MERCATOR :: News File

'Occitan lenga oficiala' (Occitan, official language), 'Libertat per la lenga, per el pais!' (Freedom for the language and the country) and 'L'occitan a l'escola' (Occitan in schools) have been some of the most common slogans in the rally in favour of Occitan, which was attended by thousands of people -20,000, 14,000 and 25,000 according to the organizers, the police and several media- in Carcassone.

The demonstration focused on 4 aspects: media -the creation of public radio and TV in Occitan and funding of private initiatives-, culture -support for cultural products in Occitan-, education -language immersion or bilingualism on equal terms-, and public life -presence of the language in public spaces, place names and social life.

Demonstrators reminded that the Constitution was amended in July 2008 to include a reference to the so-called "regional languages" in France -Article 75.1 now establishes that "regional languages are part of France's heritage-, and that the Government has not taken any steps to protect them yet.

Nationalia

Rally to protect Galician language records top attendance

Thousands of people demonstrated in Galicia last Sunday to call for the "right to live in Galician" and to ask the executive to "set arrogance and anti-Galician policies aside". The march was organized by Queremos Galego, a platform made up of 500 organisations from across the country and promoted by Mesa pola Normalización Lingüística (Board for Linguistic Normalisation). The march was attended by 100,000 people -50,000 according to Santiago's local police-, which makes it one of the most crowded demonstrations in Galicia's recent history.

People from a wide range of political leanings were present. The two parties in opposition -PSG-PSOE (Spanish labour) and BNG (leftist pro-sovereignty Galician nationalists)- demonstrated together with other minority parties such as Esquerda Galega (Galician Left) and Terra Galega (center-right Galician nationalists). They all expressed their opposition to the language policies implemented by the new PP (Partido Popular, Spanish conservatives) government led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo. Demonstrators demanded the government to "rejoin consensus" as regards Galician language affairs and censured the areas where the language is still very weak, namely education and public administration.Nationalia

Catalan and Aragonese Language bill goes ahead in the Parliament of Aragón

The Parliament of Aragón has recently accepted to debate on a proposed Language bill that could officially recognise Catalan and Aragonese for the first time ever in that region. The bill, proposed by the Socialist Party (PSOE), gives some limited recognition to Catalan and Aragonese as "historic languages" of Aragón, but it does not make them official.

The Spanish conservatives (PP) and the Aragonese regionalists (PAR) reject the bill. The former say that there are more important questions to think about, while the latter strongly oppose the name "Catalan" for the language spoken in Eastern Aragón -or Franja de Ponent, as it is called in Catalonia.

On the other side, the Aragonese nationalists (CHA) are in favour of the bill. What's more, they have always asked the regional government to make Catalan and Aragonese fully official, besides Spanish.

The Russian Supreme Court compels Tatarstan to increase the visibility of the Russian Language

The Russian Supreme Court has recently warned off the Tatar parliament over language legislation. Moscow argued there was a contradiction between the act passed by Tatarstan and that of the Federation, and therefore has forced Tatarstan to change it. From now on, Russian will be, alongside Tatar, the language of official documentation in Tatarstan's state bodies, public announcements, posters, public advertisements and ballot papers.

The ruling has stirred protests among Tatar language activists, who have accused the Kremlin for "pursuing a policy directed at assimilating the country's many ethnic minorities".Nationalia

HRW asks Morocco to lift restrictions on Amazigh names

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has asked Moroccan authorities to stop preventing parents from registering the names of their offspring in Amazigh. According to HRW, "numerous Moroccans around the kingdom and abroad who chose Amazigh first names for their newborns have been refused when they applied at local civil registrars". The rights group argues that banning Amazigh names goes against Moroccan laws, which ask parent to choose names with a "Moroccan character". Obviously, Amazigh names are of pure "Moroccan character", given that the Amazigh language has been spoken continuously in Northern Africa since ancient times. Furthermore, HRW considers that restrictions on Amazigh names is in contradiction with the "steps that Morocco has taken to recognize Amazigh cultural rights" in the last years. One example was the creation of the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture in 2001.

Related links...
Morocco: Lift Restrictions on Amazigh (Berber) Names

Hungarians from Slovakia rally against new language law

The controversial State Language Act has finally come into force, September 1st, despite the protests of the Hungarian community and the worsening of relations between Bratislava and Budapest. Thousands of Hungarians from Slovakia gathered at the football stadium of Dunaszerdahely, a southwestern town with Hungarian majority, while several members of the European parliament demonstrated at the Slovakian embassy in Brussels.

The law regulates the use and the public presence of the Slovak language in institutions and public domains. The most contentious aspect refers to the obligation of using Slovak in hospitals, schools and State offices, and the €5,000 fine for those civil servants breaking the law.

The Hungarian community, who makes up 10% of Slovakia's population, regards the law as a bid to eradicate its culture. The demonstration was organized by the largest Hungarian party in the country, the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK), and a number of non-governmental organisations.

Nationalia

Related links...
Nationalia: Hungarians from Slovakia rally against new language law
EBLUL: Anger as Slovak language law comes into force

The Assembly of Corsica rejects a plan to make Corsican an official language of the island

Members of the Assembly of Corsica have rejected a proposal by Corsica Nazione Indipendente (CNI) to make Corsican an official language of the island, alongside French. 28 out of 51 MPs voted against the plan, which would have turned Corsica into the first territory of the French Republic with two official languages. Some MPs, like Madeleine Mozziconacci (Corsica in the Republic party), have argued that Corsican cannot be made official because the number of speakers of that language is not increasing. Antoine Giorgi, MP for the UMP party, has stated that making Corsican official could be understood as a rejection of the French language. CNI representatives consider unfair that the Corsican language is not as protected as French, especially bearing in mind that Corsican is the original language of the island.

Hungarians protest a controversial amendment to the Slovak State Language Act

Members of the Hungarian-speaking community in Slovakia consider that a new amendment to the Slovak State Language Act further discriminate them and their culture. The amendment was passed by the National Council of the Slovak Republic on June 30th. The amendment will impose fines over a bad use of the Slovak language from September and will enhance the position of that language by requiring it in all non-private communications.

The Party of the Hungarian Coalition (largest Magyar party in Slovakia) has reacted against the new amendment, which was approved by 76 out of 150 Slovak MPs. The party considers that the change will make it difficult for national minorities to protect their own languages. According to the amendment, minority languages will continue to have their place in health and social services, but in public events, the use of Slovak will be mandatory -although using also another language will be allowed.

Fines for breaking these rules will amount up to 5.000 euros.

According to the 2001 census, 10,7% of the Slovak population uses Hungarian as mother tongue. Almost 2% use Roma, followed by Ruthenian (1%) and Czech (0,9%).

Swedish officially ''main language'' of Sweden, five minority languages and one sign language recognized

Swedish has become for the first time officially recognized as the "main language" of Sweden, since a new law has been passed by the Swedish Parliament. The law also recognizes five minority languages -Meänkieli, Finnish, Sami, Yiddish and Romani- and one sign language -Swedish Sign Language.

The law was adopted in May and has entered into force in July 1st. It states that Swedish is the "common language" of Swedish society. Every resident in Sweden should have access to it, the text says. "In the international context", Swedish is "Sweden's official language", according to the new law. The newly adopted act recognizes Meänkieli, Finnish, Sami, Yiddish and Romani as "the national minority languages" of Sweden, and requires the State to "protect and promote" them. Those languages had been already recognized by Sweden in the frame of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

Related links...
Full text of the law, in Swedish
The Local: Swedish becomes official 'main language'

New Education Act consolidates Catalan as main teaching language in schools

The Catalan Parliament has approved a new Education Law that consolidates the use of Catalan as the main teaching language in Catalonia's education system, both in primary and secondary education. The three main parties in Parliament (Convergence and Union, the Socialist Party and Republican Left of Catalonia), agreed to pass the act, which establishes that all educative activities and classroom lessons must be conducted in Catalan. Books used in class must be also written in that language. Only Spanish Language and its Literature and Foreign Language subjects shall not be conducted in Catalan.

The law further strengthens the current educative system, which was first implemented in Catalonia in the 1980's. The text specifically bans the segregation of pupils in different classrooms according to their "usual language". It means that not only Catalan-speaking pupils, but also those who have Spanish or other languages as mother tongues, will receive tuition in Catalan.

According to the law, in the Pyrenees' Aran Valley, where a variety of Occitan (Aranese) is used, Aranese will be the main teaching language in schools. Catalan, Spanish and a foreign language must be also taught as subjects.

Related links...
Full text of the law, in Catalan

Kalaallisut becomes the only official language in Greenland

Greenland is officially a self-governed territory with the right to self-determination from June 21st. After 300 years under Danish rule and a limited autonomy since 1979, a new statute came into force on the Greenlandic National Day, which devolves most of powers to the Artic island, recognizes to Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) the status of the island's only official language and establishes the right of the Greenlandic people to freely attain full independence.

Prior to this new statute, Kalaallisut -spoken by some 50,000 Greenlanders- shared the position of Greenland's official language with Danish. Kalaallisut belongs to the Inuit group of the Eskimo-Aleut languages, spoken troughout the polar regions of North America. It is closely related to Inuktitut (one of the official languages in Canada's Nunavut territory).

Nationalia

Related links...
New Act on Greenland Self-government

New master's degree includes study of Luxembourgish language

The University of Luxembourg has announced that from September onwards, it will be offering a new master's degree in Luxembourgish language and literature. According to the University, it will be the first time Luxembourgish will be studied in a university course.

During the course, linguistic structures of Luxembourgish will be analysed, as will be its "cohabitation with other languages in the [Luxembourgian] multilingual context", says the University.

The languages of the classes will be Luxembourgish (50%) and French and German (50%).

Luxembourgish is one of the three officially recognised languages in Luxembourg, and the only one to have been declared "national". The majority of the population in the Grand Duchy is able to speak it.

Related links...
University of Luxembourg: new course on Luxembourgish language and literature

Public Scottish enterprise adopts its first plan to promote the use of Gaelic

Highlands and Islands' Enterprise (HIE), the Scottish Government’s economic and community development agency for that region, has recently adopted its first Gaelic Plan, the firm has announced on its website. The plan covers the period from 2009 to 2012 and tries to "ensure that the agency exercises its functions in a manner consistent with the spirit of the [Gaelic Language] Act" of 2005.

According to HIE, the plan will be "ambitious but pragmatic". It intends to "normalise Gaelic as an element of daily working life in HIE offices". The agency commits itself to "give priority to the delivery of services in Gaelic and developing capacity in Gaelic skills towards enabling staff to deliver these services on a basis of equity with English".

HIE was established to foster the economic growth of the Scottish Highlands and islands.

Related links...
Highlands and Islands' Enterprise Gaelic Plan
STV: New Gaelic strategy for the Highlands and Islands

Kosovo discriminating languages of smaller minorities - OSCE and rights group

Minority Rights Group (MRG) has accused Kosovo, independent since February 2008, of lack of commitment in protecting minority communities within its borders through a severe report which has been issued today.

According to the international organisation, the most affected groups are the Bosniaks, Askali, Croats, Egyptians, Gorani, Roma, Serbs and Turks. The report, entitled Filling the Vacuum: Ensuring Protection and Legal Remedies for Minorities in Kosovo, regards restriction of movements, political, social and economic exclusion, lack of access to information and to tertiary education in their own language as the main problems suffered by minority communities. As reported by MRG, "this, combined with tough economic conditions, means that some members of minority communities, including Bosniaks and Turks, are starting to leave the new Kosovo altogether".

Some weeks earlier, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) had released a report that slammed the Kosovar policy in regards to minority education. According to OSCE, "students belonging to smaller communities continue to enjoy lower opportunities to maintain, develop and foster knowledge of their culture and identity. In this respect, subjects on the language, history, art and music of the Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian, Gorani, Kosovo Croat, and Kosovo Montenegrin communities are not available", although Kosovar laws entitle "students belonging to these communities to receive pre-school, primary, and secondary public education in their mother tongue".

Nationalia and MónDivers

Italian Constitutional Court: some articles of the Friulian language Law are ''illegitimate''

The Italian Constitutional Court declared that six articles contained in the regional law n. 29 of 17th December 2007 on the protection, enhancement and promotion of the Friulian language are "constitutionally illegitimate". The judges of the Court have largely accepted the issues raised by the Cabinet of Ministers in 2008. The Cabinet considered that the law "exceeds, in many respects, the legislative power devolved to the Region Friuli-Venezia Giulia by the 3rd Article of its Special Statute", which provides for the protection of linguistic minorities in the region.

One of the "illegitimate" articles allowed the municipalities to adopt official names in Friulian only (without an Italian version). Another one provided for the teaching of Friulian for at least one hour per week to every pupil, except for those whose parents explicitly asked not to be taught that language.

Generally speaking, the ruling has invalidated most of the articles that provided further protection for the Friulian language.

Related links...
Lenghe.net: La Cort e boce la Leç sul furlan
Diritto Oggi: Consulta: bocciata legge regionale su uso linua friulana

Crimean Tatars call for linguistic rights to be respected in the 65th anniversary of their deportation

Massive deportation of Tatars on 18th May 1944 has been commemorated once again in Crimea. The date marks the date in wich Joseph Stalin ordered the forced displacement of the whole Tatar population of Crimea -nearly 200,000- to Central Asia. It is estimated that half of the total deportees lost their life along the journey.

According to RFE/RL, around 15,000 people took to the streets of Simferopol (Crimea) to commemorate the catastrophe and demand the Ukranian government to protect their linguistic and political rights. Tatars returning to their ancestral homes since the late 1980's have become a minority due to russification and ukrainization of their territory. That is why demonstrators requested Kiev to recognise official status to the Tatar language within the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and include it within the Republic's education schemes. On a political level, Crimean Tatars call for a national and territorial Tatar self-government outgoing the Autonomous Republic's current powers.

Tatar diaspora World Congress

Not all Crimean Tatars returned to their homeland, as many of them exiled to European and American countries. With the aim of discussing strategies and future goals, the Crimean Tatar World Congress has been held in Bakhchisaray (Crimea) and other Crimean towns.

Nationalia

Related links...
RFE/RL: Crimean Tatars demand languages rights on deportation anniversary

Linguist warns that some languages in Nigeria face extinction threat

Linguist Ohiomamhe Elugbe from the University of Ibadan has warned that some languages in Nigeria may face extinction since parents do not pass the languages to their children. Elugbe has put his mother tongue, ghotuo, as an example of this. According to him, Ghotuo children are being taught through the medium of English and their parents do not teach them their language. "The small size of Ghotuo speakers is shrinking further", says Elugbe.

Elugbe considers that, unlike many small languages, Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo are not at risk. He recalls that those languages are spoken by millions of Nigerians, and are even finding their way into computers, but that is not the case for the majority of the 400-500 languages spoken in Nigeria.

Daily Trust

Petition of online signatures to seek official status for Tatar language in Russia

Several organizations representing the Tatar people, the second largest community after majority Russians, have launched a campaign to seek from Moscow greater recognition for their language and respect for the sovereignty of the federated Republic of Tatarstan. According to RFE/RL, an organization called Uzebez (Ourselves) and the Youth Tatar Forum have launched an online petition to have the Duma, the Russian federal parliament, declare Tatar as the second official language in the Federation. The organizations claim that theirs is the second most spoken language in Russia, and take the case of the recognition of Swedish language in Finland as an example.

Paul Goble, a longtime specialist on ethnic and religious questions in Eurasia, indicates in his blog that the campaign is not only aimed at getting language recognition from the State, but also reversing "recent cutbacks in Tatar language use outside of the Republic of Tatarstan" -since the language is only recognized within the republic. Goble says that the online petition will both raise national awareness among Tatars all across Russia and challenge Moscow's policies on education.

According to RFE/RL, another organization, the Azatliq Tatar Youth Union, has criticized the pressure from Moscow on the sovereignty of the Republic of Tatarstan, the only territory where the Tatar community is in the majority.

Nationalia

Efforts to revive a dead Aboriginal language in Australia

Chifley College in Sydney is leading a project aimed to revive a lost Aboriginal language in New South Wales state (southeastern Australia). The college is teaching Dharug language both to indigenous and non-indigenous people, hoping that it will be brought again to life. It seems that inicial efforts are succeeding, as some students are already beginning to use some Dharug words and sentences in their everyday life.

Dharug was the main spoken language in Sydney region before the British colonists arrived there in late 18th century. The language was probably lost one century later. It is thanks to written records that linguists can revive it today. The revitalisation process for Aboriginal languages requires some "language engineering", that is, borrowing words (or creating new ones) for modern concepts.

BBC and Voice of America

In Canada's Nunavut, Inuit school system is still grounded

Canada's autonomous territory of Nunavut, inhabited mainly by autochthonous Inuits, celebrated its 10th anniversary on April 1st. Despite promises made by Canadian politicians, the local language (Inuktitut) is still missing from Nunavut school system, English having a central place instead. As former policy advisor Derek Rasmussen writes, 75 per cent of Nunavut's population speaks Inuktitut as first language, but out of 25 schools in the territory, 24 operate in English and one in French.

Why? "Ottawa refuses to ante up and pay for the Inuit language school system that would make this possible", says Rasmussen. "Ten years on, Inuit students still do not have the same rights as their Francophone schoolmates". One clear example: "The Nunavut government spends $3400 per year for language education for each francophone and only $48.50 on Inuktitut education for each Inuk."

The former advisor considers that "ten years ago, Parliament passed the Nunavut Act in order to welcome Inuit into Canada, but we left their language outside. It is now long overdue for Canadian lawmakers to fix this mistake and give Inuit their voices back". An important task, taking into account that "Inuktitut has been spoken by Inuit for 5000 years and should rightly be considered as a founding language of our nation".

Rabble.ca

The European Parliament withdraws criticism to language immersion

A new report approved yesterday by the European Parliament encourages member States to "safeguard multilingualism" in countries or regions in which two or more official languages coexist. The text was an initiative promoted by Catalan members of the European Parliament -Maria Badia (Catalan Socialist Party), Ignasi Guardans (CiU) and Raül Romeva (ICV)- and the Basque MEP Mikel Irujo (EA). The report was presented as a response to the voting questioning language immersion in Catalonia and the Basque Country, proposed by the European Popular Party (EPP) a few weks ago. The voting also called for the right of choosing Spanish as a schooling language.

The new proposal obtained 335 votes in favour, while 279 were against it. The report eliminates some clauses put forward by EPP MEP Luis Herrero-Tejedor, such as the paragraph stating that "no student will be deprived of education in the official language of the State". Members of the Spanish Popular Party, as Herrero-Tejedor, had been the promoters of the former resolution. According to Eurolang, some members of the European Popular Party have voted in favour of the new report. Such is the case of the Hungarian representatives.

EBLUL, an organization working for the promotion of language diversity and minoritised languages in Europe, has expressed satisfaction over the decision and has emphasized the effectiveness of its lobbying campaign, as it had presented several proposals to the European Parliament's commission on multilingualism.

Nationalia

A report presented to the European Parliament criticizes the lack of progress made with the ECRML

A study entitled "Multilingualism: between policy objectives and implementation" has been presented to the European Parliament. The report criticizes the lack of progress made by the member states as regards the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, and recommends the Union to give its support to EBLUL, the European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages.

The study analysed the policies carried out by European agencies and member states within the context of the Commission Communication "Promoting Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity: An Action Plan 2004-2006", a programme aiming at promoting language learning and cultural diversity. The report criticizes the action plan "for being too complex and not tailored to Member States realities". As a consequence, within the period 2004-2006 only 30% of its provisions have been implemented.

Almost at the same time, a new meeting -the last of the term- of the Intergroup on minorities has been held this week in the European Parliament. Within the framework of the European Dialogue Forum of Traditional National Minorities, Constitutional Regions and Regional Languages, language policies of different member states were dealt with. Bernat Joan, secretary of language policy of the Catalan Government, spoke about the official status of Occitan, a language that, although only spoken in the north of Catalonia, enjoys official status within all the Catalan territory, Bernat Joan said that the experience has awakened interest among other similar cases in Europe, such as in Trentino -where Ladin is spoken- or Pomerania with the Kashubi language.

Nationalia

Less than 200,000 Breton speakers

Fañch Broudic, former journalist and author of several works on socio-linguistics, has published the results of the decadal survey on the practice of the Breton language. Between 1997 and 2007, the number of Breton speakers fell from 246,000 to 172,000 people. Some 35,000 people still speak Breton on a daily basis. But they are half as many as ten years ago. Tipically, Breton speakers are over 60 years old, from a rural environment in Lower Brittany. But there is some room for hope: the percentage of young people aged 15-19 speaking Breton has risen from 1 to 4% in ten years.

Ouest-France

Related links...
Nationalia: Breton language has lost 74,000 speakers in the last 10 years

Albania seeks jail for Greek mayor from Himara because he ordered the removal of monolingual signs

The ethnic Greek mayor of Himara, a coastal city in southern Albania, faces one year of prison and a fine of 38,000 euros for having caused a major disruption of traffic in this locality in December 2007 He had ordered the removal of road signs because they were only in Albanian, as he considered they should be also in Greek. Himara is located in the region that concentrates most of the Greek minority in Albania. In 2008, an Albanian court decided to prosecute Bollano, arguing that the mayor's decision cost taxpayers 170,000 euros. Before the withdrawal of the monolingual signs, Bollano had asked for more political and cultural rights for the Greek minority in southern Albania.

MónDivers

Related links...
Balkan Insight: Albania Seeks Jail for Ethnic Greek Mayor

Poland ratifies European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

Poland has definitely given green light to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML), the European treaty established to protect and promote minoritised languages, after the country ratified it last February 12. Warsaw, which had already recognized the 15 languages, has made yet another step forward adding itself to the list of 23 CoE’s member states which are party to the Charter. According to the official list, the languages spoken in the Republic of Poland are the following (classification supplied by the government given in brackets): Kashub (as a regional language), Czech, Hebrew, Yiddish, Belarusian, Lithuanian, German, Armenian, Russian, Slovak and Ukrainian (as national minority languages), Karaim, Lemko, Romani and Tatar (as ethnic minority languages). The document establishes Hebrew, Yiddish, Karaim, Armenian and Romanian as non-territorial languages. Poland has placed all of the above languages at the Part III level of the Charter, which “affords the highest level of protection” to languages. The Charter will enter into force next June 1. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) was approved in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe, an international organization which currently includes 47 European states. 24 state members have signed and ratified it, mostly from Western Europe.

Nationalia

Turkey shows again contradictions over language rights

Once again Kurds have been victims of the arbitrariness with which Turkey deals with language diversity. Ahmet Turk, a Kurd deputy in the Assembly of Turkey belonging to the Democratic Society Party (DTP), was addressing the Kurdish MPs in Turkish but switched to Kurdish as soon as he referred to the International Mother Language Day observed by UNESCO on February 21: "In order to show that there is nothing to fear in using other languages and to emphasise brotherhood of languages during the International Day of Mother Tongues, let me continue my speech in Kurdish," he said. Immediately after he went off air as state television channel cut the live broadcast. Ahmed Turk, though, went on as Kurdish deputies applauded his colleague, and added: "Kurds have long been oppressed because they did not know any other language. I promised myself that I would speak in my mother tongue at an official meeting one day." Koksal Toptan, president of the Turkish Lower House, strongly criticised the Kurdish politician but said he would not be fined. Some Turkish MPs believe Turk's attitude is a "provocation". Kurds reminded that Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke a few words of Kurdish in a campaign rally just on Saturday without triggering controversy.

Nationalia

Related links...
Hurriyet: DTP speaks Kurdish in parliament, speaker says constitutional breach

UNESCO’s online atlas of endangered languages launched

On the occasion of the International Mother Language Day (February 21), UNESCO has launched the interactive version of the Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. The study includes geographic location and relevant data about the condition of about 2,500 languages that run the risk of dying if nothing is done to reverse language shift.

The Atlas enables searches according to several criteria, and ranks the endangered languages that are listed according to five different levels of vitality: unsafe, definitely endangered, severely endangered, critically endangered and extinct.

Nationalia and Newsletter Mercator

Related links...
UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

A new information and networking site about Gaelic language launched

The Gaelic development agency Bòrd na Gàidhlig has launched a new information and networking site, Mygaelic.com. This site aims to be a reference for people who want to learn Gaelic or to know about Celtic culture and events in Scotland.

The website is also aimed at tourists visiting Scotland, to make them available minimal data on the traditional language of the country.

The site was launched by the then minister of Culture, Linda Fabiani, who said that "Gaelic is an essential element of Scotland’s heritage and current cultural life. It is vital for the future of Gaelic that we continue to develop the wide range of opportunities that now exist for the use and learning of the language".

Related links...
European Ombudsman

THE TEACHING OF MINORITY LANGUAGES IN NORWAY CONSIDERED INSUFFICIENT

November 2006 – The Council of Europe has issued the second opinion of the Advisory Committee on the application of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities by Norway. In general terms, the Committee acknowledges that special projects enjoying government support have been launched in recent years to support and give new impetus to the Kven language. The Kven language is closely related to the three other official modern-day Finnic languages spoken in Northern Scandinavia: the Meänkieli language (spoken in today's Northern Sweden), the Karelian language (spoken in today's North-western Russia) and the Finnish language. Once considered a dialect of the Finnish language, Kven received a legal minority language status in 2005 within the framework of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The Sami in Norway, though, are not covered by the Framework Convention because they are recognised as indigenous people, so they benefit from a specific protection regime.

The opinion points out that “positive legislative and practical measures have been taken with regard to the use of minority languages for personal names and topographical indications”. However, other fields suffer from lack of advancements: the Advisory Committee has not been informed of any initiative taken in order to introduce “legal guarantees for the use of minority languages in contacts with the administrative authorities, in particular for the Kvens, or to examine existing needs in this regard”. As regards the press, despite the increase in government funding, the Kvens consider that “the resources available to them for their written publications do not enable them to meet the needs of the Kven and Finnish-language population satisfactorily”. In addition, they think that increased funding on a more stable basis is essential in order to achieve the current objective of the Kven community, which is to convert the journal into a weekly publication.

According to the opinion, teaching of the mother tongue still poses problems for the Kvens. The Advisory Committee notes that “there are no plans at this stage for teaching in the Kven language”. It also seems that, apart from the Kven, "the needs of other groups as regards minority language teaching have not been adequately considered".

Related links...
Second opinion
Related article from the Government and the Ministries
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (Norway)

PRESENTED IN SARDINIA THE PROJECT NURÀMINIS BILÌNGUA

November 2006 – The Council of Nuràminis celebrated on October the 30th a public assembly to present the project Nuraminis Bilingue–Nuràminis Bilìngua. The project, funded by means of the economic provisions included in the Act 482/1999 on the protection of historical linguistic minorities, aims at putting into practice the highest possible degree of bilingualism Italian-Sardinian in the town. This bilingualism is intended to affect all social and public life, from the administrative and economic spheres to the field of culture, sports and education. Nuràminis belongs to the province of Cagliari and has a population of nearly 3,000 people. It is expected that the project will be tested in other towns of Sardinia.

There is already an operative office which offers linguistic advice to the local administration and the rest of citizens, translates all kind of documents and co-ordinates all the activities. A free course of Sardinian language for the town council staff –but open to general public too– is also being organized.

Related links...
Act 482/1999
Regional Act nº 26 of 1997: Promotion and valuing of the culture and language of Sardinia (in Italian)
Euromosaic: Sardinian in Italy

LANGUAGE ACT FOR NORTHERN IRELAND PLANNED

October 2006 - The British government will introduce an Irish Language Act in Northern Ireland to promote the development of the Irish language, as part of the agreement which emerged from the peace talks in Saint Andrews, Scotland, on the 13th of October. Furthermore it proposes a possible bill of rights, which may include language rights. The St Andrews Agreement states that “the Government will introduce an Irish Language Act reflecting on the experience of Wales and Ireland and work with the incoming Executive to enhance and protect the development of the Irish language”. It also mentions that “The Government firmly believes in the need to enhance and develop the Ulster Scots language, heritage and culture and will support the incoming Executive in taking this forward”.

01Tzhe Irish Language Act was one of Sinn Féin’s demands going into the talks but the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, is worried about the Irish Language Act being used as a vehicle to erode Britishness in the region. Moreover, the DUP has said that they will take all necessary steps to ensure that money is not ‘wasted’ on Irish language schemes. In contrast with this statements the SDLP, which lost ground on the last round of Stormont elections in 2003, has said that “unionist politicians need to stop using the Irish language as a political football in blatant point scoring exercises”.

The promises of new legislation can be considered as an important achievement for the Irish Language umbrella organisation POBAL, which has been long campaigning for new legislation. In a document published earlier in 2006 with the title “The Irish Language Act NI” they proposed a strong, rights based Irish language Act that would clarify and strengthen the rights of Irish speakers throughout the north to a range of Irish language services in areas such as education, the courts and employment. Janet Muller, Chief Executive POBAL, said that currently, “there are no domestic legal protections for the Irish language. The north of Ireland is the only place in British isles where the primary indigenous language is in this position”. Thus, the document has certainly revolutionised the debate around the needs of the Irish speaking community.

YOUNG ETHNIC ROMAS ASK FOR STATE UNIVERSITY IN MOTHER TONGUE (Divers news bulletin)

October 2006 - Various ethnic Roma youngsters' lit candles Tuesday, October 17, in Matei Corvin piazza, the position of the candles accounting for the word "Bolyai-Egyetemet (Bolyai University)". They ask for the setting up of a state university in ethnic Hungarian language and for the financing from Romania's state budget of ethnic Hungarian private universities Sapientia and Partium. The Hungarian minority of Romania is the largest ethnic minority in Romania, consisting of 1,431,807 people and making up 6.6% of the total population, according to the 2002 census.

Bolyai University is the largest state-funded tertiary education institution in Transylvania. More than 30% of courses are held in the Hungarian language. There is currently a proposal by local Hungarians, supported by the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania, to separate the Hungarian-language department from the institution, and form a new, Hungarian-only Bolyai University. The former Bolyai University was disbanded in 1956 by Romanian Communist authorities and united with the Romanian Babeº University to form the multilingual Babeº-Bolyai University that continues to exist today. According to Romania's minority rights law, Hungarians have the right to education in their native language, including as a medium of instruction, in localities where they make up more than 20% of the population. However, the ratio of Hungarians graduating from higher education is lower than the national average.

Cristina Sandor, president with the Hungarian Youngsters' Council in Romania, said that "Ethnic Hungarians in Romania are the only numerous ethnic group in Europe that has not established an academic education. Babes-Bolyai university is not subject to multiculturalism because the education in ethnic Hungarian tongue has no financial autonomy and cannot be efficiently organized. We pay the taxes of Romania and we think we are entitled to a state university in ethnic Hungarian”.

LANGUAGE REFORM IN TURKEY COMPLETELY INSUFFICIENT, SAYS IHF

October 2006 – Amidst the current negotiations for the possible future accession of Turkey to the European Union, the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights has published a 26-page briefing paper entitled Turkey: A Minority Policy of Systematic Negation. IHF is an international, nongovernmental organization constituted by national Helsinki Committees and Cooperating Organizations in the participating States of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The briefing paper discusses the legal basis for Turkey’s restrictive minority polices, its interpretation by authorities, and an abundant misuse of laws against minority members and individuals who seek to promote minority rights. According to the report, “Turkey continues to practice a policy of “Turkification””. This policy amounts to strategies that include denying formal recognition of minority groups, hindering their access to the media, limiting their political participation and violating their freedom of expression, especially in their own language.

With reference to the Kurdish language, the report points out that “recent reforms that have lifted some language restrictions in broadcasting and education of minority languages have been clearly insufficient”, and that “it is by law prohibited to use any other language but Turkish in political activities”.

As regards other languages such as Greek or Armenian, the report states that “in practice the proper functioning of minority schools is hindered in several ways”, even though non-Muslim religious minorities have the right to give language education in their own language.

Related links...
Report
Mercator Working Paper: Recent changes in Turkey's Language Legislation
Language legislation in Turkey

EXISTENCE OF MACEDONIAN LANGUAGE DENIED BY GREEK AUTHORITIES

October 2006 – Greek state officials have declared there is no such thing as a Macedonian language in Greece nor a Macedonian alphabet, and that the Muslim Turkish minority in western Thrace is the only minority within the State. These are some of the excerpts Catalan MEP Bernat Joan of the European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament and party co-director Gënther Dauwen gathered from their meeting with national, regional and local representatives of Greece.

The two MP visited Greece, Macedonia and Bulgaria to examine the situation of linguistic rights of Macedonian speakers who live outside the Republic of Macedonia. Bernat Joan has declared that “it is unacceptable and counter productive to deny the existence of the Macedonian people and the language which they speak. We challenge the Greek authorities in Athens to organise a census in which all citizens can declare openly the language and culture to which they relate”. Not surprisingly, Bulgaria –next member state– and Greece have not signed neither the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages nor the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

IMMIGRATION, LANGUAGE RIGHTS AND SOCIAL COHESION TACKLED IN CATALONIA

October 2006 – The Mercator network hold its 5th International Symposium on Minority Languages last week in Barcelona under the title “Language Rights as a Social Inclusion Factor”. More than one hundred participants attended the 3-day long symposium organized by CIEMEN-Mercator Legislation with the support of the European Commission and Linguamón-House of Languages.

The event tackled the fundamental question of how to respect and deal with the issue of new immigrants and their languages within a developing European context. Theoretical, practical and policy issues were debated, and the Catalan innovations in terms of promoting social inclusion through the Catalan language became a central inspiration of the discussions. The experience of regional “minority” languages was used as an invaluable set of experiences to deal with the linguistic diversity, and many society’s key areas such as education, the health system, employment and the economy revealed that with a determined political effort and professional training it is possible to improve the quality of life of new migrants in real, practical ways, and in time to welcome such migrants as a permanent enrichment of societies.

Mercator-Legislation is currently preparing a publication with the papers and conclusions of the symposium, which will be made public early next year.

Related links...
Mercator: Programme and sessions of the 5th Symposium
Related news:AVUI (in Catalan)
Linguamón-House of Languages

THE DUTY TO KNOW BASQUE IN COURTS DECLARED UNCONSTITUTIONAL

October 2006 – The Spanish Constitutional Court has made public a sentence that declares null and void some parts of a decree approved by the Basque government to extend the use of the Basque language in courts. The decree 117/2001 regulated the levels of language competence required for assignment of official posts in Basque courts.

According to the sentence, the Basque autonomous government has powers over some staff recruitment such as court officers, judicial administrative assistants, bailiff’s clerks and forensic surgeons and consequently keeps legislative jurisdiction over language requirements. However, the Constitutional court has declared that the duty to know Basque –Basque Country’s co-official language– cannot be applied to judges, public prosecutors and secretaries because it violates State powers.

In this regard, the report and the recommendations of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts issued in 2005 on the application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages by Spain, observe that “the Spanish state has not taken the necessary legal and practical measures needed to ensure that judicial and state administration staff have a working knowledge of the co-official languages”. They also point out that “a general problem affecting all languages covered under Part III is related to the field of justice”. Behatokia, the Basque Observatory of Linguistic Rights, has said that the sentence “not only violates the linguistic rights of Basque speakers, but the right to self-defence and to effective legal protection”.

Related links...
Sentence (in Spanish)
Report on the application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages by Spain
Behatokia

HIGH LEVEL GROUP ON MULTILINGUALISM SET UP BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

September 2006 - Ján Figel, European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism, has confirmed the setting up of a high level group in order to advise him on multilingualism issues. More specifically, the group will propose initiatives and give fresh impetus and ideas for a comprehensive approach to multilingualism in the European Union. The group has been set up in response to the communication “A new framework strategy for multilingualism”, issued in 2005 by the European Commission

The committee consists of 11 independent experts from across Europe who do not represent the interests of one particular country or language. The voice of minority languages, though, seems ensured by several members belonging to communities with lesser used languages such as Rita Franceschini, from Bozan, Ineta Savickienė, from Lithuania, Jaana Sormunen, from Finland and particularly by Josep Palomero, from the Catalan-speaking community in Valencia. Under the chairmanship of Commissioner Figel, the group will hold its first meeting on October 3 and will meet 5 more times before the European Day of Languages (September 26 2007), date in which its recommendations will be made public.

Related links...
A new framework strategy for multilingualism
European Comission on Multilingualism
European Day of Languages

MERCATOR-LEGISLATION CELEBRATES THE EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES IN SARDINIA

September 2006 – Mercator-Legislation participated on September 26 in one of the initiatives undertaken to celebrate the European Day of Languages. Aureli Argemí, director of the Mercator-Legislation project, was invited to Sardinia by the Nùgoro University Partnership to give a talk on cultural and linguistic diversity in Europe. Authorities from Sardinia opened the session and introduced the rest of speakers, who addressed the audience on behalf of CIEMEN (Maria Areny), Radio Onde Furlane (Carli Pup) and the Sardinian Language Board (Diegu Corraine).

The European Day of Languages was established by the Council following the success of the European Year of Languages in 2001, and aims at raising awareness on the importance of language learning and diversifying the range of languages learnt in order to increase plurilingualism and intercultural understanding in the European Union. It is also intended to promote the rich linguistic diversity of Europe.

Related links...
Website of the European Day of Languages
EDL events
Legislation on Sardinian language

THE PROTECTION OF VENETIAN TO BE DISCUSSED IN PLENARY SESSION FROM 12 OCTOBER ONWARDS

September 2006 – The Regional Assembly of Veneto, with headquarters in Venice, will start the discussion of a bill on the protection, revalorisation and promotion of the Venetian language on 12 October. Mercator-Legislation had published the bill in Bulletin 65 and now informs on the assembly proceedings, which aims at granting Venetian a greater recognition.

Italy’s Minorities Act 482/99 only recognizes 12 linguistic minorities (French, Occitan, Franco-provençal, Catalan, Albanian, German, Friulian, Ladin, Slovenian, Sardinian, Greek and Croatian). However, there are several independent linguistic varieties –or languages– that developed directly from Latin and are still considered as “dialects”. This is the case of Venetian and Piedmontese. Intelligibility between them and Italian is quite low, and both enjoyed processes of literary standardization mainly during the 18th century.

Like in Piedmont, the Veneto Region has approved several laws over the years in respect of its linguistic heritage. A first law was passed in 1974 (Protection of the historical, linguistic and cultural heritage of Veneto Act), followed five years later by Regional Act 38/1979 on Interventions on the part of the Region for the knowledge of the local cultures and civilizations of Veneto, both of which were later revoked. In 1984 the Interventions of the Region for the development and the promotion of cultural activities Act was approved, followed three years later by Regional Act 8/1987. In 1990 the Regional Natural Park of Lessinia was finally established (Regional Law 12 of 1990), an institution whose aim was to protect not only the natural environment, but also the traditional cultures present in it. Finally in 1994 a comprehensive law was passed (Regional Act 73 on the Promotion of ethnic and linguistic minorities of Veneto), later modified by Act 3/1998, which protects and promotes German, Ladin, Friulian and other ethnic and linguistic communities present in the region.

Related links...
Proposal
Raixe Venete
Venetian Regional Council (in Italian)

FRIULIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE ACT: TEN YEARS OF ENACTMENT

September 2006 – The Friulian Language Act has is 10 years old. According to experts, the Friulian Language and Culture Act 15/96 approved in 1996 marked a significant step forward in the promotion of the language. The recognition of the language started in 1981, year in which testimonial regional regulations were approved. The act emanated from article 6 of the Italian constitution of 1948, which establishes that “the Republic protects linguistic minorities by special laws”.

The 15/96 Act envisaged among other matters, the introduction of Friulian language in elementary education, the setting up of the Observatory of the Friulian language and culture –a public watch-dog over the observance of the law– and the provision of funding for linguistic research. In spite of this, it has been agreed by policymakers, linguists and legal advisers attending the second edition of the Feste ladine, that 15/96 Act needs to be updated and adapted to the current social and legal framework. With regard to this, Mercator-Legislation informed last January about the drafting of a proposal aiming at dealing with the shortcomings of the law currently in force –particularly those related to language teaching– and the lack of observance of the State Law 482/1999, approved three years after and which establishes the protection of historical minority languages of Italy.

Roberto Antonaz, a regional advisor for culture, confirmed at the meeting the regional government’s commitment to revise the Act 15/96 in the short run. With this aim in mind, a working group in charge of drafting a new language act proposal has been constituted by the Autonomous Regional Council of Friuli Venezia Giulia in its last plenary session.

Related links...
Friulian Language Act (in Italian)
Mercator Working Paper on Friulian
Related Mercator news

ASTURIAN CIVIL SOCIETY MOBILIZES TO CLAIM OFFICIAL STATUS FOR ASTURIAN LANGUAGE

September 2006 - The association Conceyu Abiertu pola Oficialidá (CAO), made up of more than 150 political, cultural and social organizations from the Principality of Asturias, organized a demonstration in Xixón last August with the aim of putting pressure on the political parties to include the official status of the Asturian language in the draft of the forthcoming proposed revision of the Statute of Autonomy of Asturias.

The mobilization was held under the motto "In the revision of the Statute, Asturian official language". Article 4 of the Statute currently in force establishes that Bable or Asturian "will enjoy protection. Its use, presence in the mass media and in the education system, will be encouraged, respecting in every case the local varieties and the voluntary nature of learning the language", but does not consider it as official. Consequently, in accordance with the Spanish instrument of ratification of the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages, the provisions applicable to Asturian set forth in the Charter are less demanding than those laid down to be applicable to languages with official recognition such as Basque in the Basque Country and Navarre, Catalan in Valencian Country, Balearic Islands and Catalonia and Galician in Galicia.

According to the organisers, the public had a favourable response to the call and many signatures were gathered in favour of securing official status for Asturian in the new Statute. The demonstration has come in a particularly sensitive moment since, as Mercator reported, six militants of the Board for the Defence of the Asturian Language were processed for demanding officiality for the language.

Related links...
Conceyu Abiertu pola Oficialidá (in Asturian)
Situation of Asturian according to Euromosaic project
Related Mercator news

SIX MILITANTS OF THE BOARD FOR THE DEFENCE OF THE ASTURIAN LANGUAGE ARE PROCESSED FOR DEMANDING THE OFFICIALITY OF THE ASTURIAN LANGUAGE

July 2006 - The Board for the Defence of the Asturian Language has denounced, via a press release issued on the 26th July, that six of its militants have been called upon to the court of justice for demonstrating in favour of the officiality of Asturian.

According to the release, the militants processed were present in the inauguration of a health centre in Llugones on the 16th of June, presided by the head of the government of Asturias, Vicente Álvarez Areces, with the aim of claiming democratically against linguistic discrimination in Asturias.

The organization denounces that the intervention, both on behalf of the police and the judicature, are "actions contrary to the exercise of the right of freedom of speech and to the political disagreement". The Board for the Defence of the Asturian Language has made clear that they do not have the intention of stopping the public denunciation of the marginalisation that Asturian language-speakers suffer by their public institutions.

THE UKRANIAN GOVERNMENT TAKES MEASURES TO RECOGNIZE RUSSIAN

September 2006 - A press release distributed during a meeting of the Ukranian Government promises to make Russian the second state language in Ukraine. The measures for its recognition are included in a program being developed by the Cabinet as part of the government activities to be carried out from 2006 to 2011.

The humanitarian policy section of the draft program says that the Government will carry out a consistent policy to uphold the freedom of choice of communication and education language and therefore will recognize Russian as the second language of the state. The policy also envisages removing obstacles in the way of the development of all cultures and the rendering of assistance in maintaining national, cultural, linguistic and spiritual variety as a guarantee of the further development of the society.

The decision has come after the pro-Moscow Party of Regions led by Viktor Yanukovych won the general elections last March. As Mercator Legislation informed in previous months, the Party of Regions campaigned -specially in the eastern part of the country where a majority of Russian-speaking population live- on a promise to make Russian a second state language.

Related links...
Related Mercator news
Related Mercator news
Constitution of Ukraine

ISSUED THE FIRST NATIONAL PLAN FOR SCOTTISH GAELIC

August 2006 - The first ever National Plan for Gaelic has been put out for public consultation by Bòrd na Gàidhlig, the statutory Gaelic Development Agency. This public body was established under the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 to promote Gaelic both in Scotland and abroad. The Act, which was commenced in February this year, requires the Bòrd to prepare a National Plan for Gaelic to establish a strategic approach to the development of the language and its culture.

The draft plan proposes measures to normalise the use and promote the development of Gaelic and its culture across the full spectrum of home and community life, building on the many successful initiatives which have already taken place across Scotland. Bòrd na Gàidhlig Chief Executive, Allan Campbell said that “the consultation process enables all those with an interest in Gaelic to contribute to the plan, and the Bòrd is keen to encourage the maximum possible response to achieve a positive consensus”. He also declared that “it is clearly very important that the Gaelic community takes ownership of the plan and works in effective partnership to realise its aspirations for Gaelic.”

The Bòrd will be holding a programme of public meetings across Scotland until 10th November to present the draft National Plan and to enable discussion of its proposals. The organisers hope that these meetings will attract considerable interest and that they will assist people to respond effectively to the consultation.

Related links...
Bòrd na Gàidhlig
National Plan for Gaelic
Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005

LATVIA WON'T GRANT CITIZENSHIP IF LANGUAGE TESTS ARE FAILED

August 2006 - The Latvian government introduced on August 8 new laws for granting citizenship. According to the laws, those who fail a Latvian language test three times won't be granted citizenship.

Almost 20 per cent of the country's population cannot vote, cannot hold most types of public posts and requires a visa to visit other EU countries, except for Estonia, Lithuania and Denmark. Such group is made up of 450,000 people, mostly Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians. They have been considered "non-citizens" to emphasize the illegality of the Soviet occupation, which lasted for almost 50 years (1991) and which has never been recognized by most Western countries. During Soviet rule, thousands of Latvians were deported to labour camps in Siberia, while hundreds of thousands of Russians, Belarussians and Ukrainians settled in Latvia.

Last June the Latvian parliament rejected amendments to the citizenship law that would broaden the rights for non-citizens to obtain citizenship. The amendments were proposed by the leftist alliance For Human Rights in United Latvia. Under the draft proposal, all residents who had completed secondary school after Sept. 1, 1999 or had finished schools where at least half of the curriculum was in the Latvian language would have the right to obtain citizenship.

A second EU country with a similar category of non-citizens is neighbouring Estonia.

THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE SAYS THERE IS SCOPE FOR IMPROVEMENT OF LINGUISTIC RIGHTS IN SLOVAKIA

August 2006 - According to the resolution adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the legislative framework of the Slovak Republic still contains shortcomings in the financing of minority cultures and instruction in minority languages and the personal scope of application of certain linguistic rights.

The resolution, though, positively recognizes the efforts made by the Ministry of Culture to increase the financial support to minorities and welcomes the legislative changes made on anti-discrimination issues such as the adoption of Act No. 365/2004 Coll. on equal treatment. In spite of this, it points out that the number of classes with instruction in the Roma language, for instance, remains too limited.

The Committee of Ministers recommends, therefore, to pursue the efforts to complete the legislative framework pertaining to national minorities, including in the fields of culture and education, and ensure that the content and interpretation of language-related laws are in line with these efforts. It also advises the Slovak authorities to create further opportunities to receive Roma language teaching.

MERGING OF WELSH LANGUAGE BOARD WITH GOVERNMENT PLANNED

August 2006 - Meri Huws, Chair of the Welsh Language Board, welcomed the positive steps taken by the Assembly of Wales and the UK Government to strengthen the position of the Welsh language in the Government of Wales Bill.

As a result of passing the Bill, it will be a statutory duty for the Assembly Government to treat Welsh and English on the basis that they are equal and to implement and regularly revise a statutory Language Plan. The Government will have a duty to promote and facilitate the use of the Welsh language and to maintain, update and evaluate a policy outlining how it intends to do so.

Furthermore, and with regard to the Government actions, Alun Pugh, Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport, confirmed the details for the process of merging the Welsh Language Board with Government and setting up the office of the Dyfarnydd (adjudicator) on a statutory basis.

Alun Pugh said that "merging the Welsh Language Board with Government will improve democratic accountability and crucially create a powerhouse for growing the Welsh language at the heart of Government". He added that "we intend to use the provisions of the Government of Wales Bill to bring this about."

Related links...
Government of Wales Bill
A National Action Plan for a Bilingual Wales (Iaith Pawb)
Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg (Welsh Language Board)

A PH.D THESES ANALYSES THE LANGUAGE POLICY BY THE AUTONOMOUS GOVERNMENTS OF VALENCIA BETWEEN 1983 AND 2003 (Univesity of Valencia)

July 2006 – The University of Valencia’s researcher, Anselm Bodoque, is the author of a doctoral thesis that analyses the language policy of the Valencian Autonomous governments between 1983 and 2003.

Dr. Bodoque’s aim was to identify the similarities and the differences between the language policies by the different executives of the Socialist Party of Valencia (PSPV) and of those of the conservatives Popular Party (PP). He has also research the influence that these policies have had on the evolution of the Valencian linguistic conflict on its double contemporary debate: the discussion about the identity of Valencians and the process of linguistic substitution of Valencian by Spanish language.

The research of Anselm Bodoque, with the title of "The Valencian Language and the Policies of Autonomic Governments (1983-2003). A Case Study of Public policies", concludes that observing the basic features of the models of implementation followed by the PSPV and the PP it can be said that that they are quite similar, in spite of the different networks of social actors with which each Executive has collaborated with and the differences that originally sustained both parties in relation to the Catalan language identity.

Other conclusions are that "the implemented language policies have proved to be inefficient to overcome the conflict –originated during the Spanish transition- about the Valencian identity. According to Bodoque, they have not found a way to depoliticise the language debate, no they have achieved the main goal in any government’s language which is to favour the recovery of the social use of the language and to end -in this case- the processes of language substitution and minoritsation of the Catalan language or Valencian in Valencia.

BAN ON OFFICIAL USE OF RUSSIAN IN THE JAMBYL REGION OF SOUTHERN KAZAKHSTAN DISCONCERTS NON-KAZAK SPEAKERS

July 2006 - The deputy governor of the region of Jambyl in southern Kazakhstan, Kenesbek Demeshev, announced that Kazakh would be the only language used for local government activities, leaving the non-Kazakh community Russian-speaking, just under a third of Jambyl's population, confused and angry.

The governor's ruling brings into sharp focus a long-running debate over the Kazakh language. Although Kazakh is the “state language” and has a higher status, Russian is considered a “official” language and it is more widely used in the territory, especially for business.

Ever since independence, efforts have been made to encourage Kazakh language usage. But these have been mostly poorly-executed. As a result, the use of Kazak has diminished while the number of people who count themselves as Russian speakers has steadily grown.

It's unclear how the government will respond to the Jambyl episode, but there are signs that it wants to devote more energy to encouraging the use of Kazak - it has instructed the committee for languages, which comes under the ministry of culture, to come up with new approaches to the problem. (Source: Multiethnic Newsletter)

PUBLICATION OF THE 2005 REPORT ON THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE EU

July & August 2006 - The Network of independent experts in fundamental rights of the EU has published their annual report for the year 2005. This is their fourth annual report where they analyse questions relating to the main areas of the protection of human rights including the protection of linguistic diversity.

In the section regarding the protection of the linguistic minorities they refer to six countries; Austria, Estonia, Slovenia, Spain, Poland and Lithuania. These are but some of the issues on the report:

- From Austria they express concerns about the climate of hostility against the Slovene minority of Carinthia, which has been exacerbated by attitude of the governor of Carinthia who has refused to implement the rulings of the Constitutional Court according certain rights to this group.

- Regarding Estonia, the Network regrets that the Administrative Division of the Supreme Court in its decision of 16 of June 2005 Loksa Town Council v Chessclub Olympic considered that the right to get answers in minority languages, enshrined in the Constitution, was linked to physical persons and did not create similar rights lo legal persons.

- In relation to Spain the Network’s report considers exemplary the use of Catalan in the Communication media and the education system.

The Net of experts does not have any competence in the application of measures to punish states for their actions against the rights set out in the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights. Their role is to inform and recommend measures to promote the safeguarding of fundamental rights.

Related links...
Web page of the Network of Experts in Fundamental Right in the EU
Annual report on the Fundamental rights of the EU in 2005

AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR ANNOUNCES COMPROMISE ON BILINGUAL SIGNS

July & August 2006 - Wolfgang Schüssel has announced a new compromise agreement on bilingual signs in Carinthia. The proposal has the support of the government coalition as well as the opposition Social Democrats and the Association of Carinthian Slovenes. The Council of Carinthian Slovenes, the second largest organisation representing the Slovene minority, as well as the Austrian Greens, have rejected it. Both groupings say the compromise is still not in line with the Austrian constitution. However the Austrian Chancellor’s proposal is expected to pass Parliament because it has the support of all major political parties. .

Schüssel’s compromise is based on the so called “Karner paper” and is a slightly modified version of the proposal the chancellor tabled two months earlier. The basis of the document is the erection of bilingual signage in all municipalities with more than 10% Slovenes and in settlements with more than 15% Slovenes. The municipalities are given until 2009 to implement the new law. Overall 65 new bilingual signs are due to be erected. .

Austrian President Heinz Fischer and the Slovene government also welcomed the compromise agreement. Nevertheless, opposition parties in Slovenia criticised the Slovene government claiming that the new law is still in breach of the Austrian State Treaty of 1955. Since then there have been various attempts to find a consensus between majority and minority on the matter in Austria. (Source: Eurolang) .

Related links...
Austrian State Treaty of 1955 (in French)
Related news (Mercator)
Euromosaic: Eslovenian in Austria

THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF NAVARRE FINALLY LEGALISES THE BASQUE-MEDIUM SCHOOLS IN SOUTHERN NAVARRE

July 2006 – The Navarrese government and representatives of the Basque-medium schools (ikastolak) in the non Basque-speaking areas of Navarre have signed a protocol that establishes a general framework to secure the economic viability of these schools for the next years. The agreement was signed by linguistic policy representatives of the Government of Navarre, the Federation of Ikastolas of Navarre and the general secretary of CDN, the second party in the governmental coalition. It assigns 1,718,253 milion € for 2006; 1,798,724 for 2007; 1,758,489 for 2008, 1,758,489 for 2009 and 1,758,489 for 2010.

According to the Basque Language Act of 1986, the Basque language is not co-official in the non Basque-speaking area located in the South of Navarre and therefore the parents that wish their children to study in Basque must take them to the ikastolas, institutions that have no legal basis and are not regulated by the administration. The ratification of the agreement has been the conclusion of the negotiations that started in November 2005, which aimed at putting an end to the non-regulated situation of the these educational centres. The government economic support means the official recognition and legalisation for the ikastolas, which will be able to opt to public funding programmes, grants for students and training schemes for teachers.

Peio Mariñelarena, director of the Federation of Ikastolas of Navarre stated that this was a “historic and unparalleled” agreement, and reminded that it has been achieved thanks to the insistence of parents associations to educate their children in Basque.

V MERCATOR INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ANNOUNCED FOR OCTOBER UNDER THE TITLE "LINGUISTICS RIGHTS AS A MATTER OF SOCIAL INCLUSION"

June 2006 - The V Mercator International Symposium organised this year by the Legislation and Language Rights center will be held on 19, 20 and 21 October 2006 in Barcelona (Catalonia) and will be entitled "Linguistics Rights as a Matter of Social Inclusion".

The organisers have designed de symposium on the premise that Europe has always been a multilingual land and that this fact has been accentuated in recent decades by the steady arrival and settlement on the continent by non-Europeans who have brought their languages with them. Therefore, current linguistic reality in Europe is richer and more complex than ever. In accordance with the Mercator network principles, this complexity musn’t necessarily be a problem. On the contrary, the languages spoken in the European Union today are one of the keys to making possible the "union in diversity" of all citizens, groups, communities, and peoples that live together in Europe.

To encourage such harmony, the Symposium will reflect on which kind of multilingualism should the European Union put into practice now and in the future. The question will be raised on how the linguistic rights of immigrants and of receiving communities can be regulated and guaranteed and, more specifically, how the exercise of these rights could stimulate the social inclusion of newcomers who settle among minoritized linguistic communities that share their space with majority or dominant languages. The V Mercator International Symposium will critically analyse the issues under consideration and will also present a series of practice cases for balancing individual rights and the collective rights of speakers of the languages of immigration and the speakers of minoritized languages within the European Union.

Registration closes 9 October 2006 and will be on a 'first come first served' basis.

Details at: secretaria@ciemen.org

Check http://www.mercator-central.org for further information

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ALLOWS THE WRITTEN COMMUNICATION OF CITIZENS IN BASQUE, CATALAN AND GALICIAN (Avui / Vilaweb)

June/July 2006 – The European Parliament’s Bureau has approved a proposal by the Spanish State to allow citizens to address the Euro chamber in Basque, Catalan and Galician, two month after its initial rejection.

The result of the vote of the Bureau, which is made up by the President of the European Parliament and the 14 Vice-presidents, resulted in a draw of 7 to 7. The quality vote of the President, the socialist Josep Borrell, decided the final result in favour of the proposal. The European People’s Party (EPP) representatives voted in bloc against the proposal in contrast with the vote in favour by all the other political parties.

Moreover, the former proposal, presented on the 26th of April of this year, included also the possibility for MEPs to use these languages in the Plenum. Nevertheless, the President Borrell, pressured by the strong opposition form the populars, decided to exclude this matter from the Bureau’s agenda, limiting the proposal to the relations between the citizens and the Parliament.

THE COURTS OF ARAGON APPROVE THE REFORM OF THE STATUTE THAT AVOIDS THE PROTECTION OF ARGONESE AND CATALAN LANGUAGES

June 2006 – With the abstention of the political party Chunta Aragonesista (CHA), the Courts of Aragon have approved, on the 21rst of June, a reform of the Statute of Aragon without contemplating Aragonese and Catalan the own languages of Aragon. The text, which is now in the hands of the Spanish Parliament where it will be discussed and lately approved before May 2007, avoids to make an explicit reference to both languages, even if article 8 of the introduction is entirely dedicated to “the own languages and linguistic modalities of Aragon”

The third reform of the Statute of Autonomy of the Autonomous Community of Aragon establishes that a future law of the Aragonese Courts –a law which has been postponed for two decades– will determine the boundaries of the zones where both languages are spoken, and regulate their protection, recovery and teaching provisions. This future law will also establish the rights of its speakers to use both languages in their relations with the public administration. However, what does mention the renewed Statute is that “no one could be discriminated on the grounds of language”.

Related links...
Reforma de l’Estatut de la Comunitat Autònoma d’Aragó (in Spanish)
Related news (Mercator)
Congress of Deputies

WELSH GOVERNMENT CALLS FOR USE OF WELSH IN EUROPE (Eurolang)

June 2006 - Following the decision made by EU Foreign Affairs Ministers to give citizens the possibility of using additional languages in their relations with the EU institutions, the Welsh Assembly Government Ministers and officials are discussing the practicalities with regard to Welsh with the UK Government and the European Institutions.

Once the outstanding practical issues are resolved, then the UK Government could start formal negotiations which, if successful, will mean that; Welsh could be used in speeches at the Council of Ministers and plenary sessions of the Committee of the Regions (CoR). Also it would mean that correspondence to the CoR, the Council and the Commission in Welsh would be answered in Welsh; and that European legislation translated into Welsh may be sent to the Council for addition to its archives.

The Minister for Culture, Sport and the Welsh Language, Alun Pugh said: "If the Assembly Government’s proposals are accepted, then the Assembly Government will be responsible for bearing the costs of translation". Such an arrangement contrasts with those made for Catalan, Basque and Galician languages where the Spanish government covers the costs and not the autonomous governments.

Related links...
General Affairs and External Relations Council conclusions. June 13-14, 2005
Related news (Mercator)
The Welsh Assembly Government

THE CATALAN EURO MP, BERNAT JOAN, CALLS FOR A EUROPEAN LANGUAGE POLICY WHICH DOES NOT DISCRIMIATE NON-OFFICIAL LANGUAGES OF THE UNION

June 2006 - On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights, Bernat Joan, MEP for Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya and Parliament's rapporteur on the Commission’s Communication "A new framework strategy for multilingualism", will explain his views on the subject and how the parliament should encourage the European Union to adopt a linguistic policy based on genuine multilngualism.

The press conference, which took place the 6 of June, followed a meeting of experts in the European Parliament earlier in the day. Among the participants there was Aureli Argemí, President of CIEMEN and Director of MERCATOR-Linguistic Rights and Legislation as well as Mònica Sabata from the Monitoring Committee of the Universal Declaration on Linguistic Rights and EBLUL. There was also present Miquel Strubell, from the Open University of Catalonia and Coordinator ADUM project and Vicent Climent-Ferrando, from Linguamón – The house of Languages, a Catalan Government iniciative.

Related links...
Commission Communication "A new framework strategy for multilingualism"
Related news (Mercator)
European Parliament

THE GOVERNMENT OF SARDINIA WILL INVEST 700,000 € ON SARDINIAN LANGUAGE TRAINING COURSES

June 2006 – The Region of Sardinia has launched a project to start training courses on Sardinian language and culture for school teachers and the region civil servants. To do so, the Sardinian Department of Public Instruction, Cultural Heritage, Information and Sports will be funded with 700,000 € by the Italian Council of Ministers and the Department for Regional Affairs on account of the Act 482/99 on the Protection of Historical Linguistic Minorities.

The courses will be organized and managed by the University of Cagliari and the University of Sassari, which have designed the courses depending on the purposes of the participants. Thus, the courses for teachers will be further divided into two syllabus, one assigned to those who already have experience in teaching the language and another for those who have a knowledge of the language but have never used it in class. The courses for civil servants will focus on administrative language and elaboration and translation of official records, as well as on notions on local, regional and estate law and history of Sardinian institutions.

Elisabetta Pilia, responsible for the Sardinian Department of Public Instruction, Cultural Heritage, Information and Sports has issued the news a few weeks after a common Sardinian language has been adopted by the government as a standard written form.

Related links...
Act 482/1999: Norms on the protection of historical linguistic minorities
Related news (Mercator)
Autonomous Region of Sardinia (in Italian)

FUEN ADOPTS A NEW CHARTER FOR AUTOCHTONOUS EUROPEAN NATIONAL MINORITIES (Eurolang)

May 2006 – Members of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) adopted a new document relating to the rights of minorities in Europe at their annual assembly hosted this year by the Sorbian community in Bautzen – Budyšin,

The first part of the Charter recalls existing international documents and highlights the "lack of binding international provisions”. The scope of the Charter, as explained in the document itself, is both to emphasize the positive role of the autochthonous, national minorities in Europe and to call for the preservation of natural bilingualism and multilingualism “as a natural richness of Europe”.

The document defines the term ‘national minority’ as people resident in the state, citizens of the state, but in a smaller number than the rest of the citizens, the members of the community being resident in the relevant area for generations and distinguished from the majority population by ethnic, linguistic or cultural characteristics, which they wish to preserve. One principle, stressed by the Charter, is positive discrimination for national minorities. The Charter lists fundamental rights including the “right to adopted forms of self-determination and cultural autonomy”.

One political demand is that there is binding minority protection under international law. The document addresses some specific institutions as well: the European Union has been requested to respect its motto “Unity in diversity”, and not only to refer to Member States and their official languages. Also, the Council of Europe is requested to expand its protection measures to cover collective rights.

Finally, States have been requested to recognise all minorities, to improve protection standards and to ratify both the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National minorities.

It is hoped that the new document will give FUEN members and other minority organisations the basic guidelines on what they have to ask for and what they need to achieve.

Related links...
Related news (Eurolang)
Charter for Autochtonous European National Minorities
Signatures and ratifications of the ECRML

NON-OFFICIAL LANGUAGES OF THE EU TO BE EXCLUDED FROM EUROPEAN INDICATOR OF LANGUAGE COMPETENCE

May 2006 – In a resolution approved by the plenary, the European Parliament calls on the citizens studying or working in the Union “to have a practical grasp of at least two languages other than his own”, as “the acquisition of just one common language of communication (as a lingua franca) is not sufficient”. According to the resolution, a good knowledge of languages is an essential skill all the European citizens should have in order to create a genuine European employment market. The text was approved on April 27th by 435 votes in favour to 22 against with 23 abstentions.

One of the measures included in the resolution is the creation of an European Indicator of Language Competence common to all member states, which will seek to prevent divergent criteria for assessing language competence in Europe. The resolution shares the Commission's view that “in the initial phase this indicator should be used to assess linguistic proficiency in the five most widely taught languages in the Union (English, French, German, Italian and Spanish) and calls on the Commission and the Council, however, to take the necessary measures to extend these tests to a wider range of official Union languages.

The resolution also endorses the Commission proposal regarding participation by the Member States and regional authorities with competence for language policy in developing the indicator to the full. It remains to be seen whether this measure leaves a door open for non-official European languages to be included in the Indicator of Language Competence programme, since the document do not mention them at all.

THE SPANISH SUPREME COURT RECOGNISES THAT CATALAN AND VALENCIAN ARE THE SAME LANGUAGE

May 2006 – The Spanish Supreme Court has announced a decision that revokes the instruction ordered by the Valencian ministry for Education in 1995, which established that validation of Catalan language qualifications issued by the Catalan and the Balearic governments no longer applied in the Valencian Country. The appeal against the instruction of the Valencian Ministry for Education was lodged by Acció Cultural del País Valencià (Valencian cultural association) and Sindicat de Treballadors i Treballadores de l'Ensenyament-Intersindical Valenciana (Valencian trade union).

The decision was based on the grounds that the terms Catalan and Valencian are different designations that one common language receives in different territories. The court took into account the fact that such idea is endorsed by dictionaries of prestigious institutions, as well as the fact that in official state regulations, studies in Catalan Philology cover a sole area of knowledge. It is also endorsed by the statutes of University of Valencia, University of Alacant and University Jaume I (Castelló) and in former case law in favour of the unity of Catalan language.

Eliseu Climent, general secretary of Acció Cultural del País Valencià –the main NGO promoting Catalan culture in Valencia– has said that “the decision recognising the unity of the language is a long-awaited victory expected for the last 11 years”. Sindicat de Treballadors i Treballadores de l'Ensenyament-Intersindical Valenciana stated that the court decision is a “very important step towards the unity of Catalan language”.

THE REGIONAL GOVERNMENT OF SARDINIA ADOPTS A STANDARD FORM OF SARDINIAN LANGUAGE

May 2006 – The Region of Sardinia has officially approved the adoption of the “common Sardinian language” (sa limba sarda comuna) as a standard written form. Such variety will be used by the administration in official events, translations of legal documents and for addressing the citizens of the island . The common language, which will go through a period of experimentation, aims at revitalizing the distinctive traits of Sardinian and ensure understanding amongst speakers of different geographical varieties.

The Autonomous Region of Sardinia regulates the Sardinian language through a law that also deals with the culture of the island. It is the Regional Act nº 26 on promotion and valuing of the culture and language of Sardinia, which came as a result of a long dispute between the regional government and the Constitutional Courts of the Italian state and was previous to the Act 482/1999 -enacted by the central government- on Norms on the protection of historical linguistic minorities. Thus, the former only promotes cultural activities in favour of Sardinian on history and popular tradition-related issues, whereas the latter recognizes Sardinian as the language of an historic minority but does not elevate its status.

The first official record in limba comuna has been the document entitled “Experimental norms of reference of the regional administration for the written Sardinian language”. In addition, one of the first measures that has been taken to support the adoption of the standard is the creation of the Sardinian Language Office, which will watch over the fulfilment of the language laws and will monitor the observance of the norms adopted.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT INTERGROUP DEMANDS THAT FRANCE RATIFIES THE ECRML, FCPNM AND THAT THE EU INTERVENE TO PROTECT MINORITISED LANGUAGES (Eurolang)

May 2006 - The European Parliament lesser-used language and national minority Intergroup met in Strasbourg with representatives from EBLUL France, comprising Bretons, Alsacians, and Occitans, and the Association of the French Regions. Following the meeting, Intergroup President and Hungarian Socialist Csaba Tabajdi (PES) issued a declaration demanding that France ratify the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCPNM). Furthermore, Mr Tabjadi called for the EU to intervene to help the languages on French territory that are now facing endangerment because of State policies that have led to serious decline.

The declaration asks France to “fully recognize the right to the existence of the citizens and peoples which make it up in their specificity, in particular through a system of education, media and a public space allowing the normal expression of their languages, the teaching of their cultures and their stories in accordance with the of UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity and the Convention on the Protection and the Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions”.

The President of the Intergroup also challenges the Member States and the European Union over the urgency of the measures to be taken and on their duty to intervene in order to protect the languages spoken in the French territory, taking into account the weakness in which these languages are in France, and in particular of the fast disappearance of the older generation, who still largely speak these languages but who are not being replaced.”

RUSSIAN LANGUAGE OFFICIAL STATUS OPPOSED BY UKRANIAN GOVERNMENT

May 2006 – Even though Ukrainian became the country's sole official language after Ukraine declared independence in 1991, two local administrations with a predominantly Russian-speaking population –the eastern region of Luhansk and the city of Sevastopol, in the Crimea– have tried to elevate the status of Russian. The pro-Moscow Party of Regions, which won the most votes in last month's parliamentary election, campaigned on a promise to make Russian a second state language.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko considers regional administrations have overstepped their authority by reinstating Russian as an official language. The Ukrainian president's press secretary Irina Gerashchenko recently said that “the president expresses his deep concern over these displays of sovereignty, and believes the local councils have exceeded their authorities in making these decisions”. Yushchenko's deputy chief-of-staff, Anatoliy Matviyenko, said on April 28 that the moves breach Ukraine's constitution, which states that Ukrainian is the sole state language. Meanwhile, Russia is closely watching the issue. The recent pronouncements by Ukrainian officials on the Russian language status fail to meet the international commitments of Ukraine, Chairman of the State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs and Relations with Compatriots Andrei Kokoshin said. He also stated that the regional status of the Russian language corresponds to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages the Ukrainian parliament has ratified.

According to some analysts such as Stephen Velychenko, from University of Toronto, granting Russian an official status in the country would reinforce the old imperial Russian tie and would impede the creation of new ties with the EU and the rest of the world, which speaks English.

Related links...
Related news
Constitution of Ukraine
Resolution on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities by Ukraine

COMMISSION SIGNALS SUPPORT FOR A NEW NETWORK TO PROMOTE LESSER-USED LANGUAGES (Eurolang)

The European Commission DG Education and Culture hosted a well attended conference in Brussels on Thursday and Friday last week gathering many of Europe’s lesser used language experts. The theme focused on education in lesser used languages with the commissioner Ján Figel indicating that in 2007 the Commission may support a new network to promote regional and minority languages in Europe.

Ján Figel explained that “the Commission is committed to maintaining linguistic diversity” and how the regional and minority languages of Europe are a great wealth. He outlined that specific aims would be to raise awareness and actual language learning and that NGOs and governmental organisations alike should “get ready to take advantage of the opportunities coming up”.

Mr Figel praised the success of the network of language boards, EBLUL and the Mercator Centres, highlighting EBLUL’s successful expansion eastwards into the new member states. He indicated that these organisations could together become “an enlarged network at the EU level”.

The conference continued on Friday with EBLUL President Neasa Ní Chinnéide discussing EBLUL’s expansion eastwards and the success of PfD and Eurolang, and with the Mercator Network informing on its activities and its work done by almost 20 years.

The conference closed with Head of the Commission’s Multilingualism Unit Jacques Delmoly suggesting that “perhaps what we should do is give a particularly favourable look at RML projects” when they are applying for funding.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE FCNM SECRETARIAT LAUNCHES A NEW ONLINE BIBLIOGRAPHY ON NATIONAL MINORITIES

April 2006 - The Secretariat of the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities has just made available an online bibliography on national minorities on their minorities website www.coe.int/minorities.

In accordance with the information published in Eurolang, a spokesperson for the FCNM Secretariat said that "it started off as a working document which was occasionally shared with researchers or other persons seeking information on national minorities in Europe. Rather than keep it to ourselves, we have decided to share it with the wider public and will endeavour to keep it updated on a regular basis. We hope you will find it useful."

The new bibliography on national minorities has been prepared as a working document by the Secretariat of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and, in spite of not being exhaustive, it covers the member states of the Council of Europe. It also includes opinions, comments, state reports and country-specific resolutions of the Committee of Ministers.

THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS RECOMMENDS GERMANY TO IMPROVE EDUCATION IN MINORITY LANGUAGES

April 2006 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe recently issued the recommendations on the application of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages by Germany after analysing the Committee of Experts’ report. Germany ratified the ECRML in September 1998 and the current report belongs to the second monitoring cycle.

The report submitted by the experts state that the situation of regional or minority languages has not changed significantly since the first monitoring round and that the previous recommendations still remain valid. The Committee of Experts welcomes the adoption of the Frisian Law adopted by the Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein in 2004 and considers that similar measures are also needed in other länder concerned.

Besides, it regards as insufficient the efforts made by the German authorities to design planning and monitoring mechanisms for the development of regional or minority language education, and recommends to take urgent action to strengthen schooling in North Frisian, Sater Frisian and Lower Sorbian. It also reminds the German authorities that the shortage of adequately trained teachers at all levels of education remains one of the principal problems. As regards Lower German, the experts declare that it continues to be treated as a variant of German and therefore finds it difficult to find a place in the curricula as a subject in its own right. The use of Sorbian, Frison, Danish and Low German before administrative authorities remains marginal and largely absent from the private media. Furthermore it points out that more determined measures are needed to encourage the use of those languages in economic and social life.

As positive measures, the Committee deems valuable the steps taken to extend Part III protection to the Romany language, although expresses its concerns about the feasibility of some implementations since it has no standard written form and some Romany-speakers do not wish their language to have a presence outside their community.

Related links...
Report of the Committee of experts
Recommendations of the Committee of Ministers
Mercator information on the languages spoken in Germany

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT VOTES AGAINST GALICIAN, BASQUE AND CATALAN LANGUAGES

April 2006 – The European Parliament refused again the possibility to allow its deputies and citizens to speak and address such institution in Galician, Basque and Catalan. The board of the Parliament, composed of the president, the socialist Josep Borrell, and the vice-presidents -one of whom is the Catalan conservative Aleix Vidal-Quadras, whose vote broke the tie- so decided for seven votes to six. The European Parliament is the only European representative body that still has not approved the use of the co-official languages of Spain once the Spanish state and the European Council signed an administrative arrangement in June 2005 that gave permission to Spain for negotiations with each European institutions to include the use of Galician, Basque and Catalan.

Most of Catalan parliamentarians accuse Vidal-Quadras, member of the European Popular Party, of preventing the use of those languages in the house. The Catalan and the Spanish governments have commented on the possibility to appeal the decision at the European Court of Justice and to solve the dispute in the European Council.

The voting was held one day before a delegation from Northern Catalonia (French Catalonia) demanded the European Parliament that Catalan language in France be given official status. The ten members of the Federation for the Protection of the Catalan Language and Culture in Northern Catalonia met with Intergroup MEP’s, a body promoting traditional national minorities, constitutional regions and regional languages presided by the Hungarian Csaba Tabajdi, and handed them a document entitled “No to language discrimination in Northern Catalonia”. They also asked the European institutions to call upon France to ratify the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages and to recognise Catalan within its territory.

GALICIAN LANGUAGE RIGHTS WATCH SET UP

April 2006 – The Galician Language Rights Watch has been presented in Santiago on April 1. This new institution has been promoted by judges, lawyers, sociolinguists, university professors and law professionals in view of “the dramatic situation the Galician language goes through and the abuses and the violation of rights its speakers undergo on a daily bases”.

In the presentation ceremony a founding manifesto and a warning document addressed to the administrations and society in general containing urgent measures for 2006 were read. Among other targets, the manifesto proposes to issue and disseminate a yearly report examining the sociolinguistic situation in Galicia in which discrimination and infringements suffered by Galician-speakers are reported; to verify and demand the public administrations to observe the law on language issues and to study the public funding policies and its results. The Galician Language Rights Watch warned about the loss of Galician-speakers amongst the youngest generations, a situation considered reversible in spite of everything. For 2006 it proposes to urgently implement some of the measures established in the General Plan of Galician Language Normalization approved in 2004 such as those aiming at ensuring 33% of use of Galician in pre-school education and 50% in primary, secondary and high school education.

The Galician Language Rights Watch also considers that public funding of projects, institutions and companies should effectively increase and boost the visibility of the language, so it would be recommendable to carry out all necessary follow-up and control of the recipient’s progresses. As regards the field of justice, the founders ask to translate all computer management programs and the application forms of everyday use. They also stated their opinion on mass media by demanding TV and radio stations to carry out the commitment of increasing the broadcasting in Galician as established in the General Plan of Galician Language Normalization.

Last but not least, the Galician Language Rights Watch will monitor the application of the international treaties related to the rights of Galician-speakers such as the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages and the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights.

Related links...
General Plan of Galician Language Normalization (summary)
Mesa Pola Normalización Lingüística
The Network of European Language Planning Boards

THE GOVERNMENT OF ANDORRA TAKES MEASURES AGAINST DECLINING USE OF CATALAN

April 2006 – Andorra will set up a plan to stop the declining use of Catalan. This is the response by the Andorran government to the sociolinguistic survey issued at the end of March, which was carried out in 2004 and whose figures have been compared to those resulting from surveys made in 1995 and 1999 in order to have knowledge of the situation of the Catalan language and its position amongst other languages spoken in the Principality. The evaluation of the data will help experts to establish the general guidelines to improve the current situation of the historic language of the country, which is, paradoxically, the only official language of the state according to article 2.1 of the Constitution of 1993.

The study examines the level of knowledge of the main languages spoken in Andorra and concludes that Spanish is the language with highest levels of command. The survey also indicates that the levels of understanding and reading competences in Catalan are good, but that level decreases in speaking and writing. Spanish has become the most widely spoken language in Andorra in the last years despite the growing population with Andorran nationality and the Portuguese immigration, whereas Catalan has lost ground as a mother tongue (5.2 % less than figures of 1999). The study also reveals the increasing percentage of Portuguese as a mother tongue due to the immigration flow.

The results of the study show a decline in the use of Catalan and an increase in the use of other languages, especially Spanish, caused mainly by the rise of non-Catalan-speaking immigrants, as many of them adopt Spanish as the alternative to their mother tongue.

The linguistic behaviour of the population of Andorra has rapidly changed and is less favourable to the use of Catalan in private and informal spheres, even though Catalan prevails in formal and institutional contexts. In order to stop this tendency, the government of Andorra has decided to set up a national language welcome plan for the next three years, which includes the promotion of the language amongst the youngest generations through cinema in Catalan.

Related links...
Language Policy Board of Andorra (in Catalan)
Constitution of Andorra
Law on Official Language Use Planning, 16th December, 1999

MERCATOR LEGISLATION SUPPORTS A NEW WELSH LANGUAGE ACT

March 2006 - Mercator Legislation participated the 24th and 25th March in a the General Annual Meeting of the Welsh group of pressure Cymdeithas yr Iaith in Aberystwyth.

Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg is campaigning for a New Welsh Language Act for Wales, a measure that would give Welsh official status and secure basic language rights for the people of Wales. This call has moved to the centre of the political agenda due to the Assembly Government's intention to abolish the Welsh Language Board.

The importance of legislation in revitalizing a minority language was underlined at the annual general meeting of Cymdeithas yr Iaith in Aberystwyth in March 25th. Guest speaker Alexia Bos Sole from Mercator Legislation in Barcelona led a session entitled Language Legislation Making a Difference, The Catalan Experience.

Mercator Legislation spoke about the importance of concepts such as official status and language rights, concepts that have proved a basis for language policy and legislation for over two decades. MOreover, Mercator Legislation noted that securing strong status and rights are essential in order to facilitate wider use of a minority language.

Such arguments provided further support for Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg's ongoing and growing campaign for a Welsh Language Act.

Along with discussing matters related to the need for a New Welsh Language Act, the annual meeting also heard from Cymdeithas yr Iaith's other campaigns in other fields such as education, housing and planning.

Related links...
Cymdeithas yr Iaith website
Welsh Language Board website
Related article (in Welsh)

THE MERCATOR NETWORK LAUNCHES A NEW WEBSITE

March 2006 - The Mercator Network has launched a new website, located at http://www.mercator-central.org. Mercator is a network of three research and documentation centres specialised in the field of the regional and minority languages of the European Union. The objective is to provide objective information about the minority languages for both majority-language speakers and the minority themselves. The three centers have their own roles consisting of a centre for education at the Fryske Akademy in the Netherlands, a centre for legislation at the CIEMEN Foundation in Barcelona, Catalonia, and a centre for Media at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth. As a network, the three centers have launched a website where the individual and common work can be found.

On individual work, each center has their own projects, publications and databases, which can be consulted. But as equally or more important is the common work that Mercator does as a network. For example, the Mercator network has since 2003 organized four international symposia on minority languages, which are intended to be a forum for networking, co-operation and presentation of research on minority languages in the EU. Another important common task of all three centers of the Mercator Network is the monthly publication of a common newsletter where one can be informed of the last news on regional and minority languages, the last publications of the centers, the last bibliography news and the acts the Mercator prepares. In the website one can suscribe to the newsletter and read all the numbers that have been published. The website also offers the latest news on minority languages and the agenda of all three centers. Finally, as the Mercator Network is supported by the European Commision, one can access from the website to all the EU initiatives regarding minority languages. The website exits only in english at the moment, but in the near future will be available in Catalan, Cymraeg, German, French and Frisk.

Related links...
Mercator Network website

UKRAINE'S CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION DOES NOT RECOGNISE CRIMEA TO STAGE A REFERENDUM ON RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

March 2006 – Ukraine’s Central Election Comission has not allowed the Crimean Supreme Council to stage a local consultative referendum on giving Russian the "status of a second state language" in the peninsula. The referendum was to be held on March 26, simultaneously with the parliamentary and local elections.

The Party of Regions led by former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych collected more than 300,000 signatures in support of this referendum in Crimea and the motion was supported by 53 deputies in the 100-seat Crimean legislature. However, the Ukrainian Justice Ministry then said that Crimean Peninsula's plans to hold a referendum violated national law, since giving state status to a language belongs to the so-called constitutional-system issues in Ukraine and cannot be resolved locally, but requires a nationwide plebiscite. The Crimean Prosecutor's Office has immediately said it will appeal against the parliamentary resolution on the referendum.

The Crimean legislature recommended in February that the commissions for the March 26 parliamentary and local elections serve as the referendum commissions at the same time. The chairman of the Ukraine’s Central Election Comission, Yaroslav Davydovych, told journalists on March 7 that referendum commissions cannot work at the same locations as the parliamentary and local election commissions during the March 26 vote. In particular, Davydovych stressed that the law bans members of local election commissions from simultaneously performing the duties of members of referendum commissions.

Related links...
Constitution of Ukraine
Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
Related news

CONFERENCE ON REGIONAL AND MINORITY LANGUAGES IN EDUCATION SYSTEMS

March 2006 – The European Commission is organising a conference to encourage co-operation and networking on issues affecting regional and minority languages in education and training systems. The conference, which will take place in Brussels at the Centre Broschette on April 27-28, is programmed in the context of the Commission’s communication “Promoting language learning and language diversity – An Action Plan 2004-2006”.

According to the Commission language policies, regional and minority languages are an important element of the European cultural heritage, so it is essential to keep them alive to ensure that their transmission through the education and training systems adopts the best practices available in Europe. The focus of the conference will therefore be on practical recommendations in terms of illustrations of good practice covering, for example, issues referring to bilingual and multilingual education, teacher training and transmission within families, so it will not address whatsoever policy issues with reference to the status of these languages.

Ten thematic workshops will discuss global issues on the basis of examples of good practice from specific regional or minority languages: transmission within families, integration through education, through bilingualism to multilingualism, the effectiveness of bilingual education, teacher-training for regional and minority languages, language awareness and linguistic diversity, ICT in multilingual education, interaction in the classroom, education through the medium of a minority language and lifelong language learning. The more general objective of the conference is to situate regional and minority languages in the context of current Commission policy on multilingualism, which aims at encouraging language learning and promoting linguistic diversity in society, promoting a healthy multilingual economy and addressing citizens in their own languages.

Related links...
Provisional programme
Action Plan 2004-2006
Commission Communication "A New Framework Strategy for Multilingualism”

BILINGUAL SIGN CONTROVERSY IN CARINTHIA

March 2006 - Carinthia, an Austrian state with an important Slovenian minority, has been suffering for the past months a bilingual sign controversy, caused by the lack of bilingual signs (German-Slovenian). According to the law they should be put in places where the Slovenian minority reaches 25 % of the population. A sentence by the Austrian Constitutional Court on this matter giving the Carinthian government until next June to erect bilingual signs in Bleiburg/Pliberk and recommending to reduce the threshold to 10% of the population has provoked the opposition of Governor Jorg Haider.

This controversy is not new. In 1955 the Austrian State Treaty came into force, declaring in its article 7 that the Slovenian minority had the right to have bilingual signs in southern Carinthia. This produced a bilingual sign law in 1972, which established that approximately 200 bilingual signs had to be erected. However, the German majority of Carinthia disagreed and this led to which has been known as the “bilingual sign storm” (“Ortstafelsturm”), with violent removal of the bilingual signs and the resignation of the then Governor Hans Sima.

Because of this, a Minority law was enacted in 1976, which declared in its article 2.2 that bilingual signs had to be put up only where 25% of the total population belonged to a minority. In Carinthia, it meant that 91 bilingual signs were needed, but until today only 77 signs have been put up. Since then, it seemed that the situation had been calm, but a sentence by the Austrian Constitutional Court has brought the controversy into the spotlight again. The lawyer Rudolf Vouk was given a traffic fine as he drove knowingly too fast through a Carinthian city (St. Kanzian) which didn’t have bilingual signs. The case arrived to the Constitutional Court because Vouk claimed that the lack of bilingual signs in St. Kanzian was anticonstitutional. The Court ruled then that the 25% established in the Minority law was too high and reduced it to 10%, thus increasing the number of bilingual signs needed.

This has created a strong opposition by Governor Haider and its party BZÖ (“Bündnis Zukunft Österreich”). Haider has criticised Constitutional Court members for their decision numerous times, and has tried to split the population with a census and now with an opinion poll.

Related links...
Austrian State Treaty of 1955 (in French)
Minority Law of 1976 (in French)
Euromosaic: Slovenian in Austria

OCCITAN, MOTHER LANGUAGE OF THE OLYMPIC VALLEYS

March 2006 - The province of Turin presented the project “Occitan: Olympic language” coordinated by the region of Piedmont’s Council of Culture to promote the linguistic heritage of the minorities living in the area where the Winter Olympic Games have been held. The project came as the result of a call made in 2001 by Occitan cultural and language associations of the province to stimulate the visibility and the use of Occitan during the celebration of the sport event.

Occitan is spoken in Italy, mainly in fifteen alpine valleys in the Piedmontese provinces of Turin. It is never used by central and regional administrative bodies, although it is protected according to the Linguistic Protection Act 482/99.

The project included the opening of four offices under the name “Offices for the mother tongue of the Olympic Valleys: Occitan, Franco-Provencal and French” in Turin, Sestriere, Oulx and Gaglione with the aim of informing about the culture and the language of the minorities. A publication in four languages entitled Occitan, mother tongue of the Olympic Valleys, was issued for this purpose. The project also includes a series of cultural events related to language and sport scheduled for the Cultural Olympiad, such as exhibitions, music concerts, theatre, dancing parties, etc.

The representative of the main Occitan organization working for the language in the Occitan-speaking valleys of Italy, Chambra d’Oc, said that they did not achieved all they wished, but with the work of Valter Giuliano from the province of Turin and thanks to the councilor for the Mountain Affairs, Bruna Sibille, and other public bodies they assured 161.00 € for the program. He stated that “for the morale of the minority, too used to defeats, this seems a pretty good thing.”

Related links...
Linguistic Protection Act 482/99
Chambra d’Oc
Press release of the Province of Torino (in Italian)

GYÖRGY FRUNDA, CENSURED BY ROMANIAN POLITICIANS FOR HIS TASK IN THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE

February 2006 – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted last January a recommendation on the concept of nation to be approved by the Council of Ministers. The recommendation was based on a proposal presented by György Frunda, leader of the Romanian delegation in the PACE and member of the Romanian parliament representing PAHR, the party of the Hungarian minority in coalition on government.

The Assembly recommended the Committee of Ministers to invite the member states not yet having done so to sign and ratify the Framework Convention for the protection of national minorities and the European Charter for regional or minority languages, among other legal instruments. According to the recommendation, the members of the Council of Europe should foster in their internal instruments the recognition of the cultural rights of the minorities, take the appropriate measures in order to make sure that the member states reject any attempt to promote the ethnic purity of the state or to organise the territory and the administration of the state on an ethnic basis and bring into line their constitutions with the contemporary democratic European standards which call on each state to integrate all its citizens, irrespective of their ethno-cultural background.

The adoption of such a recommendation by the PACE has sparked controversy among the Romanian politicians, most of whom have sided against György Frunda.

Mircea Geoana, leader of the opposition group, the Social Democrat Party (PSD), has declared that the concept of nation put forward by Frunda is against the Romanian constitution and consequently Frunda should be dismissed as the head of the Romanian delegation. Nicolae Popa, vice-president of the Conservative Party, has provoked controversy with his statement that Frunda is dangerous for Romanian national interests and his suggestion that the PAHR MP should leave the country and settle in Hungary.

The recommendations, though, are not legally binding in Romania until the Council of Ministers approves them.

Related links...
Conclusions of the debate on the concept of nation
PACE recommendations to the Committee of Ministers
Related news (Mercator)

NATIVIDAD MUTUMBAJOY AWARDED THE 2006 INTERNATIONAL LINGUAPAX PRIZE

February 2006 – Natividad Mutumbajoy has been awarded the International Linguapax prize on February 20th by Linguapax Institute. The Institute, a non-governmental organisation with its headquarters in Barcelona, was created in 2001 with the objective of giving continuity to a series of meetings organized by UNESCO from 1987 on. Among other activities, it aims at fostering linguistic rights as individual and collective rights, carrying out research on language policies, assisting the language policy makers of state or regional governments and connecting multilingualism with the culture of peace.

The prize is awarded every year by the Linguapax Institute to linguists, researchers, professors and members of the civil society in acknowledgement of their task in favour of linguistic diversity and multilingual education. Natividad Mutumbajoy is an activist of the Ingano people in Colombia and has worked jointly with the Tanda Chiridu Ingakuna Indigenous Association for the revival of Inga culture through education programmes in Yachaicury school and the setting up of a radio station broadcasting in Inga language.

As usual the identity of the winner has been disclosed on occasion of the International Mother Language Day, which was devoted to the topic of languages and cyberspace. During the same awarding ceremony the Linguapax Institute proposed a roundtable on good practices of language revitalization in different continents and the screening of the film “Voices of the World”.

Related links...
Linguapax Institute
International Mother Language Day
General information on Ingano people

LAW ON LANGUAGES, A KEY ISSUE IN MACEDONIA

February 2006 – The law on languages in Macedonia has not yet been passed despite being on the political agenda for a long time. According to several political analysts, Macedonia’s ruling Social Democrats are seeking to delay the adoption of a new law on the use of the Albanian language, out of fears that it could bring about their defeat in the country’s next elections.

Approximately 700,000 Albanians are living in Macedonia. They are the second largest population group in the country, after the Slavs-Macedonians. Before Macedonia became part of Yugoslavia in 1944, western Macedonia –where most of the Albanians live- was part of Albania.

The language act is one of the issues of concern in the report issued this month by the Project on Ethnic Relations (PER), an organisation dedicated to preventing ethnic conflict in Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the former Soviet Union. The report shows the results of the “Mavrovo Process”, a series of roundtables that have provided the Macedonian political elite with the only venue apart from the parliament where all political parties can meet and discuss the most pressing issues and concerns of the day. The process began in 2003 as a way to improve communication over the implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, whose signing in 2001 put an end to the conflict in the country and resulted in a package of constitutional amendments designed to boost the rights of the country’s large Albanian minority.

According to the PER report, representatives of opposition parties taking part in the Mavrovo Process focused on two main issues in their criticism of the government’s policies: judicial reform and the law on languages. As regards the latter, a leader of an ethnic Albanian opposition party asserted that the absence of a new law on languages demonstrates that the Ohrid Framework Agreement is not being implemented. However, the Macedonian parties in power have declared that no extra concessions will be made beyond those foreseen at Ohrid, which concern use of Albanian in local government alone. Use of the Albanian language is currently regulated by nine separate laws. Its role in the education system, for instance, is governed by the Laws on Primary, Secondary and Higher Education, and its use at municipality-level is regulated by the Law on Local Government.

The government tried to adopt a new law on languages last June that did not satisfy the junior partners in government, the Albanian Democratic Union for Integration, which have been proposing to establish Albanian as an official language throughout Macedonia. Among other things the report summarizes the different political positions on the issue and stresses on the fact that it has not yet been solved.

THE DANISH MINORITY IN GERMANY CELEBRATES THE LANGUAGE DAY

February 2006 – February 9th was the Danish language day in the German region of Sonderjylland/Schleswig. This region bordering Denmark is nowadays a part of the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, and has been for the past centuries an object of dispute between the two countries. It suffered two wars during the XIX century, which resulted in the cession of the territory of Schleswig-Holstein to Prussia. However, after the First World War, in 1920, a referendum was held in the northern region of Schleswig and the territory rejoined Denmark, while the southern part remained in Germany. In 1955 the so-called Bonn and Copenhagen Declarations were signed, the main document that aims at protecting the rights of the Danish minority in Germany and the German minority in Denmark.

During the celebration of the Danish language day, Anke Spoorendonk, president of the parliamentary group SSW (Südschleswigsche Wählerverband) explained that the command of the German and Danish languages is a requisite so that the people of the region can work and live closer together, and that the lack of knowledge of Danish in the German side is what prevents a bigger and more transcendent development across borders. According to Sporrendonk, for German people the knowledge of the Danish language is not only an open door to the job market in Denmark, but also the key to a closer work with the northern neighbours and to a cultural understanding between the German majority and the Danish minority.”

The president of the Schleswig-Holstein Green Party, Anne Lütkes, explained that the language is an essential element for an understanding between both communities, more work mobility and economic integration. As the number of German Danish-speakers is lower than that of Danish German-speakers, Lütkes proposed to promote the teaching of Danish in the regional schools as part of their curriculum. The president of the Schleswig-Holstein Parliament, Martin Kayenburg, also attended some of the events commemorating the Danish language day.

Related links...
1955 Bonn-Copenhagen Declarations
Euromosaic: Danish in Germany
University of Laval’s information on Schleswig-Holstein (in French)

CATALAN NOW REQUISITE FOR NEW UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS

February 2006 - The Government of Catalonia is preparing a decree that, if approved, will affect all tenured and contracted professors, both permanent and temporary, at Catalan universities--with an exception for visiting professors and the like. The decree expands on Article 6.4 of the Universities Act of Catalonia, which establishes the obligation to know the two official languages of Catalonia and will affect, without applying retroactively, to international professors as well as to Spanish citizens, according to the Secretary of the Inter-University Council of Catalonia, Josep Castells.

The Inter-University Council, the coordinating body of Catalonia’s university system responsible for advising the Catalan government on university issues, has announced its support for the draft of the decree currently awaiting approval from the Legal Council Commission, which is responsible for advising the government and negotiating with workers' unions.

Once the decree is approved, all university professors, tenured and contracted staff--both temporary and permanent--will need to be accredited, through the general exam offered by the Catalan universities, as having a sufficient level of Catalan equivalent to Level C on the scale of the Secretary of Linguistic Policy, the body responsible for the application of the linguistic legislation derived from Article 3 of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia and ensure the application of established linguistic policies by the Spanish Government.

A period of one year will be given to achieve the required level of Catalan, which will need to be accredited with either a certificate from the Secretary of Linguistic Policy, a secondary school diploma (BUP) from 1992 onward or a LOGSE secondary school diploma, having been awarded in Catalonia.

Although accreditation of knowledge of the Catalan language will be required, professors will be able to use either of the two official languages both in the classroom and in writing.

Related links...
Act of 1998 on linguistic policy
Universities Act of Catalonia (in Catalan)
Inter-University Council of Catalonia

THE MARI MINORITY FACES CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC ASSIMILATION IN RUSSIA

February 2006 – The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) and the Moscow Helsinki Group (MGH) issued on 1st of February a report on the human rights situation of the Mary minority of the Republic of Mari-El, one of Russia’s so-called ethnic regions. Maris are a national group belonging to the Finno-Ugric people and constitute less than a half the population of the Republic.

According to the report, democracy and freedom of expression have come under growing attack over the last few years and the social acceptance of the Mari language, despite being an official state language, has decreased in recent years. The report states that “attempts to use Mari in public contexts are now sometimes met with outright hostility”. This fact comes as the result of a Soviet era trend: the Mari language increasingly became a domestic language with little visibility in public life, while Russian consistently gained ground. The report also points out that “lack of resources makes it impossible to effectively enforce Mari as an official language in the public sector” and that “the fact that public officials are not required to have any knowledge of Mari, combined with the fact that ethnic Mari are underrepresented in public administration, creates a major obstacle to the provision of public services in the titular language”.

The report includes a list of recommendations in which IHF and MGH advise the authorities of the Russian Federation and Mari-El to take adequate measures to enforce the protection and development of minority languages and cultures and to intensify their efforts to facilitate practical enforcement of the official status of the Mari language. They should also encourage active use of minority languages in different forms of media and give particular consideration to the importance of promoting, maintaining and improving the availability of newspapers, magazines, and TV and radio broadcasts in minority languages when elaborating and implementing public media policies.

Finno-Ugric minorities of Russia have been given international attention in recent years, and the situation of the Mari and other Finno-Ugric groups of Russia has repeatedly been featured on the agenda of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. A report on this subject is currently being prepared by Ms. Saks, one of its members. The European Parliament has also been active with respect to the Finno-Ugric minorities of Russia and in a resolution adopted in May 2005 it deplored “violations of human rights and democracy” in Mari.

WELSH LANGUAGE BOARD ISSUES A STATEMENT ON THE LEGISLATIVE POSITION OF THE WELSH LANGUAGE

January 2006 - The members of the Welsh Language Board published a position statement on the legislative situation of the Welsh Language. The paper was prepared as part of the Board’s statutory functions and has been presented to First Minister for the Welsh Assembly Government, and to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Speaking on behalf of the Board members, the Chair, Meri Huws, said, “The proposed incorporation of the Board’s functions into the Welsh Assembly Government will herald a significant change in the legislative arrangements that support the Welsh language. This, jointly with the proposed changes in the Government of Wales Bill extends a natural opportunity for us to consider the form and content of the legislation that supports Welsh”.

The paper considers the following issues: language rights; Welsh in the workplace; the scope of the 1993 Act; normalising the use of Welsh; weaknesses in the current legislation; independent regulation; the role of the National Assembly; and transitional arrangements in light of the Board’s incorporation.

Moreover, the paper specifically states that there is a need to review the existing legislation. According to the Board, new measures should be developed in relation to language rights, and new legislation aiming at normalising the use of Welsh should be put in place. The text also specifies that the legislation affecting the language should primarily be the responsibility of the National Assembly for Wales (the National Assembly), and that an independent regulator for the Welsh Language should be established, with statutory powers and a clearly defined role.

More information can be found at: http://www.welsh-language-board.org.uk/download.php/pID=60737.9

Related links...
Welsh Language Board
Welsh Language Act (1993)
Publication: A Strategy for the Welsh Language

CoE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY DEBATES ON THE CONCEPT OF ‘NATION’

January 2006 - “Everyone should be free to define themselves as a member of a cultural “nation”, irrespective of their citizenship”, the CoE Parliamentary Assembly said following a debate on “the concept of nation”, based on a report by the Romanian MP György Frunda.

During the debate held in Strasbourg the 26th January, the Assembly debated on the concept of ‘nation’ and admitted that historically this notion had been often used demagogically to put people against people and nations against nations and to make citizens of the same countries citizens of the first or second degree. After the debate, the Assembly approved a recommendation for the Committee of Ministers.

In the text of the recommendation, the Assembly invited the member states not yet having done so to sign and ratify the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities as well as the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the European Charter of Local Self-government, which are “fundamental instruments for maintaining the national identity of national minorities or communities, and step up its efforts in this respect”. The recommendation also urged member states to promote in their national legislation the recognition of the cultural rights of minorities, inter alia on the basis of Recommendation 43 (1998) on territorial autonomy and national minorities and Recommendation 70 (1999) on local law/special status of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.

The Assembly concluded that, based upon its Recommendation 1623 (2003) on rights of national minorities, the Committee of Ministers should "take the necessary measures to continue co-operation with the European Union, with a view to achieving common policies in the field of the protection of national minorities”.

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE ON ROM

January 2006 – A new website dedicated to the Roma has been launched recently by the European Commission. The website, managed by the Anti-discrimination Unit in Directorate-General Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, on behalf of the Inter-Service Group on Roma, is aimed at anyone interested in Roma affairs, from individuals to non-governmental organizations and government bodies.

Even though it is acknowledged that much of the responsibility for addressing the challenges of discrimination and exclusion the Roma people suffer lies at national, regional and local levels, the EU has a range of policies and programmes which can help to support these efforts. Given the broad nature of these challenges, EU support is also provided across a broad range of policy areas and activities. This website gives links to the most important among these, although it does not claim to be exhaustive. Thus, within the European Commission, an Inter-Service Group – bringing together 14 different departments and chaired by the Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities DG – coordinates the different policies and programmes tackling Roma issues. Users can access a range of information on how to promote social inclusion and combat discrimination against Roma. The site also briefs on how to get funding to carry away these projects and offers the latest news on the issue.

The site has been put up approximately a month before the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) Roundtable with the International Roma Women Network.

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PREVENTS MP FROM USING CATALAN

January 2006 – Manuel Antonio dos Santos, vice-president of the European Parliament, prevented Catalan MP Bernat Joan from speaking in Catalan in the last plenary session. Addressing the assembly in his language has been his usual way to protest against the exclusion of non-state languages in the legislative body, and Joan has been reprimanded several times for contravening the in-house language regulations. On this occasion, though, the controversy with the vice-president was particularly significant as the board of the Parliament had postponed two days before and for the third time the decision on the proposal regarding the use of Catalan, Galician and Basque in this European institution.

As we informed last month, the Spanish minister for foreign affairs and co-operation, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, sent a proposal to reach an agreement with the European Parliament regarding the manner in which letters from citizens written in those languages could be received and send out and the way oral interventions in the plenary sessions could be organized. The European Parliament’s ok was expected before the end of last year, but a reply remains to be given. Monday this week the members of the board addressed the issue again, but the proposal was postponed once more.

It seems that the adjournment is due to the contents of a report drafted by the Parliament secretariat, which highlights the technical difficulties the inclusion of Catalan, Galician and Basque would involve after the addition of 9 languages following the EU enlargement. It also underlines that the use of the co-official languages of Spain in the European Parliament would be an unsustainable precedent since other states could eventually apply for the same rights.

Bernat Joan disagrees with the official version the report provides, and believes that the actual reason is the lack of political will to implement language rights. According to him, “it would just require from the deputies a translation for the interpreters of the speech in a bridge language”.

Related links...
Related news (Eurolang)
The rules governing the languages of the European Union: which languages and to what extent?
Related news (Eurolang)

EXPOLANGUES 24th EDITION TO BE HELD IN PARIS

January 2006 - The international exhibition of foreign languages and cultures Expolangues will take place in Paris from 18th to 21st of January. This is the 24th edition of the fair, which has as its main objective to promote languages and cultures, develop international communication and defence multilingualism.

In consistency with the organizers’ policy of inviting a state instead of welcoming languages or cultures, this year the guest of honour is Germany. However, about sixty languages from twenty different countries will also be represented in more than 200 stalls. Publishers, language schools, programmers of language study holidays, interpreters and other institutions coming from countries with dominant languages will be broadly represented, and the entire programme of conferences scheduled will be devoted to matters of their interest. In spite of this, exhibitors of minoritised and minority languages will be also present in Paris. Several institutions such as Unioun Prouvençalo representing Occitan, Ofis ar Brezhoneg for Breton, Institut d’Estudis Baleàrics and Institut Ramon Llull for Catalan, the Basque government, the language policy board of the Galician government, etc. have confirmed their attendance. Besides, the programmers have included introductory sessions in some least taught languages such as Basque, Welsh, Galician, Catalan, Romanian and Lithuanian in the “Language Kiosc” section.

Expolangues, with more than 20,000 visitors and 11.000 participants, has become a leading language-sector exhibition in the last years.

Related links...
Expolangues
Ofis ar Brezhoneg (Breton Language Board)
Unioun Prouvençalo (in French)

A DRAFT BILL PROPOSES MAKING FRIULAN COMPULSORY

January 2006- Lega Nord’s regional councillors Claudio Violino, Alessandra Guerra, Massimo Franz and Fulvio Follegot have drafted a regional bill for the teaching of Friulan language in school. Friulan, a Rhaeto-Romance variety related to Ladin in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Romansh in Switzerland, spoken by about half a million people living in the three Friulian provinces of Udine/Udin, Pordenone/Pordenon and Gorizia/Gurize, is one of the twelve languages recognised and protected by Act 482/1999.

Act 482/1999 established the restricted introduction of Friulan in the education system, public offices, local government, courts, mass media, place names and personal names. However, the promoters of the proposal believe that the situation of Friulan in school is still precarious, especially on account of deficient funding and lack of skilled teaching staff and teaching material. In fact, regulations for the application of the Act did not come into force until 2001, and six years after its approval the law has not been entirely implemented. Lack of coordination and official guidelines have made the teaching of Friulan circumstantial and a matter of will.

The aim of the proposed law is to provide the language with the appropriate administrative arrangements, eradicate precariety and the provisional situation the teaching of the language undergoes and enter a period of consolidation throughout the Friulan territory. To do so, the proposal foresees going a step further and making Friulan compulsory in school, which improve on the provisions of Act 482/1999 that established that Friulan could be taught only with the parents’ consent. It also foresees the education in Friulan through other subjects instead of learning the language on a one-hour a week basis. The proposal establishes the setting up of a permanent Commission in charge of organizing appropriate training for language staff and well-designed programmes of study, and sets out a plan to improve the funding to implement the law.

CoE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS ADOPTS CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS IN RESPECT OF LIECHTENSTEIN AND MOLDOVA

December 2005 - The Committee of Ministers adopted resolutions on how Liechtenstein and Moldova have put to practice the principles contained in the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. These resolutions contain conclusions and recommendations which are largely based on the Opinions of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, highlighting a number of issues on which these countries are expected to take further measures to support their national minorities.

In accordance with the conclusions of the CoE, building on the Law on National Minorities of 2001, Moldova has sought to improve and extend the relevant legal framework and made practical efforts to support national minorities in the fields of culture and education. Dialogue with persons belonging to national minorities continued and the Bureau of Interethnic Relations has played a particularly positive role in this context. National minorities were consulted and involved in the processes, particularly concerning completed or pending changes in the Moldovan legislation.

However, the question of Transnistria remains a serious concern, especially since this conflict affects a great many developments, political and others, of importance to the whole population of Moldova, and to the implementation of the principles of the Framework Convention. Aside from the Transnistria question, efforts have been made in most of the sectors relevant to the implementation of the Framework Convention in Moldova. However, the implementation of the guarantees provided by legislation on the protection of national minorities remains a problem. The difficulties are due to insufficient monitoring of the situation by the authorities, inadequate resources and, in some cases, a lack of political will, particularly at local level.

The CoE outlined in its report that the action taken to support preservation and promotion of the cultures, languages and traditions of national minorities still falls short of expectations of representatives of national minorities.

As for Liechtenstein, the CoE admits that this country has taken steps to improve the implementation of the Framework Convention following the adoption of the first Opinion of the Advisory Committee in November 2000 and the Committee of Ministers' Resolution in November 2001. New initiatives have been launched, including the creation of the Office for the Equality of Opportunities.

The CoE report stressed the importance that the authorities continue their efforts to strengthen the protection against discrimination, in particular, in relation to non-nationals who do not share the language, culture or religion of the majority population.

List of Resolutions (Moldova and Liechtenstein):
List of declarations made with respect to the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

THE SECOND OPINION OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON SLOVENIA AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS ON MINORITY PROTECTION IN DENMARK AND HUNGARY MADE PUBLIC

December 2005 - The opinion of the Advisory Committee of the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities on measures taken in this field by Slovenia has been made public at the country's initiative. The Advisory Committee of 18 independent experts drew up the opinion on the basis of the state report and other materials and after visiting Slovenia. The opinion will soon be examined by the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, which will then adopt its conclusions and possible recommendations.

The Committee stands out as positive developments the steps Slovenia has made to improve the social and economic situation of the Roma and praises the mutual understanding characterising relations between minority groups and the majority. The situation of non-Slovenes from former Yugoslavia, though, raises substantial problems in terms of access to social and economic rights. Another source of concern is that there are still problems in the implementation of the legislation relating to protection of the linguistic rights of the Italian and Hungarian minorities in the “ethnically mixed areas”.

As regards Denmark and Hungary, the Committee of Ministers has adopted resolutions on the protection of national minorities in these countries. The recommendations for Denmark include the need to “examine how further support can be provided to local radio and televisions broadcasting for the German minority” and “how to better reflect the culture, history, language and religion of persons belonging to the German minority and other ethnic and religious groups in the curriculum and textbooks”, as well as to “find alternative solutions for the Roma children who remain in a separate Roma class in order to guarantee equal education”. On the other hand, the Committee of Ministers recommends Hungary to “define the geographical areas in which the use of minority languages in relations with the administrative authorities could be more actively encouraged and pursue efforts to employ officials who can speak minority languages”. It also encourages the Hungarian government to make steps towards a bilingual teaching for minorities.

CITIZENS CAN ADDRESS THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS IN GALICIAN, BASQUE AND CATALAN WITH RESTRICTIONS

December 2005 – The Spanish minister for foreign affairs and co-operation, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, and the current president of the EU Council , Jack Straw, signed an administrative arrangement in Brussels in order to allow the use in the Council of languages other than Castilian (Spanish) that are recognised in the Spanish state. The arrangement comes as a consequence of an intense campaign in favour of the official status of Catalan in Europe launched by the civil society and several political parties in Catalonia and as a result of the Council conclusions of 13 June 2005 in which the 25 member states gave permission to Spain for negotiations with European institutions to include the use of Galician, Basque and Catalan.

The arrangement allows to use those languages in the Committee of the Regions, the European Parliament and the Council of Europe. As regards the Committee of the Regions, Catalan, Basque and Galician could be heard in the plenary session of 17 November as they were used by the respective representatives of the Valencian Country, Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Galicia and Basque Country. As in other European bodies, Moratinos recently sent a proposal to reach an agreement with the European Parliament. The text deals with the manner in which letters from citizens written in those languages can be received and send out and the way oral interventions in the plenary sessions can be organized. The European Parliament have not yet sent a reply, but it seems that there will be an answer on the 23rd of this month. The arrangement also provides for the translation of the legislative records adopted by the Council and the Parliament to those languages and establishes the possibility to address the institutions in the co-official languages of the state.

In spite of the use of the so-called regional languages in the European institutions, professors of law, NGO for the promotion of Catalan and political parties have reminded that there has been an advancement but the progress is not satisfactory. They point out that Catalan has not been granted the official status -not even the status of treaty language- because the Spanish government failed to fulfil the promise of adding it in the article IV-448 of the European Constitution. Besides that, the agreements are only administrative arrangements, not juridical ones, negotiated with each European institution, and 7 weeks notice must be given before oral interventions. Furthermore, they claim that the translating body to and from these languages will be paid by the state and will be external to the European institutions, which means that these do not hold any responsibility whatsoever. In conclusion, they believe that it is a far too little recognition, among other reasons because, even though some linguistic rights are provided, these are indirect and external, that is to say, in relation to the state under which they are impounded but not in relation to the Union.

ONE MILLION EURO AVAILABLE TO HELP PROMOTE THE IRISH LANGUAGE IN THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

December 2005 – The Irish Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív has announced that he will provide 1 million euros to help groups and organisations to promote the Irish language in the business community in cities and counties throughout Ireland. The scheme will be funded by means of a subfund of Ciste na Gaeilge, which grants aids for language organisations such as Bord na Leabhar Gaeilge, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and other groups functioning principally outside the Gaeltacht or Irish-speaking areas, and is financed from proceeds of the National Lotery.

This fund will be valued at 1 million € over a three-year period and a further 250,000 € will be added by means of joint funding. In order to apply, a group or organisation must first arrange joint funding and partnership with Local Government and/or with the chamber of commerce. Departmental funding will be based on a 3:1 ratio, that is, three euros provided by the department and one euro from local government or the chamber of commerce, or indeed one euro jointly by local government and the chamber of commerce. It has been established that a maximum funding of 500,000 € may be made available to any one organisation over a three-year period. To apply, a group must provide a business plan to include specific targets relating to the promotion of Irish and a clear exposition as to how these targets will be met.

The Minister said that he is “hopeful that this fund will encourage chambers of commerce and local authorities to enter into a fruitful partnership with groups focused on promoting the Irish Language in their local area. It is very obvious that many business people have already a very positive attitude towards the Irish language and this will provide a very solid foundation to this scheme. We now have an opportunity to build on this foundation".

The news have been made public amidst a hot national debate on the usefulness of the Irish language in society, and more particularly, on the teaching of Irish. Just recently, the opposition leader Enda Kenny sparked controversy by arguing that Irish should be made an optional subject for Leaving Cerificate pupils at secondary school.

Related links...
Website of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs
Official Languages Act of Ireland 2003

EU SUPPORT FOR THE ROMANIAN BILL ON NATIONAL MINORITIES (Eurolang)

The European Union has urged Romania to adopt the Bill on the statute of national minorities as a condition of Romania’s EU entry. The Romanian Government promised this would happen before January and representatives of Romania’s largest ethnic minority, the Hungarians, expect this no later than March. Meanwhile, the Romanian opposition, as well as voices within the ruling coalition, are opposed to the legislation as well as wanting to exclude cultural autonomy from it.

The draft bill, initiated by the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ, UDMR) is part of the Government’s programme. It establishes cultural autonomy for ethnic minorities based on language, educational, cultural and religious rights to be supervised by minority autonomy councils.

However, the Senate, the upper House of the Romanian Parliament where the ruling coalition have a fragile majority, excluded the clause on cultural autonomy from the bill and then rejected it as a whole.

The European Parliament (EP) Foreign Affairs Committee adopted a report based on a draft by French Socialist MEP Pierre Moscovici on Romania’s preparedness for EU accession. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said at the debate on the report that Romania was supposed to adopt the Bill on national minorities in order to obtain a more favourable report in April.

At the initiative of Hungarian MEPs Csaba Tabajdi, István Szent-Iványi, Committee Vice-President Kinga Gál, Gábor Harangozó, György Schöpflin and Alexandra Dobolyi, as well as Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Michl Ebner, the report was amended with recommendations for Romania to adopt the Bill and to improve the situation of ethnic minorities in the fields of mother tongue education, restitution of properties and amending the electoral law.

Related links...
European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee report (text in French)
RMDSZ, the minority law:
Related article

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION CALLS FOR ACTION TO PROMOTE LANGUAGES AND LAUNCHES A NEW WEB PORTAL (Eurolang)

November 2005 - The European Commission adopted its first ever Communication on the issue of multilingualism and linguistic diversity under the watchword “the more languages you know, the more of a person you are.” The document explores the various facets of the Commission’s policies in this field and sets out a new framework strategy for multilingualism with proposals for specific actions.

To mark the occasion, a new web portal on languages has been launched on the EU’s interinstitutional website EUROPA, with access in the current 20 official languages. It aims to be an easy point of entry for the general public, the media or students to information about languages from the European Union. The subjects covered range from the Union’s policies to encourage language learning and linguistic diversity, by way of a review of language skills in the Union today, to the rules for the use of the EU's own official languages.

According to Ján Figel, Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism who launched the communication, “languages are what makes us human, and Europe’s linguistic diversity is at the core of its identity”.

The communication sees language knowledge as a desirable life-skill for all EU citizens, and presents the various actions set up by the Commission to promote and develop language skills and linguistic diversity. Through the Socrates and Leonardo da Vinci programmes, for example, the Commission puts 30 M€ each year into actions such as training, mobility of students and teachers and funding class exchanges. Moreover, the Commission will be investing more in language-related research into ways of overcoming language barriers through new information and communication technologies, as well as in the field of social and human sciences.

In addition, the Commission are organising a conference on regional or minority languages and education systems in Brussels next year, 27-28 April 2006. Speaking to the press about the usage of regional languages in the Commission Mr Figel underlined that the Commission follows the line of EU Council rulings mentioning the use of Catalan, Basque and Galician, where languages recognised by states will be used. He stated that the Commission is language friendly in practical terms adding "this is our Union, its important we create a respect which is real."

(Source: Eurolang, Davyth Hicks)

Related links...
The new Europa languages’ website
EC communication on multilingualism
Eurobarometer 63.4, September 2005

THE PROPOSAL FOR THE REFORM OF THE STATUTE OF AUTONOMY OF THE VALENCIAN COUNTRY DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THE UNITY OF THE CATALAN LANGUAGE

The Constitutional Commission of the Spanish Congress of Deputies is debating the reform of the Statute of Autonomy of the Valencian Country. The text currently in force, approved in 1982, is to be modified with the support of the Popular Party and the PSOE, the two main Spanish-based political parties.

As regards the legal regulation of the Catalan language spoken in the Valencian Country -traditionally known as Valencian-, the proposal includes two new paragraphs. The first one introduces for the first time the idea that Valencian is the Valencian country’s own language (Article 7), whereas the present text only establishes that “the two official languages of the Autonomous Comunity are Valencian and Castilian”. As to the other novelty, the new draft establishes the right “to receive education on, and in Valencian”, and also prescribes that “theValencian Academy of the Language is the official and normative institution of the Valencian language”. The emphasis on the notion of Valencian as the country’s own language and the lack of any allusion to other Catalan-speaking territories (Balearic Islands, Stripe of Aragon, Catalonia, Andorra and Northern Catalonia) are political measures fostering partition of the Valencian Country from a cultural and linguistic framework whose unity the academic world has always agreed upon. Honorat Ros, member of the Valencian Academy of the Language, proposed on this issue that “in order to overcome useless aversions the new Statute could include a paragraph such as “The Generalitat (Valencian Government) will promote cooperation with other autonomous communities and other territories with the same language to be able to strengthen and enrich the language we share.””

Several associations in favour of the promotion of Valencian-Catalan are of the believe that the reform of the Statute not only deepens the split from those territories but does not put forward any substantial progress. According to Diego Gómez, president of Escola Valenciana-Federació d’Associacions per la Llengua “the immobilism with which the language issue is addressed by the two main political parties is astonishing”, given the fact that the draft still only guarantees the right but not the duty to know the two official languages. As it is now, the "duty to know" still rests with the language of the Spanish state (Article 3, Spanish Constitution). The project of reform currently being discussed in the Constitutional Comission of the Spanish Congress does not includes measures to make sure the workers of the different administrations have knowledge of Valencian-Catalan, nor makes any reference to the fact that the administration, schools and media should be making Valencian prioritary.

UNESCO ADOPTS THE CONVENTION ON THE PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF THE DIVERSITY OF CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS

November 2005 - The General Conference of UNESCO, meeting in Paris in October, approved the Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions, an international normative instrument that will enter into force three months after its ratification by 30 States. This text reinforces the idea already included in the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, unanimously adopted in 2001, that cultural diversity must be considered as a “common heritage of humanity”, and its “defence as an ethical imperative, inseparable from respect for human dignity.”

The Convention seeks to reaffirm the links between culture, development and dialogue and to create an innovative platform for international cultural cooperation; to this end, it reaffirms the sovereign right of States to elaborate cultural policies with a view “to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions” and “to create the conditions for cultures to flourish and to freely interact in a mutually beneficial manner” (Article 1).

At the same time, a series of guiding principles (Article 2) guarantees that all measures aimed at protecting and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions do not hinder respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms “such as freedom of expression, information and communication, as well as the ability of individuals to choose (them)…”. The rights and obligations of Parties (Articles 5 to 11) include several measures and policies aimed at protecting and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions, approaching creativity and all it implies in the context of globalization, where diverse expressions are circulated and made accessible to all via cultural goods and services.

It should be stressed that international promotion and cooperation, especially in the case of developing countries, is at the heart of the Convention (Articles 12 to 19). To this effect, the creation of an International Fund for Cultural Diversity, has been provided for (Article 18). Resources for this Fund will come from voluntary contributions from Parties, funds allocated by UNESCO’s General Conference, and diverse contributions.

The Convention establishes a series of follow-up mechanisms aimed at ensuring efficient implementation of the new instrument. Among these, a non binding mechanism for the settlement of disputes allows, within a strictly cultural perspective, possible divergences of views on the interpretation or application of certain rules or principles relatives to the Convention (Article 25) to be dealt with. The Convention does not include any mechanism for sanctions.

Related links...
Text of the Convention
UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity
Related article in UNESCO website

OSCE MISSION TO SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO BACKS THE USE OF MINORITY LANGUAGES IN THE COURTS

November 2005 - The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the world’s largest regional security organization, sent a group of experts to Serbia and Montenegro in order to organize a study visit and a workshop on 28 and 29 of October. The aim of this visit was to improve the service of the judiciary system to national minorities by offering training courses to 19 representatives of the courts and public prosecutors offices from Southern Serbia, an area of the country predominantly populated by ethnic Albanian. The workshop, which took place in the Senta Municipal Court, sought to train the above mentioned staff to conduct court proceedings in the language of such minority. In Serbia, there are several municipalities where large ethnic minority communities exist, and the challenge has been to provide the necessary strategies, infrastructure and qualified staff to conduct all aspects of the court proceedings in other languages, even though the Serbian legal framework provides for the conduct of court proceedings in the language of a national minority.

The OSCE mission took as an example several courts throughout the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, as court proceedings there are carried out in Hungarian, the language of the predominant national minority of the region. During these two days the judges and prosecutors from southern Serbia observed their Hungarian-speaking colleagues conducting criminal and civil court proceedings. This provided the background for discussions during which the technical and legal requirements, human rights issues and human resource needs were outlined.

As Stephen Kelley, the Legal Advisor on Judicial Reform of the OSCE put it, “conducting court in the language of a national minority is an important step for Serbia in its effort to build bridges to those communities". He added that "this training course provides the judges and prosecutors responsible for meeting European standards and the legal requirements of Serbian law with the technical knowledge necessary for its implementation."

Representatives from the Supreme Court of Serbia, the Co-ordination Body for South Serbia, the Justice Ministry, and other members of the judiciary also participated in the workshop.

The project forms part of the ongoing efforts of the Mission to support the Co-ordination Body to implement the 2001 peace agreement, aimed at re-integrating the ethnic Albanian community into state institutions.

THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE’S OPINION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES BY ITALY AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC, MADE PUBLIC

November 2005 – The opinion of the Advisory Committee of the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities on measures taken in this field by Italy and the Czech Republic have been made public at the country's initiative on the 25th and 26th of October respectively. The Advisory Committee of 18 independent experts drew up the opinions on the basis of the state report and other materials and after conducting a visit to both countries.

According to the Advisory Committee, Italy and the Czech Republic have made steps to improve the implementation of the Framework Convention since 2002, which have seen positive developments. However, the opinion includes some issues of concern and recommendations, since some shortcomings have been noticed. As regards to Italy, the Committee has reminded that “the implementation of the specific legislation protecting the Slovene minority in the region Friuli-Venezia Giulia has not really started four years after its adoption due to the persisting political, legal and technical disputes over the demarcation of the Law’s territorial scope of application”. It is also concerned about the fact that “there remains a need to develop TV and radio programmes in other minority languages like in Friulan. Legal obligations in this field, which derive from the national legislative framework on minorities, have not been implemented to date. The reception of existing programmes remains impossible in certain provinces with a traditional presence of minorities, such as the Slovenians and the Ladins”. The opinion also stresses “the lack of tangible progress in the integration of the Roma, Sinti and Travellers” and the lack of legal protection at the state level for those communities, which “should be addressed by the authorities so as to enable these persons to better preserve and further develop their identity and culture”.

As to the Czech Republic, the Advisory Committee underlines that “there is still room for improvement in fields such as the use of minority languages in the public sphere, teaching of and in minority languages and participation of national minorities in public affairs, particularly at local level” and that “media access for persons belonging to national minorities and education reflecting their culture and traditions also require increased efforts”. The social exclusion and marginalisation the Roma people suffer should also be dealt with as a matter of priority. The opinion will soon be examined by the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, which will then adopt its conclusions and possible recommendations.

Latest news from the Council of Europe regarding minorities also inform that Ukraine has finally deposited the ratification instrument for the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, more than two years after it was ratified by the parliament.

MERCATOR MEDIA HOLDS ITS IV MERCATOR INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON MINORITY LANGUAGES

October 2005 – On 26, 27 and 28 October Mercator Media held in the University of Wales Aberystwyth its IV Symposium on Translation of Culture, Culture of Translation: Languages in Films, Television and Literature. Among other issues, the Symposium dealt with the politics of translation, language transfer and cultural transfer, translation and language planning and minority languages and audiovisual media.

Mercator Media’s Symposium sought contributions to the discussion from those active practitioners and policy-makers in the audiovisual and literary fields (producers, directors, broadcasters, subtitlers and dubbers, scriptwriters, publishers, authors, translators) as well as those concerned with these issues in an academic context.

Thus, the conference counted on the participation of representative researchers of the Catalan language and media, Breton cultural expression and Irish translation and language planners, among others. The symposium dealt specifically with language transfer, which included subtitling and dubbing of both film and television as well as literary translation. From the point of view of minority languages these areas were seen as a multi-faceted phenomenon which could be used to disseminate cultures which find themselves outside the audiovisual and literary ‘mainstream’ and to maximise audience or reader numbers for minority cultural products.

As one of the main conclusions, translation into minority languages not only increases the volume of available material in a marginalized or a minority language, but may have a wider cultural impact and contribute to the development of the language as a dynamic creative medium.

Related links...
Merrcator Media website
Symposium Programme
Paper on minority languages and media in the EU, by Elin Haf Gruffydd and Gwenno Piette (2003)

CALL FOR EU FUNDING GUARANTEE FOR LESSER USED LANGUAGES

October 2005 - Catalan MEP Bernat Joan called for guaranteed European funding to support lesser used languages in a debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg held the 24th October 2005.

MEPs debated proposals for the CULTURE 2007 scheme which is set up to support diverse cultural projects in Europe in the period 2007-2013. MEPs asked for a total of €600 million made available for the whole scheme and Bernat Joan argued for specific support for minority languages. Speaking in the debate at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Bernat Joan said: "In looking at the financial proposals that go with the Culture 2007 scheme, many of us are gravely concerned about an issue that has not yet been properly recognised by the European Union: that is the promotion of minorized languages and minority languages within EU”.

Bernat Joan also made specific reference to the CoE European Charter for regional and Minority Languages: “according to the Charter for Minority Languages, each linguistic community has the right to maintain, to develop and to pass on to future generations its own language. In the European Union, we have official languages, minority languages and languages, like Catalan, that, being majority languages in their own country, are not a part of the first or of the second group”.

Mr. Joan concluded that “for the sake of all of these languages, for the sake of linguistic diversity in Europe, the EU has a duty to provide financial support. I know that what I propose is contrary to the Jacobinist language policy, which is prevalent in some European states, but by supporting lesser used languages we promote diversity, democracy and freedom. And we promote also the maintenance of a real ecology of languages in the European Union."

A MINISTERIAL DECREE ON LANGUAGES IGNORES THE TEACHING OF THE “REGIONAL” LANGUAGES OF FRANCE

October 2005 – The implementation of the measures included in the Law of Management and Programming for the Future of School Education, best known as Law Fillon, has begun. A governmental decree regulates the main measures on the teaching of languages, the goals, the assessment criterion and the setting up of an academic commission for the languages. It was unexpected, though, that the languages which the decree refers to would be exclusively foreign languages.

One of the measures affecting minoritised languages in France, the organisation of their teaching and the levels of competence achieved –in particular those regarding levels A1 in elementary school, B1 as the first language , A2 as second language and B2 as first and second language- is established under title I. Its content has an essential consequence since it implies that the foreign and the so-called regional languages no longer go hand in hand in the legal texts. Such distinction contravenes the legal dispositions set up in the decrees on foreign and regional language teaching enacted in 2002 and 2003, which regulated the schedules and the programmes of elementary school and made, legally speaking, both regional and foreign languages equal in terms of importance. Therefore, it also seems to contravene the spirit of the Law Fillon, which establishes in article 20 that “the teaching of the regional languages and cultures can be offered throughout the period of compulsory education in accordance with the modalities drawn up via agreements between the state and the regional or local administrations”. These administrations, therefore, clearly accepted liability for the teaching of the regional languages.

Thus, the measures set up in the new decree leave aside the regional languages and only refer to the foreign ones. An example of such omission is that the decree determines the levels of competence of foreign languages in school but it does not give details on the regional languages. The state, consequently, seems to have withdrawn from the responsibility of promoting them.

Nevertheless, it is still to be seen how this secondary legislation will be enforced and whether its interpretation will be strict.

GEORGIA FINALLY RATIFIES THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES

October 2005 - The Georgian Parliament ratified on 13th of October the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the first legally binding multilateral instrument addressing the issue of minority rights, including the rights of linguistic minorities. This document was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 10 November 1994. It was opened for signature on 1 February 1995 and entered into force 1 February 1998. As of 10th October 2005, 37 states out of 46 member states had ratified or acceded to the Convention. Terry Davis, Secretary General of the CoE, had urged Georgia “to make an urgent progress with the ratification of the Convention, which the country promised to ratify at the time of joining the Council of Europe.” The urgency seems understandable considering that Georgia remained one of the few countries that had not yet ratified it.

As regards to linguistic rights, the parties ratifying the Convention undertake to “recognise that every person belonging to a national minority has the right to use freely and without interference his or her minority language, in private and in public, orally and in writing.” It also establishes, amongst other things, “that persons belonging to those minorities have adequate opportunities for being taught the minority language or for receiving instruction in this language” but “without prejudice to the learning of the official language or the teaching in this language.”

However, and in spite of Mr. Gaon’s - the Council of Europe’s Ambassador to Georgia- comments emphasising that “Georgia should ratify the minority convention without declarations as was done by Latvia earlier this year”, Georgia refrained from undertaking a commitment to ensure the conditions which would make it possible to employ minority languages in relations between the representatives of the national minority groups and the administrative authorities in areas predominantly populated by national minorities. The Georgian side also states that it will not be responsible for implementing provisions of the Convention in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, territories with which Georgia is in conflict.

Up to now, Georgia has not signed the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages.

THE REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE APPLICATION OF THE EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR REGIONAL OR MINORITY LANGUAGES IN SPAIN HAS BEEN MADE PUBLIC

October 2005 - The Committee of Experts of the Council of Europe has declared that “Spain must be praised for the high recognition and degree of protection provided in principle to regional or minority languages”. However, the report on the application of the European Charter for regional or minority languages in Spain also considers that “there is still a need for awareness-raising in Spain” about this issue and “very little attention is devoted to linguistic diversity by the national Spanish media and there still seems to be a lack of awareness among the Castilian-speaking majority population [...] that Spain is a plurilingual country. More efforts therefore seem to be needed in education for the majority Castilian-speaking population and in the national media with a view to fostering a greater acceptance and respect by the majority vis–à-vis the specificities of regional identities as an integral part of the Spanish heritage”. Furthermore, it stresses that “there still exists a clear gap between some of the undertakings chosen and the level of protection offered by the domestic legal framework and/or practice”.

The report, issued on the 21st of September, points out that “a general problem affecting all languages covered under Part III is related to the field of justice” and the State administration in the autonomous communities concerned. The recommendations adopted by the Committee of Ministers observes that the Spanish state has not taken the necessary legal and practical measures needed to ensure that judicial and state administration staff have a working knowledge of the languages concerned. The languages covered under Part III are, according to the report, Galician, Basque, Catalan and Valencian. The segregation of Catalan and Valencian as two different languages has been a subject of controversy since the report states that “the Catalan language is also split in three different autonomous communities, ie Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Aragon”, leaving aside the Valencian Country which shares, according to the international academic world, the official Valencian Academy of Language and other university institutions, the same language with the former territories. The Committee of Ministers also recommends the Spanish authorities to strengthen the protection of the minoritised languages spoken in the autonomous community of Aragon, where a language law is yet to be adopted. These languages are Aragonese, covered under Part II of the Charter, and Catalan, which has made a remarkable progress in Catalonia but it was described to the Committee of Experts as being critical in Aragon.

As regards the field of education, the experts also suggested that a “full immersion” educational model should be made systematically available for Catalan in the Balearic Islands, as well for Valencian (sic) and Galician. It also identified some shortcomings in education in the Basque Country. The use of Basque in private radio and television broadcasting and in the autonomous administration of Navarre also poses some problems. Moreover, the experts advise to apply “an appropriate form of Part III protection to the Basque language within the mixed zone”, an area where the aim of promoting the language as established in the Foral Law on Basque cannot fully apply. Concerning the languages that are only covered by Part II of the Charter, the Asturian language is in a rather special situation given the social prestige that has been acquiring in recent years. The Committee encourages the autonomous authorities to not simply recognize its existence but to qualify it as co-official in the Principality of Asturias.

The Spanish state agrees that the authorities must introduce formulas to enable and foster the promotion of regional or minority languages, but believes that it cannot be overlooked “the fact that the effectiveness of the measures depends on voluntary acceptance by speakers”. Most of NGO promoting non-Castilian languages have replied to this comment by pointing out that the use of other territorial languages is not a matter of voluntarism but of right.

THE ADUM PROJECT ENTERS THE DISSEMINATION PHASE

October 2005 - The Adum consortium held its last meeting in the present phase of the project at the Katholieke Universiteit Brussel on Wednesday October 5th. For nearly two years, in the context of the Action Plan for Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity, six institutions from Catalonia, Wales, Friuli, Slovenia, Belgium and Ireland have developed this project, which aims to offer people and organisations throughout Europe that work for the regional or minority languages information on the European programmes that can be taken advantage of to (co)fund projects to promote these languages. Adum includes an interactive networking environment to aid the drafting of proposals.

During this phase Adum members also met M. Jacques Delmoly, head of the Multilingualism Policy Unit of the DG for Education & Culture, and Mme. Teresa Condeço, the Action/project manager and policy developer on Regional and minority languages. The rapid increase in the number of partners and experts who have registered in the website's data base was underlined by the team, for it is a good sign of the growing use, and usefulness, of the website.

The Adum steering committee members had a meeting with the European Parliament Intergroup for Traditional National Minorities, Constitutional Regions and Regional Languages. They agreed that they will co-operate closely in the future as strategic partners. The members of ADUM offered their expertise and support for the Intergroup. They also agreed that the ADUM will have to opportunity to present the project on the Intergroup and it is hoped that MEPs interested in the issues covered by the Adum project, will not only take note of the website, but also disseminate widely in their constituencies, and invite potential partners to register. Other events at which the Adum project will be presented include the forthcoming IV Mercator Symposium on "Translation of Culture, Culture of Translation: Languages in Film, Television and Literature" (26-28 October 2005, Aberystwyth - Wales).

Related links...
Adum Project
Registration of Adum Partners and experts
IV Mercator International Symposium on European Minority Languages

THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE PUBLISHES A REPORT ON MINORITY LANGUAGES IN CROATIA

September 2005 – Through a report issued on September 8th, the Council of Europe (CoE) expressed its concerns that the number of citizens who speak the language of minorities in Croatia is decreasing. According to the report, the citizens whose mother tongue is Croatian tend to be more tolerant to minority languages, "but as a whole, Croatia does not show enough respect for languages". The report also pinpoints a special problem with the Serbian language. At the same time, it welcomes new laws to protect linguistic minorities in Croatia, although it points out that some provisions may still lead to restrictions incompatible with the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The report has been drawn up by a committee of independent experts for the second evaluation of Croatia’s application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority languages.

Its observations, endorsed by the Committee of Ministers of the CoE, include a recommendation that advises Croatian authorities to promote awareness and tolerance towards minority languages and the culture they represent so that they can be considered an integral part of the Croatian heritage. It also recommends to offer pre-school education in the Ruthenian and Ukrainian languages and, regarding primary and secondary education, at least the teaching of Ruthenian, Slovak and Ukrainian. The report points out that Croatia should develop a coherent strategy in the field of teacher training and provide adequate teaching materials for minority language education. According to the document, the Croatian government is advised to take the necessary measures to ensure that the legal possibility for the speakers to use their regional or minority languages in relations with the relevant branches of the State administration is fully implemented in practice. Moreover, it also calls for all relevant place names to be used bilingually, to increase the presence of minority languages on television and radio stations and to clarify the traditional presence of Slovenian language in Croatian co-operation with the speakers.

15th ANNIVERSARY OF THE OFFICE FOR NATIONAL AND ETHNIC MINORITIES OF HUNGARY

September 2005 – The Office for National and Ethnic Minorities of Hungary celebrated its 15th anniversary last August. The Office, which is the main governmental organisation dealing with minority issues in the country, was set up in 1990 by Government Decree No 34/1990 (VIII.30) in order “to meet the government's responsibilities related to the national and ethnic minorities in Hungary”. It is an independent state administrative body with national sphere of authority and it is involved in minority-related legislation, in the preparation of amendments as well as in the drafting of government programmes designed to implement the minority act. Its objectives aim at promoting the identity, the language, the traditions and the cultural heritage of minorities, evaluating their situation and enforcing their rights. The Office, therefore, must watch over the application, amongst others, of the Act LXXVII of 1993 on the Rights of National and Ethnic Minorities. In accordance with article 42 of this Act, the languages used by minorities are: Bulgarian, Gypsy (Romani and Beash), Greek, Croatian, Polish, German, Armenian, Romanian, Ruthenian, Serbian, Slovakian, Slovenian and Ukrainian.

This year the Office has continued to manage a fund for the minority self-governments to take over and maintain already existing minority educational or cultural institutions or to found new institutions of this kind. The assistance available for this purpose amounted to 1,8 M euros (HUF 440 M), and 11 out of 13 minority communities have applied and obtained financial assistance. The cash will support, among other projects and institutions, the German Theatre, the National Roma Museum, the Research Institute of the Slovaks of Hungary, a Croatian-language radio that will broadcast its programmes through the internet, the enlargement of the Museum and Archives of the Poles and the reconstruction of the Bulgarian Cultural Centre.

THE CATALAN GOVERNMENT ISSUES THE NEW LANGUAGE POLICY PLAN

September 2005 - Josep Bargalló, first minister of the Catalan government, and Miquel Pueyo, secretary of Language Policy, submitted last summer the Language Policy Plan for 2005-06 and analized the results of last year’s Plan in the Language Policy Report of 2004-05. Regarding last year’s report, governmental action temporarily came to a halt due to the substitution of Antoni Mir as a secretary of Language Policy, who was replaced by Miquel Pueyo, director of the Language Planning Programme until then. However, both Bargalló and Pueyo considered the outcome of 2004-05 Plan highly positive and pointed out that the program, funded with 3 million euros, was successfully implemented.

The Plan for 2005-06 aims at promoting the adoption of administrative and legal measures to guarantee the everyday use of the Catalan language as well as fostering its social use amongst youth people. It also aims at reinforcing the resources to offer Catalan language classes to adult newcomers and improving the quality of the language advise service. Moreover, it foresees to offer a Catalan course on-line in collaboration with the Ramon Llull Institute, the institute in charge of the international projection of Catalan language and its literature. The Plan establishes that the government will develop a programme in order to foster new technologies of information and communication in Catalan and will support cinema either originally in Catalan, dubbed or with Catalan subtitles. Additionally, it intends to encourage the availability of products and services in the language and endorse the use of Catalan in websites of private companies, strengthen the cooperation with other Catalan-speaking territories, especially Alghero in Sardinia and Northern Catalonia in France, and promote its legal equality in public state and European institutions.

Several organizations in favour of Catalan, such as Plataforma per la Llengua, regard these aims and principles as very convenient and opportune, in particular those relating to youth and leisure, fields in which usage of the Catalan language is weaker. The fact that the Department of Trade, Tourism and Consumer Affairs has started to fine companies violating the Linguistic Policy Act of 1998 is also viewed positively, an unprecedented action the former government did not dare to take clearly even though the law provides for it. As regards the welcome and language integration of newcomers, Plataforma per la Llengua finds the increasing number of language course offered appropriate, but suggests that agreements between government and private companies should be signed to allow students attend courses during working hours. It proposes to extend the campaign Volunteers for Language to non-students –an initiative whereby one Catalan speaker and a student who wishes to reinforce what he/she has learnt in the classroom share several hours of conversation - also, given the fact that more than 150.000 newcomers settle in Catalonia each year and not all of them attend the language courses. However, and according to Plataforma per la Llengua, there are several disadvantages, particularly when it comes to applying provisions that foresee a quota on cinema and a fairer distribution and exhibition of films in Catalan, and labelling and publicity in the country’s language, fields where Catalan shows low permeability. In Plataforma per la Llengua’s opinion, the measures “are too vague and are not clearly defined”. In conclusion, the organizations in favour of Catalan language are of the believe that the instruments set out in the document could be useful to take a step forward towards its normalization, but they might be in vain if they are not combined with a real and determined enforcement of the law.

Related links...
Language Policy Plan for 2005-06 (in Catalan)
Linguistic Policy Act of 1998
Plataforma per la Llengua (in Catalan)

COE HOLDS THE COLLOQUIUM ''EUROPEAN CULTURE: IDENTITY AND DIVERSITY''

September 2005 - The Council of Europe, in co-operation with the French Ministry of Culture and the City of Strasbourg, organised a colloquium on “European culture: identity and diversity”, held in Strasbourg on 8 and 9 September. The colloquium was opened by Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who stated “ I ask you to look at “Europe” and “culture”, at “identity” and “diversity” in all their various aspects […]. In the past, many colloquies of the Council of Europe have suffered from “splendid isolation” and a less than stringent follow-up. It will not be so in this case”. The event has been organized as part of the activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the European Cultural Convention, which has been signed by all 48 European states, and is aimed at developing mutual understanding between the peoples of Europe and a reciprocal appreciation of their cultural diversity.

The colloquium intended to lay down new guidelines for future Council of Europe programmes in the fields of education, culture, heritage, youth and sport. Different issues were tackled during the conference such as role of education, culture and dialogue in the formation of individual and collective identities. Also, the geographical or cultural limits of the identity were discussed together with the new challenges for language education policies with regard to ‘national languages’, languages of minorities and of newcomers.

The event, which was attended by more than 100 intellectuals, experts, figures from the world of culture and governmental and non-governmental representatives from all over Europe, also contributed to the development of the future cultural agenda of the Council of Europe.

THE INTERGROUP ISSUES A CRITICAL REPORT ON THE CONDITIONS OF THE SLOVENIAN MINORITIES IN AUSTRIA AND ITALY

September 2005 - On the meeting of 7th of July 2005 the Intergroup for Traditional National Minorities, Constitutional Regions and Regional Languages examined the situation of the Slovenian minorities in Austria and Italy and adopted a recommendation on the Slovenian minorities in Austria and Italy.

The recommendation outlines the fact that Slovenian minorities feel affected by discrimination in the fields of education, culture and in their linguistic rights in Italy and Austria, and also that the implementation of the rights of the Slovene minority in Austria granted by article 7 of the State Treaty of Vienna continues to be obstructed and delayed. Moreover, in accordance with the text, Austria has still to implement the decisions of the Constitutional Court of 2000 and 2001, regarding the use of bilingual topographic signs and limitations on the use of Slovenian in courts, administration and other authorities in the province of Carinthia.

In the recommendation, the Intergroup for Traditional National Minorities, Constitutional Regions and Regional Languages called on the Government of Austria to implement the decisions of the Austrian Constitutional Court “without any further delay”; it also urged Italy and Austria to help “reversing the worrying assimilation and emigration process of their Slovenian minorities”. Referring to education, it called on these two countries “to grant sufficient rights and resources for bilingual pre-school, primary and secondary education”.

Finally, the recommendation also referred to the procedure of ratification of the Council of Europe’s European Charter for Regional or Minority Language to be concluded by Italy. Moreover, it called the authorities in Italy and Austria to fulfill their responsibility for the protection of the minorities under the prevailing domestic law and international duties under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

FOUR MILLION EUROS FOR HUNGARIAN AND ITALIAN MINORITIES AND LANGUAGES IN SLOVENIA

September 2005 - The final draft of the Slovenian government’s budget has finally assigned four million euros for the protection of the Italian and Hungarian minorities, half a milion euros more than what it was initially budgeted. Italian and Hungarians, together numbering around 10.000, have representatives in the Slovenian parliament and are the only officially recognised minorities in the Constitution of Slovenia. The Constitution states that “within its own territory, Slovenia shall protect human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall uphold and guarantee the right of the autochthonous Italian and Hungarian ethnic communities”. As regards language issues, it seems that the Slovenian government is taking steps to implement the recommendations of the Committee of Ministers on the application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages adopted in June 2004. The fourth point of the report recommended to “take the necessary measures to encourage the use of the Hungarian language in the context of court proceedings and economic life in the ethnically mixed areas concerned”; the fifth point says that a strategy should be established “to strengthen the use of the Italian language in the context of public administration and public services in the areas currently defined as “ethnically mixed”. However, some observers have pointed out over the last years that Slovenia only gives extensive rights to its small Italian and Hungarian minorities, which are legally classified as autochthonous, but not to the more numerous Kosovar Albanians, Bosnian Muslims, Serbs, Croats and others whose presence in Slovenia is primarily a legacy of former Yugoslavia, even though some small communities of Serbs and Croats have lived in modern-day Slovenia for centuries.

Thus, approximately 300.000 euros –40.000 more than what it was planned in the first draft- are aimed at funding the Comunità autogestite della nazionalità, a self-government body representing the Italian minority. The cultural activities of the two minorities will be covered by nearly 950.000 euros, and the initiatives to reinforce bilingualism in the areas where Hungarian and Italian are recognised will be granted more than a million and a half euros. With respect to such an important field as media, nearly one million euros have been confirmed to promote television programs reserved for the minorities in RTV Slovenia. Some Italian organisations and institutions such as Dramma Italiano, Edit and Centro de Ricerche Storiche will be funded with more than 235.000 euros, and 80.000 will help to found the Cultural Centre of the Italian Minority, which is based on the Hungarian counterpart that already exists. The government has also decided to invest some cash (45.000 euros) in the renovation of the newspaper “La Voce del Popolo”, the voice of the Italian minority for sixty years.

UK 2ND ECRML REPORT: 'A DISORGANISED AND MISLEADING MISHMASH' (EUROLANG)

August 2005 - The UK’s second report on implementation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) was recently published. Activists have criticised the report, yet overall there has been some gradual improvements for the lesser-used languages of the UK since it ratified the ECRML in 2002. Initial reactions look at the Scottish Gaelic and Cornish content in the report. Strong criticism came from Dr Wilson Mcleod a lecturer in Scottish Gaelic at Edinburgh University who specialises in Gaelic language regeneration. He described the report as a "disorganised and misleading mishmash. The UK Government's response to the key action points from the Experts' first report contains a number of half-truths and distortions. It is plain that the UK is still not living up to many of the commitments it has made."

Referring to the clause which aims to help generally promote Scottish Gaelic, Dr McLeod comments: "The Government's statement does not answer the question. The actions referred to here do not relate to efforts 'to make better known the rights and the duties deriving from the Charter'. In fact, the Government has done nothing of this kind since submitting its first report, and many bodies in Scotland either have a misconceived idea, or no idea at all, of what their obligations are".

The report also deals unsatisfactorily with Cornish according to language groups. It completely ignores issues raised by Cornish NGOs in their response to the first report on Part II. Article 7.1.b. The result may be a negative effect on the promotion and development of Cornish - partly because decisions on funding are taken outside of Cornwall. According to these organizations, the UK comments on Cornish refer to New Labour flavoured press releases on building a general awareness about different cultures, heritage and the importance of language learning, yet not once does it indicate that it will take any measures for Cornish schoolchildren to have the right to learn about their own language and culture.

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages was drawn up in 1992 by the Council of Europe to help protect and promote Europe's lesser used languages. The UK Government signed the Charter in 2000 and ratified it in 2001 in respect of Welsh in Wales, Scots and Gaelic in Scotland and Ulster Scots and Irish in Northern Ireland. Manx Gaelic and Cornish were subsequently added, after an intense campaign leaded by the civil society.

Related links...
UK ECRML 2nd Report
Bòrd na Gàidhlig (Scotland)
Part II of the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages relating to Cornish

THE NEW BIPARTITE GOVERNMENT IN GALICIA AGREES UPON MEASURES TO INCREASE THE USE OF GALICIAN

August 2005 - The Galician sector of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSdG) and the nationalist Bloque Nacionalista Galego (BNG) reached an agreement last July on governing Galicia for the next four years. These two parties, which have taken out of office the Spanish conservatives (PP), in power in the autonomous community since 1990, signed a “program-contract” for a bipartite government that aims, as regards language issues, “to consolidate the cultural and linguistic traits of the Galician identity”, “to make progress in the normalization of our language, to protect and value our culture and heritage, key elements of our identity as a people” and “to promote policies to recover speakers of Galician and to extend its normal use in all social fields”.

Apart from this general declaration of intention, the agreement clearly establishes several specific measures to counterbalance the previous linguistic policies. To begin with, it says that the new government will endorse cultural exchange with Portuguese-speaking countries. Far from being a symbolic step to promote the language, and given the fact that both Galician and Portuguese are closely related and originally were the same language, this would reinforce the affiliation with a non-endangered language, which, according to many linguists, would not leave Galician isolated facing the pressure of Spanish. The agreement also foresees the strict fulfilment of the Galician Language Plan approved in 2004 through propper fundings, surveys and an annual report. It confirms the need for the creation of an institute for the external promotion of the Galician language. Besides, it points out that the Galician government will use Galician in all its oral and written communications, promote its normal use in all services offered by the local and the autonomous administrations and will guarantee the right of the Galician citizens to be adressed in Galician by the institutions. The bipartite agreed upon several issues on other fields. As regards to media, it will give its backing to a broadcasting percentage increase Galician. In relation to justice, the agreement will sponsor the normalization of Galician in the courts by, amognst other measures, establishing as a necessary requirement the knowledge of Galician for judges and other staff; moreover, the document states that all actions and legal proceedings of the Galician administration before judicial instances will be in Galician. In the area of education, the agreement points out that the new government will support the immediate application of the measures for the normalisation of the language compiled in the Plan for Normalisation approved by the Galician parliament in 2004 with unanimity of votes. It will also design an specific plan of support for the knowledge of Galician by immigrant students, and will promote new teaching materials and computer programs in Galician.

Related links...
Agreement for a bipartite government (in Galician)
Related article published in Eurolang
Galician Language Plan approved in 2004 (in Galician)

BEHATOKIA PRESENTS ITS FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

August 2005 – The Observatory of Linguistic Rights of the Basque Country named Behatokia has published its fourth annual report regarding the situation of Basque language. According to this report, language rights are violated in all the territories of this language community, whether in the south (within the Monarchy of Spain) or in the north (within the French Republic). Some local or regional authorities have offered to elevate the rights to official status, but others, nevertheless, do not agree. According to Behatokia, it is tremendously important that local and central government authorities provide official status to the Basque language and have legislation in place that protects language rights so that these rights are not violated.

The report points out that the violation of language rights does not imply only the violation of the fundamental principle of equality between two different human and linguistic communities based on Universal Declaration of Liguistic Rights and taken up by Behatokia. In the great majority of cases the government administration does not even comply with the linguistic legislation they themselves passed and which is in force in their territory. This is the case of the Foral Community of Navarre, which is taking the road of official reduction of the rights of speakers of a minority language. In Navarre, the existing laws and decrees do officially allow the institutional discrimination, since they are covered by the Law of the Basque Language. According to Behatokia, in essence, this is a social policy aimed at the disappearance of the Basque language and they conclude that the Government of Navarre has gone yet further and continued infringe its own already discriminatory laws in 2004.

With reference to the Basque Autonomous Community, the report states that language rights violations are perpetuated by the lack of obligatory enforcement of legislation in support of these rights. In fact, the introduction of new legislation to guarantee citizens’ language rights has not resulted in a decrease in violations, and no enforcement mechanish has been established. Likewise, the report indicates that in 2004, the Spanish administration maintained its policy of systematic violation of Basque speakers’ language rights. In this sense, Behatokia emphasizes that no corrective action has been taken in the courts, which continue to treat Basque speakers as if they where foreigners. With regard to the Republic of France, Behatokia considers that this country should recognise legal rights for the Basque-speaking community. Behatokia also suggests that France should ratify the international legislation relative to national and linguistic minorities.

For the 2004 report, Behatokia has analysed 707 citizens’ dossiers and 4,184 petitions from organizations and it has concluded that there is substantial similarity between the 2004 report’s findings and the conclusions of previous years. Synopses of the dossiers show clearly that the issues giving rise to the complaints that Behatokia has received since 2001 are repeated time and time again. Based on this report, Behatokia concludes that there has been a lack of effective progress in guaranteeing the fulfilment of citizens’ language rights.

RESOLUTION OF THE SEMINAR CULTURES IN DIALOGUE AS REGARDS MINORITIES IN EUROPE

August 2005 – From July 17th - 30th 2005 the seminar Cultures in Dialogue which took place in the border area of Denmark and Germany hosted 180 young Europeans. These youngsters were representing all kinds of European national, cultural and linguistic belongings. The work carried out in Cultures in Dialogue has addressed how to give recognition and how to safeguard the cultures and languages of national minorities in Europe.

After almost two weeks of work participants’ negotiations resulted in a joint Resolution aimed at improving the situation of minorities and the relations between minorities and majorities in Europe. The Resolution was released on July 28th at Flensborghus in Flensburg (Germany). It is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, the Framework Convention for Protection of National Minorities, the Charter on European Regional or Minority Languages, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the Council of Europe Recommendation 1201. The Resolution consists of 29 articles divided in four chapters. To begin with, chapter I defines the term minority. Chapter II sets down a number of rights minorities should have, while Chapter III establishes certain obligations. Finally chapter IV consists of six recommendations aimed at enforcing legal framework on minority issues.

The Cultures in Dialogue seminar was carried out on 3 independent schools in the Danish-German border region on both sides of the border as a part of the commemoration events of the 50th anniversary of the Copenhagen-Bonn Declarations agreed on by the Danish and German governments in 1955 with the aim of securing rights of the minorities in the Danish-German border region. These Declarations have been important sources for the development of peaceful co-existence among minority and majority population-groups in the region and an excellent example of how to promote understanding and tolerance between minority and majority population-groups.

Related links...
Final Negotiated Resolution of the Cultures in Dialogue 2005
More information related to Cultures in Dialogue 2005
The Bonn-Copenhagen Declarations

ADUM PROJECT OR HOW TO GET FUNDINGS TO PROMOTE LINGUISTIC COMMUNITIES

August 2005 - The new ADUM Project’s website, a virtual community which offers information on EU programmes relevant for the funding of minorised language promotion projects to people and organisations throughout Europe working for the promotion of these languages has been launched recently. The project has received co-funding thanks to a call for proposals published by the European Commission, in the context of the Communication from the Commission called Promoting Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity: An Action Plan 2004–2006 (COM (2003) 449 final) of 24 July 2003.

The partners in this project are the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Barcelona, Catalonia); the Research Centre on Multilingualism (Katholieke Universiteit Brussel, Brussels); the Centre for European Research, Wales; the Institute of Ethnic Studies (Institut za Narodnostna Vprasanja, Ljubljana, Slovenia); the International Centre for the Study of Plurilingualism (Centro Internazionale sul Plurilinguismo, Università degli Studi di Udine, Italy) and the independent consultant Dónall Ó'Riagáin from Ireland. Members of the team have worked together on other European projects, such as Euromosaic and Atlantis. The ADUM initiative is part of the macro-project on cultural diversity in Europe led by the Europa Diversa Network, a virtual organisation for people and institutions dedicated to understanding, discussing and working together on the situation of cultural diversity within the framework of the new Europe, and which has as one of its main founding principles the believe that cultural diversity is a richness to be respected and promoted.

The ADUM website, available in English, French and German, provides all the necessary information on the various potentially relevant EU programmes for regional, minority or minorised language communities. These programmes can be related to many different fields such as youth, education, agriculture, research and innovation, audiovisual, etc. It also offers internet links to a set of useful resources: websites on regional and minority languages, resources of statistical information, EU and other programmes, official reports and research papers. A virtual space for cooperation, where a user-friendly database of potential partners and experts is available, is also provided. This device is specially appropriate since it is more likely to get funds from European institutions if the project involves people and organisations from various countries of the EU. Another resource offered is a learning environment for designing a proposal. Candidates are advised here to take into account the needs of their language community and are given useful tips for writing the proposal and examples of successful proposals funded by the EU.

PUBLICATION OF THE SECOND OPINION OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON ESTONIA

July - The Advisory Committee of the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities has made public the second opinion on measures taken by Estonia. According to this Committee, Estonia has taken a number of steps to improve the implementation of the Framework Convention. In various key sectors, the authorities have addressed shortcomings in legislation and practice – improvements in electoral and citizenship legislation and citizenship legislation, as well as in the monitoring of language legislation has been made – and have step up their dialogue with representatives of national minorities and civil society.

Nevertheless, the Advisory Committee considers there are still shortcomings that Estonia should address. With regard to the scope and protection of state language, the Advisory Committee recommend that Estonian authorities should make further efforts to ensure that the development and promotion of Estonian language is not pursued through an overly regulatory approach and at the expense of the protection of national minorities and their languages. In this sense, the Advisory Committee considers that there remains a risk related to the continuous reliance on a regulatory approach to promote the state language that leads to problems in the implementation of the right of persons belonging to national minorities to use their language in private and in public, orally and writing.

In reference to minority languages, Estonia should ensure that adequate multicultural elements are included in school curricula and should also take further steps to encourage majority pupils to study minority languages. Accordingly, Estonia should improve its efforts in the field of teacher training and in the production of study materials suitable for a more bilingual school environment with a view to ensuring quality education. In addition, it should develop two-way contacts between children belonging to the majority and those belonging to a national minority. The importance of such contacts should also be reflected in the design and implementation of various models of education, starting at the pre-school level. Furthermore, Estonia should take further measures to encourage and facilitate access of persons belonging to national minorities to higher education institutions. In this sense, the Advisory Committee considers that it is important to ensure that increase in the volume of state language instruction in the secondary education is pursued in a manner that does not harm the quality of education in schools attended by persons belonging to national minorities and thereby limit their possibilities to access higher education.

The Advisory Committee of 18 independent experts drew up the opinion on the basis of the state report and other materials and after conducting a visit to Estonia. The opinion will soon be examined by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, which will then adopt its conclusions and possible recommendations.

CORNISH LANGUAGE TO BE PROMOTED WITH FUNDINGS BY THE UK GOVERNMENT

July 2005 - The government of the United Kingdom has finally decided to support Cornish language regeneration with up to £ 240,000 of funding over the next three years. The cash needed to start up the project comes as the result of the decision of the United Kingdom to specify Cornish under part II of the Council of Europe’s Charter for Regional and Minority Languages in 2002. The decision was taken after a seven-year campaign by Cornish organisations and local authorities because the government did not include Cornish as a language to be protected in a first draft. From 2002 on civil society has been expecting some gestures from the government to implement what is established in the Charter; now the time seems to have come. According to the Strategy for the Cornish Language drafted in 2004, the funding should be aimed, amongst other things, at setting out an accessible education programme from pre-school to high school and adult education, creating effective and modern teaching resources, spreading Cornish in public life, specially in road and street signs, place-names and brochures, and promoting links with other European linguistic communities.

But there is one stumbling block: Cornish speakers cannot agree on how their language should be spelt. There are four main different spellings struggling for pre-eminence. Unified Cornish (kernewek unyes) was reconstructed using language found in medieval miracle plays and borrowing from related Celtic tongues such as Welsh and Breton (this system is supported by the association Agan Tavas). Forty years ago, as interest grew, the Cornish Language Board (Kevas an Taves Kernewek) was formed. Some members felt Unified Cornish was inaccurate and came up with a new system, with different spellings, Common Cornish (kernewek kemmyn). In the mid 1980s, another splinter group set up the Cornish Language Council (Cussel an Taves Kernuack) and championed a third system, Modern Cornish (curnoack nowedga), based not on medieval manuscripts but the way the language was last spoken in the 1700s. Finally, a revised version of unified Cornish came up in the nineties, known as Ucr.

This situation has led some in Cornwall to call for the standardisation of a written form to ensure that public money is not wasted. It is being argued that if public money is spent on supporting the different language organisations, each with their own spelling system, factionalism within the Cornish language movement will intensify. The worry is that the cash flow will dry up if agreement over spelling cannot be found. As it is widely known, standardisation is an essential step to spread languages in society, increase their prestige and gain ambits of usage in social sphere. Since the future of Cornish is at stake, a commitment of all parties is needed to reach an agreement.

REFORM OF THE SENATE’S REGULATION ON THE EXTENSION OF THE USE OF THE COOFICIAL LANGUAGES IN THE SENATE

July 2005 – The Spanish Senate has unanimously adopted a regulatory reform proposal aimed at extending the use of the cooficial languages in the Senate. From 1st September onwards, Spain’s cooficial languages could be used in all the sessions of the General Commission of the Autonomous Comunities -until now it was only possible to use these languages at the Autonomous Communities’ debate- and in non-legislative publications.

A new article 56 bis 9 has been added to the Regulation. This article establishes that the interventions that take place in this body can be done in any of the languages that have an official status in an Autonomous Community together with Spanish, that is to say, Catalan, Valencian, Basque and Galician. Furthermore, a 2nd paragraph has been added to article 191 of the Regulation. According to this paragraph, if someone presents a motion, an appeal or a question in Spanish and in any of the languages that have an official status in an Autonomous Community, in accordance with the Constitution and with the corresponding Statute of Autonomy, the initiative will be also published in this language.

The nationalist parties supported this Regulation, even though they consider it insufficient and even though their amendments have been rejected. These parties requested that all the writings and communications should be written in all the Autonomous Communities’ languages, that the senators should have the right to use these languages in their interventions, that they should be incorporated into the material distributed among the senators and in the web site’s information and that the answers to the writings addressed to the Senate should be done in the same language in which they are formulated, should these languages have an official status.

Related links...
Site of the Spanish Senate
Reform of the Senate’s Regulation (in Spanis