WRITTEN QUESTION E-2341/01

by Pat Gallagher (UEN) to the Commission

(1 August 2001)

Subject: Minority and regional languages establishment of multiannual programme

Does the Commission share the view that more than forty regional and minority languages spoken in Europe form a unique part of the continent's cultural heritage? Is it prepared to establish a multiannual programme that will have as its objective the promotion and safeguarding of the minority and regional languages of the European Union?

Joint answerto Written Questions E-2340/01, E-2341/01 and E-2342/01given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(17 October 2001)

The Commission does share the view that regional and minority languages form a unique part of Europe's cultural heritage. Paragraph 4 of Article 151 (ex Article 128) of the EC Treaty states that the Community shall take cultural aspects into account in its action under other provisions of the EC Treaty, in particular in order to respect and to promote the diversity of its cultures, and this provision also applies to languages as a medium of cultural expression and transmission. Initiatives involving regional or minority languages are elegible for funding under a wide range of Community programmes and actions, including those cited by the Honourable Member, insofar as they contribute to the objectives of the action in question. The only exceptions are certain actions of the Socrates programme, in particular the Lingua action, targetted at the less widely used official languages of the Union, plus Irish and Luxembourgish.

Under the Fifth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (R & D), the Specific Programme on a User-friendly information society, has among its aims, under the Key Action on Multimedia content and tools, to enable linguistic and cultural diversity, thus allowing for the consideration of language aspects. Furthermore, under the Specific programme Improving Human Potential, the Key Action on the Improving the socio-economic knowledge base invites research on linguistic parameters in the course of the shaping of civic values.

Access to modern communication media is important to the continued vitality of less widely used languages and initiatives involving lesser-used languages are elegible for support under programmes managed by the Information Society Directorate General, such as the e-Content programme, which forms part of the e-Europe initiative and aims to stimulate the development and use of European digital content on the global networks and to promote linguistic diversity in the information society.

The Commission has no immediate plans to propose a programme specifically aimed at promoting regional and minority languages. However, in the wake of the European Year of Languages 2001, it intends to draw conclusions from the many events and initiatives taking place during the year and from the wide-ranging public debate on languages and language issues that this initiative has stimulated in order to develop a longer-term strategy for linguistic diversity and language learning in the Union.

The Cohesion Fund is used for large scale infrastructure investments in the environment and transport sector and thus investments in minority and regional languages are unlikely to be eligible.

The purpose of the Structural Funds is to further economic and social cohesion through growth and employment. While projects that have the sole purpose of promoting minority and regional languages are not eligible, the Structural Funds can contribute to tourism development and cultural investments. These could be relevant to regional and minority languages. In the past the Structural Funds have supported, for example, various measures of economic support specifically for the Gaeltacht area in Ireland, TV broadcasts on the Union in the Welsh language and infrastructure investments for the University of Corsica (France).