WRITTEN QUESTION E-0044/02

by Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(23 January 2002)

Subject: Cooperation network for bilingual regions in the EU

The problems faced by bilingual regions are likely to be similar in all Member States. They go beyond the issues covered by policy on national minorities

(for the promotion of which a separate set of EU projects exists) and include the question of whether different language groups can be interspersed at local and regional level without jeopardising the groups' internal identities and whether they can minimise their mutual historical or other conflicts. There are numerous common themes and needs: learning of the other language, effective bilingual administration, communication, the psychology of prejudice, discrimination and glass ceilings, local cultural exchanges on the basis of language, the tendency towards segregation of residential areas, etc.

A practical way of dealing with common issues might be to set up a network for bilingual regions. The idea would be to mutually exchange and compare practices, standards and modes of interaction in different countries and regions. However, such an interface would need to be created specially, and it is unlikely that any one region would have the capacity to do this on its own initiative: rather, a Community initiative would be required.

Are any cross-border networks of bilingual regions currently operational within the EU? Is there a need for such a network, and will the Commission promote the establishment of one? What timetable could be adopted for this?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(20 February 2002)

To the Commission's knowledge, there is no network of bilingual regions as such currently operating in the Union.

However, there are networks dealing with aspects of bilingualism. The European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (http://www.eblul.org), an organisation funded by the Community, runs the Partnership for Diversity scheme, which brings together regional and local authorities from parts of Europe where there are regional or minority languages to discuss issues of mutual interest and promote cooperation. A network of official language planning agencies, which was set up with Community support and is currently coordinated by the Welsh Language Board (http://www.bwrdd-yr-iaith.org.uk), meets regularly to discuss issues relating to language promotion. Under the Lingua action of the Socrates programme, the Community supports Euroclic (http://www.euroclic.net), a pan-European network bringing together teachers, teacher trainers, researchers, policymakers and other players in the field of multilingual education in both bilingual and monolingual areas.

Projects involving transnational networks dealing with other aspects of bilingualism might qualify for support under other Community programmes and actions, such as Socrates Comenius or Interreg, provided that any proposals of this kind comply with the requirements and objectives of the actions in question.

The Commission warmly encourages regions to participate in existing networks and take advantage of opportunities within existing programmes to promote Europe-wide cooperation on such issues.