Tag: culture

French centre-right MEPs voted against a resolution on endangered regional languages, passed by a large majority in the European Parliament this week, claiming that it violated the unity of the French Republic.

Protesters wielding hammers have torn down bilingual signs in Serbian Cyrillic that were installed on official buildings in the Croat city of Vukovar, in a spate of tension recalling the 1990s Yugoslav war.

European Commissioner for Education and Culture Androulla Vassiliou has sharply criticised the authorities in the Slovak city of Košice for constructing a wall to segregate the city's Roma community.

Culture, including cinema, is perhaps more central to the identity of Europeans than that of any other people, so the EU must do more to protect it, says Valeria Golino.

Members of the European Parliament will vote for a winner from three European films shortlisted this week for the institutions’ Lux film prize. 

Ukraine is going through a deep moral and identity crisis, aggravated by widespread acceptance of negative Western stereotypes and self-denigration. However, the time has come to rediscover Ukraine both by Ukrainians themselves and by the ones who seek the truth irrespective of the place they live, writes Volodymyr Kaluga. 

To boost the global standing of EU universities, the European Commission has pegged in its higher education strategy a new form of university listing, which analysts say may overturn the US “elite” bias of current commercial rankings.

The EU’s top education official, Androulla Vassiliou, has called for a revamped Erasmus student exchange programme to place more emphasis on youth employability in the coming years, as the European Commission reveals a record 253,000 students took part in the programme last year.

Angela Merkel's conservatives want to increase the use of German in Europe if they are re-elected in September, calling in their campaign programme for the language to be treated on a par with English and French in top Brussels institutions.

Athens announced the surprise closure with immediate effect of its state broadcaster on Tuesday evening (11 June), in a desperate move to slash public sector jobs and meet the terms of a bailout imposed by the Troika of international creditors – the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Culture is essential to a sustainable recovery in Mali, Lazare Eloundou, the UNESCO envoy to Mali’s donor conference held on 15 May, told EurActiv in an interview. 

Languages would not disappear without a deliberate policy to marginalise them, says François Alfonsi, a Corsican MEP who has drafted a parliamentary report on endangered languages to be voted in June. For him, the EU has a role to play in protecting what he describes as “a European heritage”.

The European Court of Justice has handed down a judgement against the Belgian Flemish community for infringing EU freedom of movement by only drafting workers’ contracts in Dutch.

Marking International Roma Day, the European Commission on Monday (8 April) urged member countries to ensure that NGOs representing Roma are involved in the planning and use of EU funds for integration into society.

Learning foreign languages can become a way for Europeans to exit the economic doldrums and find employment opportunities across borders, says language and culture Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou.

For Bucharest, exchanging accusations with Hungary offers an opportunity to temporarily distract attention from its domestic situation. The country is emerging from the political crisis that engulfed it in 2012 caused by a dispute between Ponta and President Traian Basescu, writes Stratfor.

The separatist flag of Catalonia – with its yellow and red stripes, blue triangle and white star – was a rare sight on the streets of Barcelona a decade ago. Now, it is almost ubiquitous.

An employee who was asked by British Airways to remove a Christian cross from around her neck has won a religious discrimination case at Europe's human rights court but three other claimants lost similar cases on Tuesday (15 January).

The European Central Bank unveiled yesterday (10 January) a new 5-euro note, with warmed colours and better protection against counterfeiting. For the first time, it also carries the name ‘Euro’ written in the Cyrillic alphabet, and displays a portrait of Europa, a figure from Greek mythology.

A deal on the 2013 budget, voted by the European Parliament yesterday (12 December), plugs a hole in the EU's finances for 2012 and removes uncertainty about funding for the Erasmus student exchange programme next year, the European Commission said.

Dutch writer Luuk van Middelaar and Germany’s Rolf Bauerdick are the winners of this year’s European Book Prize.

The results of the Catalan elections of November 25 show that a majority of Catalans are likely to vote in favour of independence in case a referendum is organised. However, this majority is not very ample and suggests that the high expectations that were put on these elections by national and international media were exaggerated, writes Joan Marc Simon.

The European Parliament has agreed to cut part of its translation service, in a bid to shave its budget by some €8.6 million per year.

Although the English language plays a central role in today's international business environment, workers in many countries are still struggling with basic communication skills, according to a new report.