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Start ::  Cornwall24 Discussion ::  The Rest of the World ::  One language, one state: France says ‘Non’ to its ‘regional’ languages
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One language, one state: France says ‘Non’ to its ‘regional’ languages
Fulub-le-Breton Posted: 12.05.2008, 16:56

Fulub-le-Breton

registered: Sep. 2004
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QuoteBruxelles - Brussel, Friday, 09 May 2008 Ecrit par Davyth Hicks
The French Government refused on Wednesday (7th May) to ratify the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) or to modify their constitution to allow for some recognition of the languages on its territories. A new law was proposed for regional languages, but any official status or usage was ruled out. France, however, may find that it has problems - it has ratified the Lisbon Treaty, which, if it comes into force, will require France to respect linguistic diversity and prohibit discrimination against languages and national minorities.


Despite the efforts of deputies from Brittany, led by Marc le Fur and Marylise Lebranchu, Pays Basque, North Catalonia, Corsica, and the Alsace, the French government, represented by Culture Minister Mme Christine Albanel, stuck to its hard line policy on refusing any legal recognition of regional languages. The grounds given being that it would undermine the eighteenth century French centralist idea of one language, one state, set up to unify the regions and countries taken over by France before and after the French revolution.


She ruled out any notion that regional languages have any official status or official usage making it clear that France has no intention of ratifying the European Charter for Minority Languages. She argued that the Charter “is against our principles” because it “implies [...] an inviolable right to speak a regional language, notably in the public sphere,” and that ratification is “against constitutional principles fundamental to the indivisibilty of the Republic, equality in front of the law and the unity of the French people.”


However, in the face of strong arguments from deputies from all the parties, Mme Albanel offered a glimmer of hope with the promise of a new law, “a reference framework”, that would fit in with current French law.


Earlier, the President of the Breton Region, Jean Yves le Drian, called for the “right to experimentation” for the regional government in order to provide adequate Breton language provision and language planning.


Marylise Lebranchu, (Penn ar Bed/ Finistère) warned about a new law without constitutional changes: "I said that the law allowing education in the regional language, particularly in the Diwan schools, was censured by the Constitutional Council. It would be frustrating and humiliating if any new law on regional languages is condemned in advance. We must be careful, because humiliation leads to violence… we need a revision of the Constitution and precise laws. Without it, the experimentation today proposed by the Breton Region, for example, might well be unconstitutional. "


France and the Lisbon Treaty


Commentators have pointed to France’s inability to cope with the modern reality of multi- and plurilingualism both within its borders and abroad, despite President Sarkozy’s declarations that France must modernise in order to cope with globalisation.


In denying even the most basic linguistic rights for regional language speakers the government’s policy undermines the credibility of France both in Europe and the world, and ironically, in the International Year of Languages and the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. Languages such as Breton, struggling in its regeneration effort with almost no state support or recognition and already on the UNESCO endangered list for languages, now seems condemned to greater struggle. Meanwhile, France loses any credibility globally in its often heard complaints that French should be promoted in the face of the increasing use of English.


Finally, something for language campaigners to consider; there is another problem for France as it continues to flout European standards on regional language protection - it is now in a contradictory position because it has ratified the Lisbon Treaty. The Lisbon Treaty, which if ratified by all European member states will come in to force, requires that States respect cultural and linguistic diversity (Art.2.3), while the attached Charter of Fundamental Rights (Art. 21) prohibits discrimination on the grounds of language, ethnicity or being member of a national minority. (Eurolang 2008)


Full coverage of the debate with the deputies and Minister's speeches from Oui au Breton:
http://ouiaubreton.com/




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Kéighlán Posted: 13.05.2008, 15:57

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last visit: 10.10.08 		This Sarkozy seems like a bit of a nob.

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