European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
CET 148
Member states that have signed and ratified in dark green, those that have signed but not ratified in light green, those that have neither signed nor ratified in white, non-member states of the Council of Europe in grey. Source: thelist of signatories at theCouncil of Europe website.
TheEuropean Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) is aEuropeantreaty (CETS 148) adopted in 1992 under the auspices of theCouncil of Europe to protect and promote historicalregional and minority languages in Europe. However, the charter does not provide any criterion or definition for an idiom to be a minority or aregional language, and the classification stays in the hands of the national state.[1]
The preparation for the charter was undertaken by the predecessor to the currentCongress of Local and Regional Authorities, the Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe because involvement of local and regional government was essential. The actual charter was written in theParliamentary Assembly based on the Congress' Recommendations. It only applies tolanguages traditionally used by the nationals of the State Parties (thus excluding languages used by recentimmigrants from other states, seeimmigrant languages), which significantly differ from the majority orofficial language (thus excluding what the state party wishes to consider as mere local dialects of the official or majority language)[2] and that either have a territorial basis (and are therefore traditionally spoken by populations of regions or areas within the State) or are used bylinguistic minorities within the State as a whole (thereby including such languages asYiddish,Romani andLemko, which are used over a wide geographic area).
Some states, such as Ukraine and Sweden, have tied the status of minority language to the recognized national minorities, which are defined by ethnic, cultural and/or religious criteria, thereby circumventing the Charter's notion of linguistic minority.[3]
Languages that are official within regions, provinces or federal units within a State (for exampleCatalan inSpain) are not classified as official languages of the State and may therefore benefit from the Charter. On the other hand,Ireland has been unable to sign the Charter on behalf of theIrish language (although a minority language) as it is defined as the first official language of the state. TheUnited Kingdom has ratified the Charter in respect to (among other languages)Welsh inWales,Scots andGaelic in Scotland, andIrish inNorthern Ireland.France, although a signatory, has been constitutionally blocked from ratifying the Charter in respect to thelanguages of France.
The charter provides many actions state parties can take to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages. There are two levels of protection—all signatories must apply the lower level of protection to qualifying languages. Signatories may further declare that a qualifying language or languages will benefit from the higher level of protection, which lists a range of actions from which states must agree to undertake at least 35.
The Charter does not provide procedures for reactive judicial processing in case of lack of compliance but rather an elaborate proactive regular monitoring process in which the Committee of Experts drafts formal feedback and recommendations in regard to the situation in countries parties to the charter.[4]
Countries can ratify the charter in respect of its minority languages based on Part II or Part III of the charter, which contain varying principles. Countries can treat languages differently under the charter, for example, in theUnited Kingdom, theWelsh language is ratified under the general Part II principles as well as the more specific Part III commitments, while theCornish language is ratified only under Part II.
Part II of the Charter details eight main principles and objectives upon which States must base their policies and legislation. They are seen as a framework for the preservation of the languages concerned.[5]
Recognition of regional or minority languages as an expression of cultural wealth.
Respect for the geographical area of each regional or minority language.
The need for resolute action to promote such languages.
The facilitation and/or encouragement of the use of such languages, in speech and writing, in public and private life.
The provision of appropriate forms and means for the teaching and study of such languages at all appropriate stages.
The promotion of relevant transnational exchanges.
The prohibition of all forms of unjustified distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference relating to the use of a regional or minority language and intended to discourage or endanger its maintenance or development.
The promotion by states of mutual understanding between all the country's linguistic groups.
Part III details comprehensive rules, across a number of sectors, by which states agree to abide. Each language to which Part III of the Charter is applied must be named specifically by the government. States must select at least thirty-five of the undertakings in respect to each language. Many provisions contain several options, of varying degrees of stringency, one of which has to be chosen "according to the situation of each language". The areas from which these specific undertakings must be chosen are as follows:[5]
(Article 2, Part II only (Article 7))(extension : 23 April 2003 (declaration dated 22 April 2003) The Government of the United Kingdom declares [on 23 April 2003] that the Charter should extend to theIsle of Man, being a territory for whose international relations the Government of the United Kingdom is responsible.[15][16]
^abcdKordić, Snježana (2024)."Ideology Against Language: The Current Situation in South Slavic Countries"(PDF). InNomachi, Motoki;Kamusella, Tomasz (eds.).Languages and Nationalism Instead of Empires. Routledge Histories of Central and Eastern Europe. London:Routledge. pp. 167–179.doi:10.4324/9781003034025-11.ISBN978-0-367-47191-0.OCLC1390118985.S2CID259576119.SSRN4680766.(COBISS.RS125229577).COBISS171014403.Archived from the original on 2024-01-10. Retrieved2024-01-16. p. 173, 169:In Croatia and Serbia, segregation takes place in the name of minority language rights, ignoring that the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages gives a clear definition of a minority language that excludes the term 'minority language' in this case. [...] although the Charter reads that a minority language must be different from the official language and must not be a dialect of the official language, and although the standard language of Bosniaks, Croats, Montenegrins and Serbs is based on the same dialect calledShtokavian, and it is clear that according to the Charter it cannot be regarded as several minority languages.
^Hult, F.M. (2004). Planning for multilingualism and minority language rights in Sweden.Language Policy, 3(2), 181-201.
^Mirko Savković (2022). "Inclusivity Principle in the CoE ECRLM Committee of Experts' Evaluations and Recommendations for Danube Countries". In Gerhard W. Mayer; Paul F. Langer (eds.).Cultural Communities and Minorities in the Danube Region.Ulm,Germany: European Danube Academy. p. 199-230.ISBN978-3-86281-178-6.
