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EBLUL European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages
EBLUL
European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages
Member states- 19 Austria Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary
Italy Ireland Luxembourg Netherlands Poland Slovakia Spain Sweden United Kingdom
Some basic facts….
founded 1982 democratically governed NGO based on a network of Member State
Committees
aim: to protect and promote the autochthonous languages of Europe
give a voice to the –then- voiceless
In today’s EU there are some 40-50 million speakers of lesser-used: regional, minoritised languages, comprising 10% of the EU population
Functions generation of information, sharing and networking in the field of language promotion
at European and international levels
close relations to the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); operational relations with UNESCO and OSCE
linking and servicing linguistic communities, through the MSCs, as well as local and regional authorities in EU Member States, supporting their activieties for the protection and promotion of lesser-used languages in the context of linguistic diversity
providing and disseminationg information on European policies and programmes to its MSCs, European linguistic communities, and local/regional authorities; seeking adequate partnerships
providing information at the European level
Major activities
Linking Lesser Used Language communities
Providing expertise Documenting, mapping, publishing Organizing seminars, conferences (> PfD) Lobbying and advocacy
Functions
Linking linguistic communities
Providing advice and assistance
Encouraging co-operation
Information on EU programmes
Funding & Networking EBLUL works under Irish law 80% funding from the European Commission minimum 20% from national, local & regional authorities
(governments of Ireland and Luxemburg, Autonomous Region of South Tirol, Province of Fryslân, French & German communities of Belgium)
since 2007 member fees – differentiated for individual MSCs
Project partners
Network for Promoting Linguistic Diversity NPLD
maybe in the future – European Centre for Linguistic Diversity ECLD
Legislative
Working toward EU Charter for Regional and Minority Languages
Supporting Framework Convention for National Minorities
Contributing to the draft EU Constitution
Languages in EBLUL mostly those under the European Charter for Regional or
Minority Languages „traditionally used within a given territory of a State by
nationals of that State who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the State’s population; and
different from the official language(s) of that State*; it does not include either dialects of the official
language(s) of the State** or the languages of migrants”
* exceptions: Irish, Luxemburgish ** sometimes disputable: Silesian in PL, Võro-Seto in EE,
also Meänkieli in FI or Kven in NO
Regional languages the case of Low German has opened the new legal opportunities to the
regional languages throughout Europe, especially those with a questionable status in own countries. Germany was the first country to use pragmatically the dichotomy in the official title of the Charter and decided to distinguish between the Minderheitensprachen, with a commonly recognized linguistic status, such as Frisian, Danish and Sorbian and the Regionalsprache Niederdeutsch.
Poland - obviously following the German example - decided to grant the legal status of a regional language to Kashubian and even included the term into the internal legal system.
A way to follow…?
regional language communities very active in EBLUL MSCs, even if not recognized by States (Silesian in PL, Võro-Seto in EE)
Languages of Migrants the Charter [and EBLUL] applies therefore to languages which
belong to the traditional cultural heritage of a State
migrants – persons of foreign origin who are not nationals of a State; the languages of immigrant communities or those derived from immigration, regardless of whether the speakers of these languages are nationals of the state*
languages, also on a territorial base – not speakers with individual rights
* Woehrling, Jean-Marie 2005. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. A critical commentary. Counsil of Europe Publishing
Woehrling, Jean-Marie 2005. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.A critical commentary.
„The traditional regional or minority languages are languages which have long been in use in the particular territory *.
(…) are closely linked to the history, the geography (toponymy) and culture of the territory. (…)
they have to be seen as an element of the national linguistic heritage. The official language is often a more recent arrival (…) the groups which use traditional regional or minority languages consist of
nationals who are usually completely integrated into society in the State.
* Regulations in individual States: e.g. PL and HU defined „traditional” minorities/minority languages as those who have existed on the territory for at least 100 years.
Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population of the EU Parliamentary AssemblyDoc.8993 – 23.01.2001
distinction between historical or traditional linguistic minorities and the „new minorities” emmerging from immigration was a legitimate one, both from the viewpoint of States and with regard to the needs of those minorities(…)
Member State Committees
State based non governmental organisations
Legally constituted
Representative of cultural, educational, and other actors in the area of languages
Eurolang® news servicewww.eurolang.net
specialist niche news agency covering topics related to lesser-used languages, linguistic diversity, stateless nations and national minorities within the EU
provides on-line daily service across Europe, to NGOs, media, European, State and local government, academia, researchers and the general public
launched in 2000 by EBLUL one million hits per month
a viewpoint missing in mainstream media > internationalisation of minority issues popular way to spread new ideas communicating Europe to the RML communities (up > bottom) regular reports from countries and regions in the EU (bottom > up) linking language communities helping to initiate language projects, keeping people aware of current best
pracices market place for lan guage-related activities: new language learning software,
advertising conferences, new music, theatre, books etc.
Partnership for Diversity
established 2000
series of conferences – the Balears (Catalans), Ireland, Finland (Swedes), Italy (Slovenes), Scotland, Italy (Ladins), Poland (Kashubs)
partnership between regional and local authorities and the language communities
Gdańsk Gduńsk Danzig
KashubiaPoland2008
Language Policy and the Regions in Europe
www.wrotapomorza.pl/pl/pfd
Some observations…
SMILE Report – very small % for RML’s (slightly over 4%…)co-operation between the differing language communities in partnerships large and small
EC Communication on Multilingualism – very little on RMLshttp://europa.eu/languages/en/document/74
„Commissioner Leonard Orban launched a Communication on Thursday last week (September 18th) entitled "Multilingualism: an asset for Europe and a shared commitment", addressing languages in the wider context of social cohesion and prosperity. MEPs from the European Free Alliance (EFA) qualified their welcome stating: “We would welcome specific commitments to the promotion of minority languages and languages that are not yet official at EU level, commitments that have not yet been sufficiently forthcoming. This is a good start but we have a long way to go."
in conclusion…
Looking to networks for language teaching and learning in the New Framework for Multilingualism to serve an inclusive diversity
Foster a sense of EU citizenship in an environment “where we are all minorities”
EBLULPresident - Neasa Ní Chinnéide (Éire)
Vice President - John McIntyre (UK-Ulster)
EBLUL Board: Simon Faber (DE-Schlezwig)
Mikel Etxebarria (ES-Euzkadi)Tangi Louarn (FR-Breizh)
Domenico Morelli (IT-Arborësh)Pádraig Ó Ceithearnaigh (Éire)
Tomasz Wicherkiewicz (PL-Kaszëbe)
EBLUL
Suur tänan !
Thank you very much !
Большое спасибо !
Dziękuję bardzo !
www.eblul.org
www.eurolang.net