ECMI Recommendations on the Implementation of Policy Measures for Regional or Minority Language

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Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 12:53:12 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: ECMI Recommendations on the Implementation of Policy Measures for Regional or Minority Language

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: William McKinney <[email protected]>

ECMI Recommendations on the Implementation of Policy Measures
for Regional or Minority Language


European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Flensburg Recommendations on the Implementation of Policy Measures for
Regional or Minority Languages

Explanatory Note

With support from the European Commission, and in close co-operation
with the Council of Europe and the European Bureau for Lesser Used
Languages, the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) organised,
on 23 and 24 June 2000, an international conference on "Evaluating
policy measures for minority languages in Europe: Towards effective,
cost-effective and democratic implementation". Participants included
noted scholars in minority issues, representatives from major
international organisations, non-governmental organisations, and
member countries of the Council of Europe. The conference is an
important element in a larger project on the analysis of policies
adopted in favour of minority languages, particularly, but not
exclusively, in the context of the European Charter for Regional or
Minority Languages.

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is a novel
instrument in international law, in that its focus is not on the
rights of minorities, but on languages themselves - although languages
are, of course, used by individuals who belong to groups defined,
among other possible criteria, by language. Hence, in the conference
convened by ECMI, legal standards were taken as given, with debates
emphasising instead issues of implementation.

Owing to the extreme degree of variability of situations between
different regional or minority languages (and, of course, between the
states in which these regional or minority languages are traditionally
used), the purpose of the conference was not to make general
recommendations regarding the set of specific measures that should be
adopted in order to protect or revitalise these languages - this
diversity of situations also explains the structure of the Charter
itself, which gives states a wide range of options to choose from.
Accordingly, the conference focused not on the specific measures that
should adopted by states (whether such measures are adopted explicitly
in order to comply with Charter obligations or not), but on how
authorities at various levels choose policy measures in favour of
regional or minority languages, because some very practical issues of
decision-making arise in all cases. More precisely, emphasis was
placed on how can states meet principles of good public policy, in
particular: (i) aiming at effective policies; (ii) aiming at
cost-effective policies; (iii) aiming at democratic policies.

The concepts of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, as well as the
characteristics of genuinely democratic policies in the context of
language policy implementation, were discussed at length during the
conference, generating consensus around the view that effectiveness,
cost-effectiveness and democracy are among the core principles of
"good practice".

The following Recommendations, reflecting the results of discussions
during the conference, are intended as a means to draw attention to
relevant principles in the selection, design, implementation and
evaluation of policies in favour of regional or minority languages, as
well as an instrument assisting authorities in implementing the
Charter, with a view to helping states that have not yet ratified (or
signed) the Charter to assess the practical implications of doing so,
and to offering assistance to other organisations, particularly NGOs,
involved in minority language policies.

The following recommendations will be forwarded to
- the members of the Committee of Ministers and members of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
- the Secretary General of the Council of Europe
- the European Commission and members of the European Parliament
- the participating States of the OSCE and members of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE
- the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities
- language planning bodies and language boards in charge of promoting
regional or minority languages in Europe
- non-governmental organisations whose activity addresses minority
issues, in particular minority languages
- other relevant minority organisations

-------------------
>From the moderator: The full text of the Recommendations, as well as other materials about the conference, are available online at ECMI website at
http://www.ecmi.de/activities/charter_conference_summary.htm
Boris
-------------------


*********************************************
European Centre for Minority Issues
William McKinney
Librarian
Schiffbruecke 12
D-24939 Flensburg, Germany
 
e-mail: [email protected]
http://www.ecmi.de
 
Tel: +49 461 1414970
Fax: +49 461 1414969
*********************************************

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