WRITTEN QUESTION E-3492/01

by Pere Esteve (ELDR) to the Council

(8 January 2002)

Subject: European Parliament resolution of 11 December 1990 on Catalan

In the European Parliament's resolution of 11 December 1990 on languages in the Community and the situation of Catalan (A3-0169/90)(1) the Council was asked to take action to achieve the following objectives:

1. the publication in Catalan of the Community's treaties and basic texts;

2. the use of Catalan for disseminating public information concerning the European institutions in all the media;

3. the inclusion of Catalan in the programmes set up by the Commission for learning European languages;

4. the use of Catalan by the Commission's offices in its written and oral dealings with the public in the autonomous communities in question.

Furthermore, it is mentioned in the resolution that, under the rules of procedure of the Court of Justice, Catalan may already be used at the Court by witnesses and experts if they are unable adequately to express themselves in one or the procedural languages of the court.

According to what Parliament's and the Commission's offices in Barcelona have to say regarding item 4 above, Catalan is used as a matter of routine in everyday work, in communications and information aimed at the general public, in activities which they organise on their own initiative, etc.

However, only some of the literature and information published by the European Parliament at its Madrid office has been issued in Catalan. Parliament and the Commission have tried to ensure that more of their publications are brought out in Catalan, but this has been hindered by inadequate funding and the lack of clearer rules. Most promotional literature and information material has been, and continues to be, issued in Spanish.

What view does the Council take regarding the achievement of the objectives laid down in the abovementioned European Parliament resolution? Is it intending to take any specific action in order to solve the problems concerning the inadequate funding and the lack of clearer rules on the use of Catalan within the EU institutions? Will the Council say whether or not Catalan has been used at the Court of Justice?

(1) OJ C 19, 28.1.1991, p. 42.

Reply

(18 March 2002)

1. The Council has noted the European Parliament's Resolution. It invites the Honourable Member to address himself to the institutions in question to obtain information concerning them.

2. The Council has not discussed the question of the conditions, in particular the financial conditions, relating to the use of Catalan in the European institutions.

3. The Council reminds the Honourable Member that at its meeting on 5 November 2001 it adopted a Resolution on the role of culture in the development of the European Union and held an open debate on the subject, which was broadcast live to the public. At the end of the discussion on the importance of the cultural diversity in the development of the European Union, the Presidency concluded that there was a problem matching ambitions expressed regarding European cooperation in culture and the resources granted to implement them, and that there should be a review and reflection on new and more effective instruments to be taken into account if applicable at the next review of the Treaties, the debate on cultural identity and its values being no mere abstraction in the present context.