Summary
Linguistic diversity, a precious part of Europe’s cultural
heritage and a fundamental element of European cultural diversity,
must be preserved and promoted. Everyone has an inalienable right
to use his or her own language and each language represents distinctive
historical, social, cultural and ecological knowledge, as well as
a unique human experience and view of the world. However, a large
number of languages spoken in Europe are highly endangered and some
are even predicted to vanish within this century unless measures
are taken to reverse the process of language shift among their speakers.
This negative trend is deeply disturbing. Linguistic standardisation
is a threat to the cultural identity of Europe, which is and must
remain multifaceted. The Parliamentary Assembly is therefore invited
to call upon:
- the Committee
of Ministers of the Council of Europe to intensify the Organisation’s
efforts aimed at providing policy guidance and technical support
in this field;
- member states to further their commitment, make best use
of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ETS
No. 148) and develop targeted, inclusive action plans to preserve
and revive highly endangered languages.
