Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-09-04-Speech-4-016"
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"en.20030904.2.4-016"2
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"Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, at the moment, some 40 million people speak a regional or minority language in addition to one of the Union's official languages. With the enlargement in 2004, some 6 million people will be added to this. In the Netherlands too, we have the phenomenon of a minority language, Friesian, which enjoys official recognition as such. As has been said before, linguistic diversity is a heritage of which we Europeans are proud, and so we should be. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union rightly recognises the cultural and linguistic diversity. In future, this will also form an inherent part of the European Constitution. The European Parliament has always made a case for protecting linguistic diversity and regional and minority languages. Various resolutions have been adopted in this respect. A budget line was created for this purpose as early as 1980. In 2001, the European year of languages was particularly intended to draw attention to the importance of languages, to language diversity, and to stimulating language teaching. This involved not only the major languages, but also lesser-used regional and minority languages. It was a sound initiative. Nevertheless, there is still a great deal left to be done in this area. I am therefore pleased that a plan of action is now being drafted in order to hammer this point home once more. I myself have spoken in favour of greater attention being given to sign language. We know that about 1 in 1 000 people – some 15 000 people in the Netherlands alone – are born deaf or become deaf before they reach the age of three. To them, sign language is an essential means of communication, so I am pleased that this component has been included in the present report. It would be good if sign language could be considered a minority language. Deaf people are often excluded from many areas of society on account of their disability. Their language deserves as much attention and support as do spoken minority languages. I sincerely hope that the Commission will manage to present a legislative proposal on language diversity by the end of this year. Peace in Europe is not only about effective economic cooperation. It is, above all, about demonstrating an interest in, respect for, and understanding of, people from a different culture. Language is an important key in this.
Finally, I should like to congratulate Mr Ebner on the result of his work and thank him for the particularly pleasant working relationship."@en1
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