MINELRES: EBLUL and European NGO's elaborate common 'Resolution on Linguistic Diversity and the Future of the European Union'

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: Margret Oberhofer <margret@eblul.org>


PRESS RELEASE

EBLUL and European NGO�s elaborate common "Resolution on Linguistic
Diversity and the Future of the European Union"

Ljouwert/Leeuwarden, 17.06.02 � The European Bureau for Lesser Used
Languages (EBLUL) and several European NGOs dealing with languages and
minorities elaborated a common resolution on "Linguistic Diversity and
the Future of the European Union" last weekend in Ljouwert/Leeuwarden,
in the Dutch Province of Frysl�n.  The General Assembly of EBLUL,
representing the linguistic minorities in all 15 EU-Member States,
adopted the resolution unanimously.

"We realised that many NGOs and regional authorities have a common
view about the future of Europe. This common view is that linguistic
diversity should be part of the future European constitutional
system", says Bojan Brezigar, President of the European Bureau for
Lesser Used Languages. "This resolution will be important for our work
at the Convention. But it also contains ideas that are not directly
linked with the Convention, like future developments in
multilingualism, language learning and linguistic diversity. All these
issues are already adopted as a principle by the Council of Ministers
of the Union within the framework of the standing European Treaties.
It also contains the request to have a continuing monitoring through
specific bodies at European level and State level which will verify
the implementation of linguistic diversity policy in the EU as well as
in the Member States."

The resolution was elaborated within the "Round Table Discussion on
Linguistic Diversity and the Convention on the Future of the European
Union", organized by EBLUL and supported by the Province of Frysl�n
and the Municipality of Ljouwert/Leeuwarden. "This conference is on
the same time also a clear signal that Europe's' regions, where
lesser-used languages are spoken on a everyday basis, are clearly
participating in the construction of a future Europe", Brezigar adds.

Among the participants were among others, the Federal Union of
European Nationalities (FUEN), Gesellschaft f�r bedrohte V�lker
(GfbV), Youth of European Nationalities (YEN), European Academy
(EUCAC), Mercator-Education, a representative from the office of the
OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, as well as authorities
from the Balearic Islands, and the Basque and Galician governments.

The Ljouwert-Resolution will soon be online under
www.eblul.org/futurum

EUROPEAN BUREAU FOR LESSER USED LANGUAGES (EBLUL)
www.eblul.org

Rue Saint-Josse 49/Sint-Jooststraat 49
B-1210 Bruxelles/Brussel

TEL: 0032/2/ 250 31 64
FAX: 0032/2/ 218 19 74