BY MATTHEW COUCKE. The motto of the 28-state bloc is ‘United in Diversity’. With this in mind, the Union should engage more in the protection of linguistic diversity. Huge communities of EU citizens who are living in another Member State or simply speak another language than the most widespread one, suffer from discrimination and isolation. 

Speakers of a minority language in a European country, even if this language is native to the region, are often deprived of proper public services and education in their own town. The most striking examples are found in the judiciary, where the duration of court cases can be strikingly longer for minority language speakers due to improper policies.

The EU is the biggest economic zone on the planet and its internal boundaries have faded away throughout the past decades. Yet linguistic diversity is one of the most important factors dividing Europe, and policy-makers often struggle with it. Few Member States have a language policy that embraces linguistic diversity, and those who try to implement pro-multilingual legislation are faced with serious problems.

The Council of Europe¹ has already tried to address the issue with its European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages – now it is time for the EU to act!

A labyrinth of policies…

Il n’y a pas de place pour les langues régionales dans une France destinée à marquer l’Europe de son sceau.
– President Pompidou, 14 April 1972.

Each Member State has a language policy of its own and the differences between these are enormous. Belgians often think of their language situation as problematic, especially in Brussels, but Belgium’s language policy is one of the most advanced ones in the EU. Despite small problems on the language border, Belgium is much more progressive and tolerant compared to surrounding countries. From this September onwards, for instance, Flemish schools are allowed to teach some subjects in another language than Dutch (see De Standaard on 01/09/2014). As things are today in France, a similar policy would be unthinkable.

At least one state is doing better than ours: Finland treats Finnish and Swedish almost equally and stunningly implements the support for the much lesser-spoken Swedish. Moreover, as a member of the Nordic Council², the Scandinavian state is party to the Nordic Language Convention between Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden on the right of Nordic nationals to use their mother tongue in other Nordic countries (including in public services and schools).

This approach to linguistic diversity is in sharp contrast with the French way: French is the one and only official language and the other French languages are reduced to heritage. Would you like your language to become heritage?

In Slovenia, the linguistic rights of Hungarian and Italian speakers are constitutionally protected, but the implementation is very flawed, leading to the absence of public services in alleged bilingual regions. Nonetheless, Slovenia is still one of the better pupils in the European class!

A simple solution for a complex issue

If the EU wants to be ‘a common home for European cultures’, as it claims to be, then it should be at the side of these minorities and care for their protection. The EU should not tolerate that regional languages in France are reduced to ‘heritage’ in the constitution and thus banned from public life.

The EU is the best actor to deal with this continent-wide problem. It should harmonise language policies so as to protect linguistic minorities. Up to now, language policy is a competence of the Member States. Making language policy a shared competence between the EU and the Member States would ensure that the policy is beneficial to everyone and it could eradicate linguistic nationalism in states such as France.

The legislation is already provided by the Council of Europe’s charter – the integration of this charter into EU law would do the job. The EU Fundamental Rights Agency could monitor policy implementation together with other fundamental rights violations and report infringements to the European Court of Justice.

A little bit of political will in Brussels could lead to a better protection of Europe’s languages and improve the quality of day-to-day life of millions of citizens!

[1] Keep in mind that the Council of Europe is not an EU-institution and is not to be confused with the European Council or the Council of the European Union. The Council of Europe is a Strasbourg-based human rights organization of which brings together every European state except for Belarus. For more information on this institution, visit www.coe.int.

[2] The Nordic Council is a regional integration organization similar to the Benelux.