Est. 3min 25-09-2008 (updated: 07-11-2012 ) multilingualism_01.jpg Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Languages: Français | DeutschPrint Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram The EU executive was not “courageous” enough to set out concrete initiatives to promote minority languages in its new multilingualism strategy, according to parliamentarians from the European Free Alliance, who called for “specific measures than go beyond generics” ahead of the European Day of Languages on 26 September. The Commission failed to increase funding for languages or propose specific new programmes, lamented Basque MEP Mikel Irujo (Spain), speaking alongside EFA colleagues Jill Evans of Welsh party Plaid Cymru (UK) and Transylvanian independent László T?kés (Romania) at a press conference on 23 September. The MEPs also complained that the Commission was not doing “more to promote minority languages at EU level” as well as “those languages that do not yet have official status,” with Evans in particular repeating previous demands for Welsh to become a fully-fledged EU language (EURACTIV 05/06/08). “Given that regional and minority languages are at least referred to in this document, we would expect any measures proposed to extend to these languages too,” they said, calling on Multilingualism Commissioner Leonard Orban to commit himself to this. “My main criticism is that the report does not recognise the right of all EU citizens to address public authorities in their mother tongue,” said Irujo, referring to languages like Catalan. Meanwhile T?kés, a member of Romania’s Hungarian minority, went even further, complaining that Orban’s communication does not seek to protect endangered languages, for which the recognition of minority rights “would just be a first step”. Irujo also lamented the fact that “too much responsibility [for implementing the strategy] is left with member states” because “some are not the best pupils when it comes to multilingualism”. “We expected the Commission to do more than this,” he said, notably to promote the use of new language learning technologies like the Internet. But the EU executive pointed out that it had long supported the development of modern technologies, notably speech recognition applications and computer-assisted translation. The technology assists the 2,350 staff in its translation directorate-general (1,750 translators and 600 support staff) with their vast workload (1.7m pages translated in 2007). Some of these were developed within the DG itself, it added. Despite their disappointment, the EFA parliamentarians were quick to praise the EU executive for publishing the document, hailing it for triggering renewed debate and providing “a good basis on which to build future work”. Commissioner Orban will be in Parliament on 6 October to discuss the new multilingualism strategy with MEPs. Read more with Euractiv EU launches 'major' fisheries policy reviewEU fisheries policy will be "fully reviewed" with "major reform" proposed by 2012 at the latest, the EU executive announced yesterday (17 September). But environmental groups said "drastic and urgent" change would be required for European fisheries to become sustainable. Subscribe now to our newsletter EU Elections Decoded Email Address * Politics Newsletters PositionsA joint statement from MEPs in the European Free Alliance read: "We welcome [the communication] as a positive step forward and congratulate the commissioner on his work in promoting multilingualism. We believe the door is now open for more far-reaching and ambitious developments and we strongly encourage the Commission to take the opportunity to build on this foundation." It continued: "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." Basque MEP Mikel Irujo praised the 'mother tongue plus two other languages' principle enshrined in the communication, saying "it should help bolster education in the member states". "The Basque and Catalan regions have already adopted this principle," he added. Transylvanian MEP László T?kés said the communication "focuses on euphemism," expressing dissatisfaction over the detail. "Commissioner Orban is a good European thinker, but does not act concretely on a practical level," he claimed. Calling for "equality for all languages," Welsh MEP Jill Evans (Plaid Cymru, UK) said the rights issue, which is most important in Wales, was missing from the communication. But its recognition of the cultural side of languages was "very positive". Regarding its languages regime, the European Commission argues that translation represents "a tiny part" (€280m) of the EU executive's total budget of €129bn, corresponding to "a cost to each citizen of around €0.60 per year". Background26 September was designated European Day of Languages by the Council of Europe and the European Commission after the Year of Languages in 2001. It celebrates "the cultural heritage that forms an integral part of the languages of Europe" and aims to "alert the public to the importance of language learning and diversifying the range of languages learnt" to "increase intercultural understanding". To mark the day, Multilingualism Commissioner Leonard Orban will speak at a French EU Presidency conference gathering over 1,000 stakeholders entitled 'États Généraux du Multilinguisme' in Paris, where he will present the EU executive's new multilingualism strategy, unveiled last week (18 September; EURACTIV 19/09/08). At the same time, Brussels will host a conference organised by the Commission's translation directorate-general entitled 'Languages mean business', while language festivals will take place in Brussels and elsewhere in the EU, featuring games, food tasting and films aimed primarily at young people. Timeline 26 Sept.: European Day of Languages 6 Oct.: Commissioner Orban to discuss Multilingualism Communication with MEPs. Further ReadingEU official documents European Commission:Communication: 'Multilingualism: an asset for Europe and a shared commitment' [FR] [FR] [DE] European Commission:Communication: Citizen's summary [FR] [FR] [DE] European Commission:An inventory of Community actions in the field of multilingualism and results of online consultation European Union European Commission:Polyglots start the European Day of Languages celebrations [FR] [FR] [DE] European Commission:The Commission aims to tap the full potential of languages [FR] [FR] [DE] Europa:European Day of Languages 2008 [FR] [FR] [DE] European Commission:On 26 September 2008, the European Day of Languages will be celebrated in St Josse [FR] European Commission:Multilingualism(Portal) [FR] French EU Presidency:Conference: États Généraux du Multilinguisme [FR] [FR] [DE] French EU Presidency:Paris flies the flag of European languages!(26 September 2008) [FR] [FR] [DE] DG Translation:(Homepage) [FR] [FR] [DE] DG Interpretation:(Homepage) [FR] [FR] [DE] Europa:Languages in the EU(Portal) [FR] [FR] [DE] International Organisations Council of Europe:European Day of Languages(Portal) [FR] [FR] List of events [FR] List of events [FR]
