Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the 'Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council - European Year of Languages 2001'
Date: 2000-02-17
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: European language, European symbol

6.6.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 156/33

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Proposal for a Decision of the European
Parliament and of the Council — European Year of Languages 2001’

(2000/C 156/06)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the proposal from the European Commission on the proposal for a Decision of the
European Parliament and of the Council on the European Year of Languages 2001 (COM(1999) 485
final);

having regard to the European Commission’s decision of 25 October 1999 and the Council’s decision of
30 November 1999 to consult the Committee of the Regions on the subject, under Article 149 and 150
of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

having regard to its Bureau’s decision of 15 September 1999 instructing Commission 7 (Education,
Vocational Training, Culture, Youth, Sport and Citizens’ Rights) to draw up an opinion on the subject;

having regard to the Draft Opinion (CdR 465/99 rev. 1) adopted by Commission 7 on 3 December 1999
[rapporteur: Mr Pella (I-EPP)];

whereas in the preamble to the EC Treaty, it is stated that the Member States are: ‘Determined to promote
the development of the highest possible level of knowledge for their peoples through a wide access to
education and through its continuous updating’;

whereas article 18 of the EC Treaty establishes the right of every citizen of the European Union ‘to move
and reside freely within the territory of the Member States’, and whereas the ability to use foreign
languages is essential to the ability to exercise that right;

whereas the Council Conclusions of 12 June 1995 emphasised that ‘linguistic diversity must be preserved
and multilingualism promoted in the Union, with equal respect for the languages of the Union and with
due regard to the principle of subsidiarity’, and whereas Decision 2493/95/EC of the European Parliament
and Council, adopted on 23 October 1995 and establishing 1996 as the ‘European Year of Lifelong
Learning’ highlighted the importance of the role of lifelong learning in developing language skills, among
others, throughout an individual’s lifetime;

having regard to the content of the Socrates programme, established on 14 March 1995 by Decision
819/95/EC of the European Parliament and the Council and modified on 23 February 1998 by
Decision 576/98/EC, designed to promote the improvement of knowledge of the languages of the Union
and thus contribute to greater understanding and solidarity between the peoples of the Union;

having regard to the Leonardo da Vinci programme, established on 6 December 1994 by Decision
94/819/EC of the European Parliament and the Council, which has, building on the results achieved
under the Lingua programme, supported activities aimed at developing linguistic skills as part of
vocational training measures; whereas the programme is to move into its second phase, established on
26 April 1999 by Decision 99/382 EC of the Council;

whereas a multiannual programme to promote the linguistic diversity of the Community in the
information society was established by Council Decision 96/664/EC of 21 November 1996;

given that the variety of European languages is an inheritance to be preserved,

adopted the following opinion at its 32nd plenary session of 16 and 17 February 2000 (meeting of
17 February).

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1.

Introduction

1.1. Substance of the European Year of Languages

1.2.2.
The language strand of Socrates offers Community
aid for the initial and in-service training of language teachers,
for the development of new teaching materials and for joint
educational projects, such as exchanges for young people.

1.1.1.
The Committee of the Regions welcomes the Euro-
pean Commission’s proposal for a decision to make 2001
European Year of Languages.

The Leonardo programme promotes job-related
1.2.3.
language learning by means of transnational pilot projects and
exchange programmes. Both programmes give priority to the
less-widely used, learned and taught languages.

1.1.2.
This stance stems from the Commission’s repeated
insistence that the cultural diversity of the Member States is
the key element in the EU’s cultural wealth.

To grasp the strategic importance of the European
1.1.3.
Year of Languages 2001 for the establishment of a genuine
and effective union between the peoples of Europe,
it is
enough to remember that the basic distinguishing feature of
cultural identity is the language spoken by the people belong-
ing to a community.

1.1.4.
The Commission’s 1995 White Paper ‘Education,
training, research: Teaching and learning: towards a learning
society’ established as its Objective Four proficiency for all in
three Community languages, and the Commission’s 1996
Green Paper ‘Education, Training, Research: The obstacles to
transnational mobility’ concluded that ‘learning at least two
Community languages has become a precondition if citizens
of the European Union are to benefit from occupational and
personal opportunities open to them in the single market’; to
understand a culture, one must first know the language spoken
by the people of that culture.

1.1.5.
Notwithstanding the need to assess the possibility
for individuals to learn two Community languages, a notion
that the Committee believes to be somewhat unrealistic in
many cases, the fundamental message to be spread in all the
Member States is the basic principle that to know another
culture it is first necessary to know the language spoken by
the people of that culture.

1.2.4.
In some respects the initiatives listed in the Com-
mission proposal as being the best suited for inclusion in the
package of measures for the European Year of Languages
mirror the objectives of the two programmes, but in other
respects they are radically different.

In 2001, all

1.2.5.
the Community languages will be
promoted, and in particular those that are not currently widely
used, including minority languages, backing up the European
Year’s key principle: that all
languages are to be equally
respected.

1.2.6.
From this angle, the measures are an extension of the
projects already underway, though Socrates and Leonardo
only cover the Community languages, Irish and Letzeburgesch.
The real difference is in the target groups.

1.2.7.
Owing to limited funds, measures under Socrates
and Leonardo are restricted to well defined categories of the
Community population (teachers, trainers, students, decision
makers and academics). The European Year of Languages will
be aimed at the general public.

This will make the European Year of Languages one
1.2.8.
of the largest European integration initiatives ever launched on
a Community-wide scale.

1.2. Existing Community action in the field of language education
and vocational training: similarities and differences regarding
parallel objectives of the Socrates and Leonardo programmes

1.2.1.
The European Union launched the Socrates and
Leonardo da Vinci programmes specifically to further the
economic and social integration of the Member States. Both
programmes feature aspects designed to promote language
learning.

1.2.9.
The Committee has already given its full approval to
implementation of the Socrates and Leonardo education and
training programmes. The second phase of Socrates will
involve new measures to promote linguistic diversity and
improve the quality of language teaching and learning. In the
second phase of the Leonardo programme, the priority given
to language teaching and its profile will be further strength-
ened. The Committee hopes that these second phases, due
to begin during 2000, will dovetail successfully with the
preparatory phase of the 2001 European Year of Languages.

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2. General comments

2.3. Description of actions

2.1. Aims and objectives

2.3.1. M a j o r a c t i o n s

2.1.1.
The Committee broadly endorses the aims of the
European Year of Languages and the means chosen to bring it
about. The main aims are:

— to raise awareness of the richness of linguistic diversity

within the European Union;

— to familiarise the widest possible public with the advantage
of having skills in a range of languages, namely real
freedom of movement within Europe, increased employa-
bility, and heightened competitiveness for European com-
panies on the world market;

— to encourage lifelong learning of languages and related

skills;

— to collect and disseminate information about the teaching

and learning of languages.

2.1.2.
enshrined in the Treaty:

The objectives can be traced back to the principles

— encouraging mutual understanding between the diverse

cultures that form Europe’s heritage;

The Committee is pleased to note that the European
2.3.1.1.
Year of Languages initiatives will include special events and
approves of the plan to ask language learning institutions to
hold open days. It is also a good idea to hold common events
in all the Member States, for instance to inaugurate and close
the Year.

2.3.1.2.
The special events must be organised in such a way
as to avoid becoming projects that are of removed from their
context and therefore unable to involve the general public.
Furthermore, they must be entertaining and interactive rather
than didactic,
for example by including performances in
various languages. Such events should also be assured of
adequate television coverage.

2.3.1.3.
The Committee welcomes the fact that, rather than
the Community
relating to specific languages, several of
schemes and activities conducted during the European Year
will be aimed at putting across a general message, celebrating
diversity and promoting language-learning in general.

— promoting free movement within the European Union.

2.3.2. S p e c i f i c a c t i o n s

2.2. Target groups

2.3.2.1.

Specific actions will include:

The main aim of the European Year of Languages is
2.2.1.
that of involving as large a number of people as possible, i.e.
the European general public, in order to convince everyone,
irrespective of their age, class or occupation, of the importance
of language learning. This vast target group will for instance
include:

— people from a particular region or who speak a particular

language;

— people who live near linguistic borders;

— occupational groups;

— schoolchildren;

— the development an immediately recognisable

logo
accompanied by a short and pithy slogan, suited to
individual languages and cultures; the Commission is to
design the logo in conjunction with the Council of Europe;
the logo will be available to any projects financed to any
degree by the European Community and to projects which
are financed wholly by local organisations, but comply
with the objectives of the European Year of Languages;

— the use of television, the ideal medium for the initial task
of raising public awareness; the cost of direct advertising
time is prohibitive, but it may be possible to obtain
television time free of charge;

— parents of schoolchildren;

children and adults;

— the organisation of European competitions for school-

— social partners;

— unemployed people.

The COR strongly believes people with disabilities should also
be included.

— the creation of a web site dedicated to providing infor-
mation on the European Year of Languages; this site would
hold all the information published on the initiative and
would link up to the sites of the Commission and the
Council of Europe and to national sites, enabling interac-
tion with the public;

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— fairs and exhibitions;

— interviews and press conferences;

— the preparation of posters,

leaflets and brochures for
mass distribution; the advertising space needed for poster
campaigns will have to be given free of charge by the
organisations concerned;

— the direct involvement of public figures and celebrities, as

spokespeople for the European Year of Languages.

2.4. Cooperation with the Council of Europe and the applicant

countries

2.4.1.
The Committee looks forward to fruitful cooperation
between the EU and the Council of Europe. It in particular
welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with the Congress of
Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe in
promoting the Year. Regarding the overall management of the
European Year, the Committee believes there should be regular
coordination meetings of the Commission and the Council of
Europe, in addition to close day to day cooperation.

The Committee appreciates the support offered by
2.4.2.
the Council of Europe to enable the countries that have applied
to join the EU to take part in the European Year of Languages.
The hope is that this cooperation will solve some of the
practical difficulties their involvement will imply.

learning, at pre-school and primary age,
the pooling of
information on language learning and teaching, and the
promotion of initiatives in the field of translation and inter-
preting in order to facilitate communication between people
that speak different languages.

The Committee is fully behind the decision to favour
2.5.5.
national, regional and local projects for the production of
good quality audiovisual information material.

2.6. Advisory committee

2.6.1.
Article 5 of the proposal for a Decision of the
European Parliament and the Council provides for the estab-
lishment of an advisory committee, comprising two represen-
tatives from each Member State. Each Member State will be
free to decide whether those representatives are politicians or
technicians.

2.7. Financial appropriations

2.7.1.
Community-level initiatives for the European Year of
Languages will be funded entirely from the Community budget,
whereas local, regional, national and transnational initiatives
will be funded up to a maximum of 50 % of the total cost. The
funds made available for such initiatives will total EUR 8 mil-
lion, plus EUR 4 million to finance the preparatory period,
which will therefore be used during 2000.

2.7.2.
transnational, national, regional and local level:

The following types of action will be financed at

2.5. Administrative procedures and the presentation of requests

2.5.1.
The European Commission’s proposal states that a
specially appointed advisory committee will be established to
process funding requests.

— meetings and events;

— information and promotion campaigns;

— surveys and studies;

2.5.2.
The European Year will involve two calls for pro-
posals. The deadline for the first will be in the summer or early
autumn of 2000, and the subsidies will be drawn from the
budget for the preparatory year. The second call, for actions
that advance any or all of
the European Year’s specific
objectives, will follow with a deadline in Spring 2001.

2.5.3.
The Committee reiterates the recommendation it has
already made in other opinions that the application forms be
made as simple as possible, that sufficient time be allowed for
the presentation of proposals and that the procedures for
granting funds be speeded up.

— other actions which target one or more of the objectives
of the European Year, and cannot be financed under other
Community programmes.

2.7.3.
The Committee agrees that projects similar to those
already funded through other programmes and initiatives
should not be financed, so as to make the best possible use
of the financial appropriations granted specifically for the
European Year of Languages.

2.8. Role of and contact with local authorities

2.5.4.
The Committee is in favour of giving priority to
projects that will clearly contribute to developing European
citizenship and that comply with the principles of the 1995
White Paper, including among their priorities early language

2.8.1.
It is essential to stress the key role played by local
authorities in pre-school activities, youth schemes, community
education services and support for cultural diversity in the EU,
of which language is a fundamental element.

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2.8.2.
Local authorities also make a major contribution to
establishing and maintaining interregional cooperation and
cooperation with third countries, the applicant countries in
particular. The Committee is in favour of setting up an advisory
committee of two representatives from each Member State,
chaired by a Commission representative, insofar as it ensures
the vital input of the local authorities.

2.9. Evaluations and expected impact

2.9.1.
The Committee of the Regions is fully behind the
European Year of Languages idea and believes that it will have
a significant impact on the public. Languages are a field of vast
importance involving a very high number of people and
organisations.

The European Year of Languages may have an
2.9.2.
important multiplier effect, by starting up Community-wide
schemes able to attract considerable mass media attention, and
sparking smaller-scale schemes, aimed at particular groups,
countries or regions.

2.9.3.
To maximise the impact of the European Year of
Languages, major lessons must be drawn from similar past
endeavours, such as the European Year of Lifelong Learning,
where a few mistakes diminished the programme’s capacity to
attract outside financing.

During the European Year of Lifelong learning,
2.9.4.
inadequate resources were allotted to preparing communi-
cations products in the various Community languages and to
setting up promotional and marketing activities, designed to
attract media attention and disseminate information on good
practice arising from individual projects. Similar mistakes must
not be made during the European Year of Languages.

3. Specific comments

3.1. Language learning

not know any foreign language well enough to hold a
conversation.

3.1.3.
The Committee has always been in favour of promot-
ing language learning, in view of the contribution this can
make to culture and employment. Furthermore, knowledge of
languages is a prerequisite for the free movement of people
within the EU.

The Committee emphasises the need for language
3.1.4.
learning to begin early, so that the people become truly
European from the earliest years of their lives and grow up in
the framework of a multilingual society, which allows people
to learn languages throughout their lives, as an integral part of
a genuinely European lifestyle.

3.1.5.
The Committee welcomes the planned publication
of a ‘Guide for Language Learners’, explaining what to look for
in a good language course and suggesting learning techniques.

3.1.6.
The Committee stresses the need for European Year
of Languages schemes to be coordinated effectively with the
measures already in place under other dedicated programmes
such as Socrates and Leonardo, which are to begin their second
phase in 2000. It also underlines the importance of the Lingua
programme in this respect.

3.1.7.
The establishment of partnerships between the
organisations that will be promoting languages in the various
Member States is especially important.

3.2. Promoting cultural diversity

3.2.1.
The Committee will never cease to stress that the
preservation of cultural diversity is an asset for the whole of
Europe. This is also the view stated in the ‘First European
Community Framework Programme in Support of Culture
(2000-2004)’. Knowledge of other cultures, through language
study in particular,
is the only way to halt the spread of
worrying developments such as racism and xenophobia.

3.1.1.
hinge largely on the preparatory phase in 2000.

The success of the European Year of Languages will

Studies and surveys will be needed to understand the
3.1.2.
behaviour of various categories of people with regard to
language learning, to identify the expectations of the groups
targeted by the European Year and to gather opinions on
possible procedures. Meanwhile, one critical piece of data
already available must not be overlooked: in Europe, 51 % of
adults and 29 % of young people aged between 15 and 24 do

3.3. Languages covered by the European Year of Languages

3.3.1.
In line with the principle of the equal value of the
Community languages, Article 1 of the draft decision states
that the European Year will cover all the official Community
languages, plus Irish, Letzeburgesch and other languages
recognised by the Member States.

3.3.2.
free to decide for themselves which languages to involve.

The Committee is pleased that Member States will be

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3.3.3.
The decision to make 2001 European Year of
Languages is welcome for the contribution it will make to
protecting linguistic minorities and furthering research into
the language situation and applying it in various parts of
Europe.

5.2. Welcomes the proposal to make 2001 European Year
of Languages and is pleased to see that language learning has
finally been placed at the heart of Community action for the
promotion of the mutual knowledge of the cultures of the
Member States and the strengthening of the principle of the
free movement of people within Europe;

4. Local and regional initiatives

4.1.
The way in which mass media is harnessed will be
critical to the success of 2001, as will, above all, the degree of
involvement of the local and regional authorities.

4.2. With a view to involving the maximum number of
people, it is clear that the main efforts will have to target the
most disadvantaged, who are often not reached by the
communication channels used by the ever more modern mass
media. The local authorities are essential intermediaries for
reaching the less-privileged; their detailed knowledge of local
areas and their inhabitants will enable them to make the Year
2001 initiatives really effective.

4.3.
The Committee agrees on the need to hold special
events, but believes they should be set up by local organis-
ations, as only they will know how to involve large numbers
of people from different social backgrounds. Once again, the
role of the local and regional authorities is vital. The Committee
considers that to maximise the number of people involved,
local authorities could be supported in their efforts to integrate
the European Year of Languages into their day-to-day activities,
for example introducing more multi-lingual customer-driven
pilot programmes in the delivery of services or designating
staff to coordinate new linguistic approaches to their work.

4.4.
As it already stated in its opinion on ‘Culture 2000’,
the Committee is afraid that if too much emphasis is placed
on big-impact, large-scale activities the risk will be to focus
attention on the main events and wrongly give less importance
to local and community events. Care must also be taken to
avoid launching measures that are in any way elitist, attracting
specialists rather than ordinary people.

5. Conclusions

The Committee of the Regions:

5.1.
Asks that the Committee of the Regions be offered an
active role on the advisory committee to be set up under
Article 5 of the proposal for a Decision of the European
Parliament and the Council;

5.3.
Underlines that these initiatives will support the pro-
cess of enlarging the European Union, insofar as they provide
for the involvement of the applicant countries. The European
Year will offer numerous opportunities to raise awareness of
the cultures of the applicant countries, forming a basis for
their future integration;

5.4. Welcomes the European Year of Languages for the
valuable support it will provide in terms of improving the
vocational training of the European public, especially regarding
the exchange of vocational skills between the various European
countries;

5.5.
Stresses that as many Europeans as possible should be
involved in the initiatives and recommends that in the interests
of effectiveness, publicity methods be tailored to the various
social groups present in Europe;

Is glad the Member States will be free to choose which
5.6.
languages, including minority languages, should be the focus
of the European Year of Languages;

5.7.
Asks that the regional and local authorities be given an
active and incisive part to play in the project and that the
funding mechanisms for local initiatives be clearly defined and
procedures simplified;

5.8.
Stresses the key role of the local and regional auth-
orities as the only bodies in a position to promote cultural and
linguistic interaction, as they represent the various cultural and
linguistic identities within their Member States;

Proposes providing the local and regional authorities
5.9.
with contact points to supply information and assistance for
the implementation of initiatives within the framework of the
European Year of Languages;

Proposes that

5.10.
the Committee of the Regions be
directly involved in drawing up the final report setting out the
results of the European Year of Languages, as the local and
regional authorities are the only qualified judges of success, in
terms of the number of people genuinely involved in the local
area;

5.11.
bution to the cost of regional and local schemes;

Recommends an increase in the percentage contri-

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5.12.
Believes that the capacity to use the mass media to
maximum effect will be a key factor in the success of the
European Year of Languages, as this is the only way to reach a
very broad public, providing local news media are also used;

b)

c)

the equal value of all the Community languages, including
minority languages,

the principle that linguistic and cultural diversity within
the European Union is a real asset for the whole of Europe.

5.13.
Is convinced that a truly effective publicity campaign
must use not only national television networks but also, and
above all, local television and radio stations and newspapers,
as well as new forms of media; a large number of field studies
have shown that a much higher percentage of people watch
local television and buy local newspapers than follow the
national media;

5.17. Welcomes the decision to set up a web site to be
dedicated to information on the European Year of Languages;
proposes that it be included in the Year logo, in order to
ensure the maximum number of people are made aware of the
site’s existence; also believes that it would be extremely useful
and effective to post the web site’s details on local and regional
authority web sites;

5.14.
scale projects, to spawn innovative activities;

Recommends that special priority be given to small-

Agrees that high-profile,

5.15.
large-scale events will be
required for the European Year of Languages to succeed, but
believes that these should be supported and enriched by
numerous small scale events held by local and regional
authorities, which will be able to reinforce the key message of
the European Year of Languages as they are geographically
close to the target groups;

5.16.
Recommends that the initiatives launched as part of
the European Year of Languages place an emphasis on its main
objectives, namely:

a) promotion of language learning in general,

5.18.
Calls for early establishment of the basic selection
criteria for the various projects, so as to facilitate the task of
the local and regional authorities and give them ample time to
prepare their projects; asks that most of these criteria be
general, in order to give the greatest possible scope for local
creativity;

Asks, in line with the objective of the European Year
5.19.
of Languages, that all the related information be translated
into all the languages, minority languages chosen by the
Member States included, and produced in audiovisual format
for the disabled;

5.20.
Asks that the preparatory surveys to be conducted in
2000 be carried out at grass-roots level, in all the Member
States and among all age groups, in order to quantify how
many and which people are interested in learning foreign
languages.

Brussels, 17 February 2000.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Jos CHABERT