Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-02-03-Speech-2-433"
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"en.20090203.23.2-433"2
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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Tabajdi, respect for minorities is an essential principle among the conditions to be met before a new country can accede to the Union. The Copenhagen criteria are aimed specifically at candidates for accession to the Union.
Respect for linguistic and cultural diversity is one of the cornerstones of the European Union. This respect for linguistic and cultural diversity is now part of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, which states, in Article 22: ‘The Union shall respect cultural, religious and linguistic diversity’.
The latest Commission communication, adopted in September 2008, also states that each of the many languages, whether national, regional or spoken by minorities or immigrants, adds something extra to our common culture. The main tools available to the Union in this area are funding programmes, particularly the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013.
Finally, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights is a very precious tool that we use to collect data useful in the development and implementation of all instruments and these Community policies. Following a request from the European Parliament to the Agency for Fundamental Rights, which I remind you is located in Vienna, the Agency’s 2009 work programme includes the preparation of a comparative report on the situation concerning ethnic and racial discrimination in the European Union. This will allow us to update the report on racism which dealt with the year 2007.
That is what I can tell you. In other words, we do not have a legal basis for organising the protection of minorities. This issue really falls within the powers of the Member States, although the Union must evidently avoid any discrimination towards a citizen who belongs to a minority.
Respect for the rights of individuals belonging to minorities, including respect for the principle of non-discrimination, is one of the Union’s founding principles. However, the Union does not have general powers in the area of the protection of minority rights. It is up to the national authorities to ensure such protection, in accordance with their constitutional arrangements and their international commitments.
In addition, issues of the institutional organisation or autonomy of minorities fall within the powers of the Member States. Similarly, it is up to each Member State to decide to sign or ratify the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, which are the two major instruments introduced by the Council of Europe.
The Union has therefore no powers to adopt, as the question suggests, general legislation setting standards for the protection of minorities and inspection mechanisms. The Union may, however, adopt measures on some issues within its powers which have a positive effect on the situation of individuals belonging to minorities.
For example, the Commission is pursuing a policy to fight discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnic origin or religion. This will ensure the implementation of Community legislation in this area and the implementation of the directive that supplements this legislation.
The adoption of the Framework Decision against Racism and Xenophobia on 28 November is a further example. With this Framework Decision, the Union is contributing to improving the situation of individuals from minorities when they suffer certain types of behaviour. The Union has also acted concerning the situation of the Roma minority.
The integration of immigrants is an important and growing issue for the Member States of the European Union. In 2005, the Commission submitted a Common Programme for Integration that forms the framework directive for a common approach to integration in the European Union. In addition, the Union has allocated a budget of EUR 825 million for 2007-2013 to implement the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals.
Three new initiatives from the Commission will appear in 2009: The third edition of the Handbook on Integration, the European Integration Forum, that will further involve civil society in the pursuit of our work, and an integration website that will act as a single portal for information about integration and promote the exchange of best practice among stakeholders in the area of integration.
The role of the European Union in the area of multilinguism is not to replace the action of Member States but rather to support and supplement such action. The European Commission’s policy on multilinguism includes regional languages as well as the languages spoken by minorities."@en1
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