Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council: European Year of Languages 2001'
Date: 1999-12-08
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: European Union, European symbol, cooperation policy, living language, public awareness campaign

23.2.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 51/53

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Decision of the European
Parliament and of the Council: European Year of Languages 2001’

(2000/C 51/14)

On 30 November 1999 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under
Articles 149 and 150 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned
proposal.

The Economic and Social Committee decided to appoint Mr Rupp as rapporteur-general to prepare its
opinion.

At its 368th plenary session (meeting of 8 December 1999) the Economic and Social Committee adopted
the following opinion with 67 votes in favour, no dissenting votes and six abstentions.

1.

Introduction

Articles 149 and 150 of the EC Treaty form the legal
1.1.
basis for the proposed European Year of Languages 2001.
Article 149 refers to ‘developing the European dimension in
education, particularly through the teaching and dissemination
of the languages of the Member States’.

1.2.5.
Further key statements on the issue of languages and
education can be found in the 1995 White Paper ‘Education
and training: teaching and learning — Towards the learning
society’ (2).

1.2.6.
The Green Paper ‘Education, training, research: the
obstacles to transnational mobility’ (3) also merits special
attention.

1.2.
In the field of language learning and training, the
Community is following up earlier initiatives and undertaking
new initiatives:

2. Gist of the Commission proposal

1.2.1.
Under the Socrates programme, support was pro-
vided for the initial and in-service training of language teachers
and the development of new teaching materials and for joint
educational projects.

2.1.
The European Year of Languages is planned along the
lines of the highly successful Year of Lifelong Learning (1996)
and has four key objectives:

The Leonardo da Vinci programme promoted the
1.2.2.
development of vocationally-oriented language skills through
transnational pilot projects and exchange programmes.

1.2.3.
In the second phase of Leonardo II, due to commence
in 2000, the importance of language learning will be reinforced
and special attention will be paid to linguistic diversity and
improving the quality of language teaching (1). The aim is ‘to
promote a quantitative and qualitative improvement in the
knowledge of
in
particular those languages which are less widely used and less
widely taught’.

the European Union,

the languages of

1.2.4.
Leonardo da Vinci II (starts 2000) aims to raise the
visibility of languages. The Council Decision of 26.4.1999
highlights the ‘promotion of language competences, including
for less widely used and taught languages, and understanding
of different cultures in the context of vocational training
(“language competences”)’ (1).

(1) OJ L 146, 11.6.1999 — ESC opinion: OJ C 410, 30.12.1998.

— to raise awareness of the richness of linguistic diversity

within the European Union;

— to bring to the notice of the widest possible public the

advantages of competence in a range of languages;

— to encourage the lifelong learning of languages and related

skills;

— to collect and disseminate information about the teaching

and learning of languages.

During the European Year,

2.2.
information and pro-
motional measures will be undertaken on the theme of
languages. The aim is to encourage people residing in the
Member States to learn languages by raising awareness of their
importance for the quality of life and economic competi-
tiveness.

(2) COM(95) 590 final — ESC opinion: OJ C 295, 7.10.1996.
(3) Green Paper ‘Education,

the obstacles to
transnational mobility’, COM(96) 462 final — ESC opinion: OJ
C 133, 28.4.1997.

training, research:

C 51/54

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Official Journal of the European Communities

23.2.2000

The following five measures are aimed at bringing

2.3.
home this objective:

— use of a common logo and of slogans

— Community-wide information campaign

— meetings and events at all levels (Community, transna-

tional, national, regional and local)

— competitions and prizes

— financial support for initiatives.

3. Conclusions

3.1.
The ESC broadly welcomes the European Com-
mission’s adoption of this proposed decision declaring 2001 a
Year of Languages. The fact that this year falls at the beginning
of a new millennium strikes the ESC as of considerable
symbolic importance.

3.2.
As the proposal quite rightly points out, the success of
the Year of Languages 2001 requires ‘appropriate cooperation
between the European Community and the Council of Europe’.
This is also mentioned in Clause 10 of the preamble, although
the abstract wording of Article 10 of the proposal does not do
justice to this requirement.

The ESC calls for a more concrete description of cooperation
with the Council of Europe; this could take the form of, for
instance, joint working parties or regular meetings of those
responsible.

3.3.
It has to be made very clear that the concept ‘language’
must not be reduced to grammar, vocabulary and correct
pronunciation, but that cultural values are the real issue.

Brussels, 8 December 1999.

The aim is to reach out to other cultures through language.
European history has common roots and Europe thrives on
the diversity of its cultures and languages. In this respect
language learning helps Europeans to discover their identity; it
is not an end in itself, but the means of transmitting cultural
values. It should also be stressed that language creates a social
community. This should be expressed more explicitly in Article
2 and the financial statement.

3.4.
A capital opportunity for language use is offered by
Europe’s border regions, where learning each other’s language
should be especially encouraged and developed. At least the
same attention and assistance should be given to languages in
areas which are not near neighbouring states. The ESC
would regret the exclusion of minority languages. This would
contradict both the proposal’s objectives and the target
populations mentioned in 6.4.

3.5.
The ESC calls for a discussion — as part of the Year of
Languages — of the sustainability of these activities. Past
experience might be useful here. An appropriate analysis and
assessment of previous ‘Years’ should go a long way to
avoiding mistakes and problems in the Year of Languages
2001.

As for previous events (e.g. European Year of Safety,
3.6.
Hygiene and Health Protection at Work) the ESC would like to
participate directly in the work of the advisory committee.

3.7.
The ESC is ready to cooperate actively with the
Commission and is interested in collaborating on an appropri-
ate initiative in 2001, to be carried out jointly with the
Commission and other institutions.

The ESC is convinced that the Year of Languages 2001,
3.8.
after an appropriate preparatory phase, will be able to make a
significant contribution to the understanding of languages
through successful cooperation at all levels, and hence to the
development of Europe and its civil society.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Beatrice RANGONI MACHIAVELLI