0.6.3.1. Resolution on a Community charter of regional languages and cultures and on a charter of rights of ethnic minorities. Resolution prepared by Mr Gaetano Arfé and adopted by the European Parliament on 16 October 1981

The European Parliament,

having regard to the resurgence of special movements by ethnic and linguitic minorities aimed at bringing about a deeper understanding and recognition of their historical identity,

recognizing the revival of regional languages and cultures associated with three movements as a source of enrichment for European civilization and an indication of its vitaly,

having regard to the declarations of principle made by the most representative and authoritative international organisations, from the UN to the Council of Europe, and to the most recent and widely accepted political, legal and anthropological theories,

refering to Resolution No. 1 of the Oslo Conference (1976) of the European Ministers responsible for cultural affairs,

considering that all governments in the Community have acknowledged in principle the right of such groups to freely express themselves and their culture and have, in most cases, drawn up legislation in this specific field and begun coordinated programmes of action,

considering that a cultural identity is today one of the most important non-material psychological needs,

considering that autonomy must not be regarded as an alternative to the integration of peoples and different traditions, but as means of themselves guiding the process necessary for increassing intercommunication,

considering therefore that linguistic and cultural heritage cannot be safeguarded unless the right conditions are created for their cultural and economic development,

determined to bring about a closer union among the peoples of Europe and to preserve their living languages, drawing on their diversity in order to enrich and diversity their common culturral heritage,

having regard to motions for resolutions Docs. 1 - 371/79, 1-436/79 and 1-790/79,

having regard to the report of the Committee on Youth, Culture, Education, Information and Sport and to the opinion of the Committee on Regional Policy and Regional Planning (Doc. 1-965/80),

1 Requests National Governments and regional and local authorities, despite the wide differences in their situations and having due regard for the degree of independence which they enjoy, to implement a policy in this field inspired by and designed to achieve the same objectives, and calls on them:

(a) in the field of education:

to allow and promote the teaching of regional languages and cultures in official curricula right through from nursery school to university;

to allow and provide for, in response to needs expressed by the population teaching in schools of all levels and grades to be carried out in regional languages, with particular emphasis being placed on nursery schools teaching so as to ensure that the child is able to speak its mother tongue;

to allow teaching of the literature and history of the communities concerned to be included in all curricula;

(b) in the field of mass communications:

to allow and take steps to ensure access to local radio and television in a way that guarantees consistent and effective community communication and to encourage the training of specialist regional presenters;

to ensure that minority groups receive organisational and financial assistance for their cultural events equivalent to that received by the majority groups;

(c) in the field of public life and social affairs:

to assign in accordance with the Bordeaux declaration of the Council of Europe Conference of Local Authorities, a direct responsibility to the local authorities in this matter;

to promote as far as possible a correspondence between cultural regions and the greographical boundaries of the local authorities;

to ensure that individuals are allowed to use their own language in the field of public life and social affairs in their dealings with official bodies and in the courts;

2 Requests the Commission to provide, as soon as possible, recent, accurate and comparable data on the attitudes and behaviour of the public in the Member States towards regional languages and cultures in their various countries;

3 Calls on the Commission to set up pilot projets in the language teaching sector to try out methods of multilingual education capable of ensuring both the survival of the individual cultures and their openness to the outside world;

4 Recommends that the Regional Fund provide financial assistance for projects designed to support regional and folk cultures and calls upon the Commission to include measures in its educational and cultural programmes to promote a European cultural policy which takes account of the aspirations and expectations of all of its ethnic and linguistic minorities who are looking towards Europe and its institutions with confidence and hope;

5 Recommends that the Regional Fund should contribute to the financing of regional economic projets since the cultural identity of a region con only exist if the population are able to live and work in their own area;

6 Calls on the Commission to review all Community legislation or practices which discriminate against minority languages;

7 Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, to the governments and regional authorities of the Member States and to the Council of Europe.