MINELRES: EBLUL welcomes inclusion of EU-Charter in future Treaty but questions limited Discrimination definition

[Margret Oberhofer]

PRESS RELEASE

EBLUL welcomes inclusion of EU-Charter in future Treaty but questions
limited Discrimination definition

Brussels, 08.10.02 � In today�s meeting of the Contact Group �Human Rights
 within the European Convention, the chairman Mr Ant�nio Vitorino, also
responsible for the working-group on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of
the European Union, stated that he was positive that the Charter will be
integrated into the future framework for a Constitutional Treaty of the EU.
�But this does not imply positive measures� Vitorino explained to
representatives of civil society, as no articles in the Charter will be
taken as the legal basis for future EU programmes.

The European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL) fully supports the
move to integrate the Charter into the future Treaty. At the same time,
EBLUL regrets that its proposal for a clear and consistent understanding of
discrimination will not be taken up.

In the past  EBLUL has been lobbying for an amendment to Article 13 on
Non-discrimination of the EC Treaty, so far taken as the legal basis for the
EU programme against discrimination. This Article outlines a list of those
grounds for discrimination which the EC can take action against. This list
does not include �language� as a base for discrimination, and can therefore
not be taken into consideration.
On the other hand, Article 21 of the Charter clearly includes language as a
prohibited ground for discrimination,  �Any discrimination based on any
ground such as sex, race (...) language (...) shall be prohibited.�

�We are astonished and disappointed with today�s statement. We would
strongly support taking Article 21 as the legal basis for EU programmes in
order to strengthen the fight against linguistic discrimination�, argues
Markus Warasin, Secretary-General of EBLUL. He stressed the contradictions
in the current situation:
�On the one hand the Charter defines the grounds for non-discrimination, yet
the actual legal basis is outlined in another article of the acquis
communautaire which does not consider language. Promoting a value in one
article but using a different article as the basis for practical measures
relays a contradictory message to Europe�s citizens.�

The Convention will continue to work for one more year and EBLUL hopes that
during the next few months Convention members will become aware of the
importance of this topic.

For Further information on EBLUL�s contribution to the Convention, see
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


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