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(2004/C 65 E/095)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1585/03

by Joan Vallvé (ELDR) to the Commission

(8 May 2003)

Subject:   Linguistic diversity

I welcome Commissioner Viviane Reding's words (Agence Europe, April 12) advocating language diversity and considering that English is not necessarily the topmost priority. Ms Reding cited her own country, Luxembourg, where the ‘mother tongue is Luxembourgish, where the languages of our German-speaking and French-speaking neighbours are to be heard everywhere, and where you also hear the languages of the large Italian and Portuguese communities. English is also learnt. And we are well-armed for life in a multilingual society (...). Do you really think it is better for the people of Luxembourg to begin by learning English rather than the languages of their neighbours? And for those who speak a minority language, is the top priority really that of learning English?’, she asked, noting that the ‘linguistic situation is so different in the different regions of Europe that it is not possible to make the same choice for all’.

The Comenius Language Projects' aim is to encourage participation of all linguistic groups, as we can read in the Guidelines for applicants 2000 under ‘Promotion of linguistic diversity’: Comenius Language Projects seek to promote linguistic diversity in Europe by encouraging the use of all the official languages of the European Union (plus Irish and Luxembourgish), in particular the less widely used and less taught languages of the European Union. The national languages of the EFTA/EEA countries and of the accession candidate countries participating in Socrates are also eligible.

In Comenius Language Projects at least one of the two partners will normally represent one of the less widely used and less taught languages. Many pupils will thus have an opportunity to get to know a language which is not on their curriculum. Indeed, this is seen as one of the main aspects of the European added value of these projects. At the same time, in Annex 3 of the same guidelines, under the chapter ‘Implementing the principle of equal opportunities in the second phase of Socrates’ it states that ‘Measures to stimulate the full and active participation in the programme by persons from all ethnic and linguistic groups will also be encouraged’.

Taking into account all these good intentions mentioned above as well as the European Parliament resolution on the information and communication strategy for the EU (P5_TA-PROV(2003)0187, Strasbourg, 10.4.2003) which underlines that all official languages recognised within the Member States must be taken into consideration, what does the European Commission think about the possibility of including in the new edition of the Socrates Candidate Guidelines a reference to all official languages within the neighbouring territories?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(19 June 2003)

Decision No 253/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 January 2000 establishing the second phase of the Community action programme in the field of education ‘Socrates’ (1) defines the languages eligible for projects aimed specifically at teaching and learning languages as the official languages of the Community, together with Irish and Lëtzeburgesch (Annex to Decision No 253/2000/EC: Action 1, Comenius: school education, Action 1.1, 2b).

With regard to the Comenius language projects, therefore, it would not be possible to include in the new Candidate Guidelines a reference to all official languages within the neighbouring territories.

However, the Comenius school projects, which encourage cooperation between schools (Annex to Decision No 253/2000/EC: Action 1, Comenius: school education, Action 1.1, 2a), may choose these languages as a topic of common interest to the participating schools.

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(1)OJ L 28, 3.2.2000.

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