FS_minority_languages_en - Council of Europe



|Key points

The Council of Europe aims to safeguard and promote regional and minority languages which develop and enrich Europe’s cultural heritage.

Protecting regional and minority languages is an essential part of protecting national minorities.

A regional or minority language is a distinct language which exists separately from other official languages or dialects of the official language. Languages spoken by migrants are not taken into account by the Council of Europe’s Charter of Minority Languages. Regional or minority languages can be widely spoken, as is the case of Russian in Romania, German in Czech Republic or Hungarian in Slovakia; or languages with no actual state base, such as Frisian in the Netherlands, Scottish Gaelic or Catalan in Spain and France.

Summary

Since its inception, the Council of Europe has acted as a guardian to protect minority languages: article 14 of the 1950 European Human Rights Convention sets out the principles of non-discrimination, especially where it touches on language or membership of a national minority.

However, this was only a very basic protection. There was a need to go further and give minorities and their languages proper protection. This is why the Council of Europe has drawn up two conventions: the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter of Regional and Minority Languages. The Charter is unique in the world. It is the only binding convention seeking to safeguard regional and minority languages at international level. It is open to all countries.

Some of these languages are in danger of disappearing altogether, and the Charter hopes to contribute to their continuation and development. It sets out practical measures to promote these languages in daily life. It aims to overcome the decline of certain languages.

Questions and Answers

Why does Europe need a convention to protect languages?

The language we speak is one of the most essential elements of our identity. Nevertheless, a certain number of languages are no longer in existence because they were neither taught nor practiced, especially when older generations died out. In a number of countries, the languages were simply ignored, or, worse, discouraged or forbidden during wars or ethnic conflicts, or by a more powerful social majority.

The Council of Europe, as Europe’s human rights watchdog, plays a major role in protecting people’s right to practice their mother tongue.

In fact there is a large range of minority languages used in Europe: around a hundred, from the Sami language spoken in the extreme North of Scandinavia, through the Italian spoken in Slovenia or Croatia, to the Basque language of France and Spain.

What can be done to protect these languages?

A language will only survive if it is used. The best way to protect a language and to guarantee its future existence is to ensure that it is used daily by every age group. Languages like Welsh, Catalan and Ruthenian in Serbia have undergone a renaissance thanks to the fact that they are used in schools, by officials and local authorities and by the popular media such as radio, television and newspapers. In the right conditions, minority language speakers are the most important key to the survival of a language.

These developments are the result of an active policy on the issue by member countries. Governments are an important part of the picture because they finance theatres and films, or the translation of popular books. For example, St Exupery’s famous children’s book “The Little Prince” has been translated into Upper Sorbian, Aromanian and Welsh.

Are there any initiatives at international level?

There are more than 6500 languages in the world and of these one falls into disuse every two weeks. That is why it is important for governments to co-operate with the Council of Europe to implement legal texts such as the Charter. Other initiatives have come from civil society and language speakers. For example, each year the Liet Lavlut song contest is held - a sort of “Eurovision song contest” for minority languages. This event – to be held in Sweden in 2008 - brings together the winners of regional events and celebrates the cultural richness of Europe’s different minorities.

This year the Council of Europe will join the Liet Lavlut to mark the tenth anniversary of the Charter of Minority Languages.

Does the Charter apply to my country?

Of the Council of Europe’s 47 members, almost half (23) have ratified the charter: Armenia, Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Norway, the Netherlands. Serbia, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

How does the Charter protect regional and minority languages?

Countries are invited to organise language teaching, to introduce its use in public administration and to ensure that it is used in cultural and economic activities and in the media. This way, people should be able to follow their favourite TV show or take their driving exam in their mother tongue if the government has committed itself to the Charter.

On a wider level, the Charter encourages the practice of regional or minority languages in daily life (in health care, road signing etc). This daily use of languages helps them to survive: it is easier to speak the language when you can use it in the local government offices, at the supermarket and in the cinema. This way, people who have dropped the language can be encouraged to take it up again. These initiatives can create a snowball effect: the more people speak the language the more are encouraged to speak it because it becomes easier and easier.

How can the Council of Europe ensure that the Charter is applied?

The monitoring mechanism ensures that the Charter is effectively applied. A committee of independent experts evaluate how a country is doing on the basis of reports sent in by governments every three years. The reports describe the policies being put in place to defend minority languages. The committee give recommendations to governments to improve their policies and practices on language protection. NGOs and representatives of the minority languages have a discussion forum which gives them a central role in the process. This means that the Charter has a real binding effect on countries that have signed it, and it provides considerable protection for minority languages, alongside other conventions such as the European Convention on Human Rights and the Framework Convention on National Minorities.

Contact

Council of Europe Press Service

Tel : +33 (0)3 88 41 25 60

Fax : +33(0)3 88 41 39 11

pressunit@coe.int

coe.int

Update : Juin 2008

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The protection of minority languages

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