Commissioner Vassiliou's speech at the Images of Minority Languages Seminar
Androulla VASSILIOU
Member of the European Commission responsible for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth
Multilingualism promotes openness
"Images of Minority Languages" Seminar
European Foundation Centre - Brussels, 1 June 2010
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to open this seminar.
Let me start by thanking the European Foundation Centre for bringing minority languages into your programme this week.
And I thank our hosts, Carl Haglund and the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, for defining the themes of our discussion.
Your focus on the positive image of minority languages is, I believe, very helpful. It will refresh our thinking as we strive to safeguard and promote Europe's linguistic diversity.
I can assure you that the European Commission shares this positive view of minority languages. As Commissioner responsible for multilingualism, I see our linguistic diversity as a precious asset. We must protect and develop it.
The European Union has 23 official languages and some 60 regional or minority languages. Each of these, even the smallest minority language, is a vital part of our heritage. Each has a place of its own in Europe.
To neglect any one language would only be harmful to Europe as a whole. We would run the risk of losing a part of our selves, and alienating people from the European project.
Those people who speak a regional or minority language are often the most multilingual of Europeans. And this often makes them the most European of Europeans.
They successfully combine speaking a regional or minority language with the national language, and score well in foreign languages too. This means they come closer than most to meeting the objective that EU Education Ministers set in 2002: being able to speak two foreign languages as well as one's mother-tongue.
They are true cosmopolitans - at home in more than one culture, and well placed to bring these different cultures together.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The success stories you will hear about today show the positive power of languages in real-life settings. I am very pleased that the EU's Lifelong Learning Programme supports some of our best language-learning projects.
Let me stress that any language is eligible for support, including regional and minority languages. This year, as in 2008 and 2009, we have given special priority to projects and networks that are open to these languages.
A number of your success stories target young speakers of minority and regional languages. We need to reach young people by entering the world they inhabit. Many of our projects explore the use of multimedia in language teaching.
Film, too, can boost the image of lesser-known languages. How many of us first heard Finnish thanks to an Ari Kaurismaki movie? Or Swedish thanks to Ingmar Bergman?
The EU's MEDIA programme helps to keep our linguistic diversity alive and well. It has helped create thousands of European films, with special attention for minority languages, such as films in Basque and Sami in 2009.
Multilingualism is a choice that people make, not just a result of heritage. And we can encourage this choice through literary translation, which fosters greater openness to each other and a sense of belonging to a common culture.
The EU's Culture Programme, I am delighted to say, is one of the biggest funders of literary translation in Europe. Last year alone, funding of two million euros helped us to translate 370 books. Publishers working in less-used languages were among the most active users.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We all know that Member States are the main decision-makers on language policy. We act within these limits. However, we were pleased when, in 2008, Ministers of Education underlined that by valuing the languages of minority communities and migrants in our education systems, we promote integration.
A culture of multilingualism promotes openness and tolerance. These are crucial values not only for Europe but for an increasingly globalised world.
In this way, our reasons for promoting the languages traditionally spoken in the EU are not only local and European - they are global too.
Our vision for the future of our world has to be founded on acceptance and appreciation of different cultures - and languages are the beating heart of every culture.
I wish you a very productive seminar.