[EDLING:2074] European Parliament rejects Bernat Joans Report proposals

[Francis M Hult]

Via lg-policy...

> Unity in Diversity? European Parliament rejects Bernat Joans Report
> proposals
> 
> Strassburg, Alsace, Wednesday, 15 November 2006 by Davyth Hicks
> 
> In what is a setback for all European endangered and lesser used
> languages, the European Parliament voted with a large majority against
> nearly all the substantive measures on Bernat Joans Report today (15th
> November). The proposals for a EU language plan and legislation for
> collective language rights, the EU Ombudsman to resolve language disputes,
> to modify the EU Treaty to allow for a legal base for linguistic
> diversity, for the fundamental rights agency to take care of language
> rights, and continuing support for EBLUL and the Mercator Centres, were
> all rejected outright.  The only proposals to survive were the
> recommendations that the 2003 Ebner Report be implemented and that EU
> citizens be able to communicate with the EU in their own national langage,
> regardless of whether it has official status.
> 
> Catalan MEP Bernat Joan abstained in the final vote because the Parliament
> had, by then, rendered the Report toothless. He said: "We cannot support a
> report where, after the vote in committee and in the plenary, almost all
> the relevant points have been removed. This includes the recognition of
> equality amongst all European languages, regardless of their official
> status, the extension of the mandate of the Agency of Fundamental Rights
> and of the European Ombudsman to deal with matters of linguistic
> discrimination, or the guarantee of a fair funding allocation for those
> agencies responsible for lesser used languages."
> 
> 
> Bernat Joan pointed out that "today we have been able to see that the true
> supporters of Europe's linguistic diversity still remain a minority in
> this parliament, albeit a significant one". The MEP regretted that, "for
> the majority of members, the slogan "unity in diversity" is nothing more
> than a mere formality taken absolutely out of context". He added, "for
> this parliament, multilingualism only refers to the official languages of
> the member states, neglecting a much richer and complex reality. Europe is
> not just a mere conglomeration of states and linguistic diversity is not
> only related to those languages with strong legal status."
> 
> In the previous nights debate, Bernat Joan spoke up for the Reports
> original proposals, and called on the EU to go beyond slogans and words
> and take clear steps with concrete policies to support existing diversity.
> The MEP, speaking in English because his Catalan mother tongue cannot yet
> be used, emphasised that "one of the fundamental values of the EU is the
> defence of our linguistic diversity, and if this is true, we need to see
> an overhaul of the linguistic policies at EU and state level.  Referring
> to the monolingual mindset of many states he said : "The Jacobinist model
> is obsolete, it is far too out-dated for 21st century Europe. We must
> launch realistic policies to promote genuine European diversity".
> 
> Referring to one of the primary aims of the report to protect Europes
> endangered languages he said, Each language is good for humanity and if
> lost it is lost to all humanityit is necessary to devote special care to
> all the endangered languages with the necessary budget to achieve this".
> He concluded by pointing out that the 2003 Ebner Report is still to be
> implemented. The outgoing Commissioner for Multilingualism, Jan Figel,
> welcomed the inspiring Report which had been written in the spirit of
> Unity in Diversity and highlighted the Commissions recent intiatives to
> set up networks to promote multilingualism and linguistic diversity and
> that EU projects were now open to all languages.
> 
> Maria Badia i Cutchet (PSOE) said that we need to ensure that all EU
> citizens can communicate with the EU in their mother tongue, referring to
> the 10% of EU citizens who cannot at present because they speak a
> regional, stateless or minority language (RML).  A Liberal MEP added that
> we need legal protection for all of the EUs languages, and, if we support
> Unity in Diversity, we need to support the Report.  Bairbre de Brun (Sinn
> Fein- GUE), speaking in Irish then English, strongly supported all of the
> EFA- Green amendments, and referred to the important work of EBLUL and its
> projects over the years and their conference in Dublin next week.
> 
> In contrast, Mr. Vidal Quadras (Spanish PP - EPP) reacted with scorn,
> calling the Report an opportunistic attempt by the rapporteur to come up
> with nationalist, separatist rhetoric, and that Mr Joan was using
> languages to promote the disintegration of member states. An Irish MEP
> said that lesser used languages are as important, if not more, than the
> bigger languages, its important that we carry on supporting lesser used
> languages to show unity in diversity.
> 
> Concluding the debate, Jan Figel described language as our cultural legacy
> and that the Commission, as part of its action for lesser used languages,
> has been supporting EBLUL and the Mercator Centres. However, EU support
> for EBLUL and the Mercator Centres ceases at the end of 2006, while
> spending overall on RMLs by the EU has seen huge cutbacks with an overall
> retreat from the previous position of ring-fenced funding for lesser used
> language projects.  Moreover, with all EU project funding only big
> language projects are able to apply as the thresholds for application are
> often far too high for small, often impoverished, language communities.
> 
> In addition, the clause in Bernat Joans Report calling for the continued
> support for EBLUL and the Mercators - NGOs dedicated to promoting
> inclusive linguistic diversity -was rejected. The current situation
> indicates that EU support for its own European lesser used languages, both
> financially and politically, it at its lowest.
> 
> It comes at a time when several European languages are facing endangerment
> and in need of help more than ever. Sadly, todays events in the European
> Parliament suggest that language activists need not look to the EU anymore
> for help. Unity in Diversity is an empty slogan - the EU is failing to
> communicate to the 10% of its population who speak a lesser used language
> despite calls to bring the EU closer to its citizens. The mood from the
> grass roots indicates that a new wave of direct action may be needed to
> achieve the kind of linguistic equality that continues to be reserved for
> member state languages. (Eurolang 2006)
> 
> http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2763&Itemid=1&lang=en