[lg policy] Re: EU Civil Society Platform on Multilingualism Report published

[Davyth Hicks]

Dear Colleagues,

The EU Civil Society Platform on Multilingualism (CSPM), comprising the 
main language and culture NGOs in the EU, has published its Report and 
recommendations to the European Commission, member states and regional 
authorities.

It makes important policy recommendations to the EU in support of 
regional, minority, constitutional and smaller state languages. These are:
•       European level language planning to promote linguistic equality;
•       Direct support for endangered languages;
•       The establishment of a European linguistic observatory to 
collect linguistic data and to act as a watchdog over language use;
•       European language ombudsman;
•       To work towards an EU Directive to prohibit linguistic 
discrimination.

The Report is published on the Commission’s website:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/news/news5090_en.htm 
<https://webmail.europarl.europa.eu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/news/news5090_en.htm>

Furthermore, it recommends that education and public services should 
become multilingual to boost Europe’s language skills, sustain Europe’s 
economies, and to cater for increasingly diverse societies.

The Report was drawn up in consultation with language and culture NGOs 
and stakeholders from across Europe in surveys conducted by the 29 
Platform members. It represents the views from a broad range of 
organisations such as the British Council and EUNIC (who include the 
Goethe Institute and Alliance Française as members), to the Association 
of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE), and the Conseil Européen des 
Associations de Traducteurs Littéraires (CEATL).

The Civil Society Platform on Multilingualism was launched by the 
European Commission in October 2009 in order to submit a set of 
recommendations, after consultation, to influence policy making at EU, 
Member State and regional level, and to help design the financial 
instruments for the new generation of funding programmes (2014-2020).

Best regards,

Davyth Hicks

Dr. Davyth Hicks
Eurolang / Secretariat for the European Parliament Intergroup for
Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages.

On 29/08/2011 16:32, Harold Schiffman wrote:
> “Education and public services must go multilingual” recommends EU Platform
> Posted on August 26, 2011 by Eilidh MacDonald
>
> Following on from a previous post on the Language Rich Europe blog in
> May, the EU Civil Society Platform on Multilingualism (CSPM) has now
> published its policy recommendations to the European Commission,
> member states and regional authorities with this advice:
>
>      Education and public services must go multilingual to boost
> Europe’s language skills, sustain Europe’s economies and cater for
> increasingly diverse societies
>
> According to the CSPM there are still unacceptable gaps in support for
> multilingualism and language learning throughout the EU and even where
> good policies exist, implementation is often inadequate. To help
> combat this, the platform recommends strategies including making
> plurilingual education (“mother tongue” plus 2 other languages) the
> norm; strengthening learning support for immigrants; and improving
> language skills of public services across Europe.
>
> Uwe Mohr, Chairperson of the Civil Society Platform on
> Multilingualism, explains:
>
>      only as multilinguals can we fully enjoy the benefits of our
> culturally and linguistically diverse Europe and live a richer, more
> interesting and more successful life in the Europe of the future.
>
> Multilingualism is seen as crucial to the preservation and
> accessibility of the common European cultural heritage and the CSPM
> identifies translation as playing an important role in this. The
> platform therefore also recommends that the working conditions of
> translators be substantially improved, with sound degree programmes
> and opportunities for mobility.
>
> The CSPM, chaired by EUNIC Brussels, was set up in 2009 by the
> European Commission to promote multilingualism in Europe in the areas
> of culture, media and non-formal education. It consists of 29 selected
> member organisations which are all committed to promoting
> multilingualism and operating at a trans-national or European-wide
> level. There are plans for the platform to continue its work beyond
> this project. As Mohr states:
>
>      Europe needs to develop a language policy that monitors language
> use and ensures that languages are treated equally. We also highly
> recommend that the Civil Society Platform on Multilingualism be
> continued on a permanent basis to act as an instrument of dialogue
> between the EU policy level on the one side and the national,
> regional, and local language policy levels and social reality on the
> other side.
>
> Nine members of the CSPM have committed to setting up an on-line
> Language Observatory to advise policymakers in designing and
> implementing successful policies for multilingualism. As part of the
> European Commission funded project Poliglotti4.eu, the observatory
> will launch in the autumn and will conduct research and capture and
> disseminate good practice.
>
> http://languagerichblog.eu/2011/08/26/education-and-public-services-must-go-multilingual-recommends-eu-platform/
>
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