EBLUL European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages. Member states- 19 Austria Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary.

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”

EBLUL

President  - 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

[email protected]