all spheres of teaching, non-teaching activities and research, including the reading of theses. In consequence, the treatment given to the two languages is asymmetrical with the aim of helping Catalan to advance in these sectors of the University's activity. The University must provide courses and other means for students and staff to improve their understanding and knowledge of Catalan and must establish the mechanisms and the time limits for ensuring that teaching staff - with the exceptions provided for in the Law - have sufficient knowledge of both the official languages.