CONCERNING: DISCUSSION ON THE FUTURE OF EUROPE

EU-CITIZENSHIP AND
LANGUAGE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE CITIZEN

1. THE CITIZEN AND THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU)

THE BASIC PRINCIPLES ARE:

  • "All languages of Member States which have been recognized as official languages of the European Union shall be considered as equal as to their official treatment on the Union´s level."
  • "Local and regional languages within the EU which are recognized by the concerned Member State shall be treated on an equal footing by the European institutions when specific activities or information of the Union are foreseen at the place or region concerned."
  • "The acceptance of linguistic diversity is the price of democracy within a multi-ethnic community where everyone wants to keep and safeguard his/her cultural and linguistic identity."

RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF A CITIZEN AND/OR CIVIL SERVANT AS TO EU ACTIVITIES:

1.1. RELATING TO THE EXTERNAL RELATIONS OF THE UNION'S INSTITUTIONS

  • CONCERNING CORRESPONDENCE OF THE CITIZEN
    Any EU-citizen has the right to address his correspondence to an official body or service of the European Union in his mother tongue as far as his language is recognized as official language of the Union; correspondence in other official languages of Member States has to pass the representative bodies of the concerned Member State at the European level.
    The correspondence of the institutions of the European Union is done in the official languages of the Union, and in particular, in the language of the corespondent if this is known. In general and if there is no specific indication, the reply of a service of the Union's institution is done in the language of the previous correspondence by the concerned person.
  • CONCERNING DECISIONS OF THE INSTITUTIONS AND THEIR PUBLIC INFORMATION
    All official decisions taken within the framework of the European Union like regulations, directives, recommendations, court rules etc. are published in the official languages of the Union. Important information topics shall be in all official languages of the Union; publications for a specific public can be made in the language or languages of the audience concerned.
  • CONCERNING MEETINGS OF OFFICIAL POLITICAL MANDATEES AT THE EU-LEVEL:
    • IN OFFICIAL MEETINGS OF THE EU-PARLIAMENT AND THE UNION'S COUNCIL
      As neither an elected member of Parliament nor a representative of a government was appointed on the basis of his language knowledge, he must, on the Union's level, have at least the possibility to speak in one of the official languages of the Union and to get the documents to decide over in the official language of his choice. This is the right and obligation of every political mandatee (directly or indirectly sent into a body of the European Union).
    • IN WORKING AND STUDY GROUPS WITH NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES
      As representatives of Member States nominated for experts meetings on the European and international level should be selected on the basis of their professional capacities, their linguistic background should be, en general, already multi-lingual; but, as long as there is no decision about one specific working language within the European institutions or about a common non-discriminatory inter-ethnic communication language, each representative must have the right, to express himself in one of the official languages of the Union.

1.2. RELATING TO THE INTERNAL RELATIONS OF THE UNION'S INSTITUTIONS

  • CONCERNING LINGUISTIC PRECONDITIONS TO BECOME AN EUROPEAN CIVIL SERVANT
    Any person who is applying to work in the institutions of the European Union has to bring with him an adequate linguistic background; in principle, he or she should, besides the mother tongue, be capable to understand, to speak and to write two other languages, of which one should be one of the official languages of the Union.
  • CONCERNING THE WORKING LANGUAGES WITHIN THE EU INSTITUTIONS
    In principle, all official languages of the Union can be used as a working language by a staff member. For reasons of cost, time and efficiency as to the need of translation, in the medium and long term, only one common working language should be foreseen for internal preparatory work within the services and institutions of the European Union; as long as a national language has to fulfill this function, a common non-discriminatory inter-ethnic communication language based on a language model (planned language) shall, after thorough experiments and tests, be placed alongside this national language as the second official working language within the EU institutions in order to balance the disadvantages for all those staff members who do not have the chosen national working language as mother tongue. Thus, also those speakers who can work in their mother tongue are obliged to learn and at least understand the second non-discriminatory working language. Only, when that second (planned) official working language was accepted by the staff in that way that the competent bodies were able to conclude that it fulfils all necessary functions within the institutions, the remaining national working language could be phased out.

2. THE CITIZEN AND THE PUBLIC AUTHORITIES IN MEMBER STATES

THE BASIC PRINCIPLES ARE:

  • "The one who moves has to recognize the public (cultural and linguistic) traditions of the place where he or she is going to!"
  • "It is in the responsibility of the traveler to make himself understood and not an obligation of a public authority or its representative to be able to understand the language of a foreigner at a specific place."
  • "Persons employed in public services should get incentives to speak also other languages, in particular, those of their neighbours!"

RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF A CITIZEN AND/OR CIVIL SERVANT AS TO THE PUBLIC SECTOR:

2.1. IN RELATION TO THE PUBLIC AUTHORITIES IN MEMBER STATES

  • WHEN TRAVELING WITHIN MEMBER STATES OF THE EU
    Public authorities of Member States are not obliged neither to speak nor to present official documents in another language than the official language at the place concerned. In general, it is in the responsibility of everyone to make himself understood in any contact with public authorities, although in specific social circumstances the costs of an interpreter or translator might be covered by the public service in question.
  • WHEN INVOLVED IN LEGAL PROCEDURES IN MEMBER STATES
    Every EU-citizen has the right, when being involved in a legal procedure within the territory of the European Union, to express himself in the language of his choice; nevertheless, if the language chosen by him is neither understood by a competent representative of the legal procedure nor the official language of the place or territory in question, all costs of interpretation or translation are at his charge.
  • WHEN SETTLING IN WITHIN THE TERRITORY OF A MEMBER STATE
    Having the right to travel and to settle without discrimination to a national resident within all Member States of the European Union, every citizen of the Union has nevertheless to integrate into the public life of the place of his/her choice, in particular, as to the official language(s) of administration; although public staff members in specific functions with frequent contacts to clients speaking other languages should, in general, be multi-lingual, public services at the local, regional or national level are not obliged, for reasons of efficiency, to have speakers or documents in a language which is not the official of the place concerned.

2.2. IN RELATION TO LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION WITHIN MEMBER STATES

  • CONCERNING PUBLIC SCHOOLS
    On the basis of an agreement between the ministers of education within the Member States of the European Union, every person leaving school within the EU shall, in the medium term, be able to master, besides his mother tongue, at least two other languages. The languages offered at a specific school are the result of the general educational system of the country or region, of the local priorities of the school in question and of the language preferences expressed by the parents of the pupils of the school.. Elementary instruction in a mother tongue which is not the official or in one of the official languages of the place concerned is subject to democratic decisions in the competent political bodies, in particular, as to the necessary allocation of the human and financial resources.
  • CONCERNING PRIVATE SCHOOLS
    Language groups which are speaking other languages than that or those officially instructed in public schools can organized themselves, in the framework of the constitution and the educational system of the country or region concerned, in private schools on their own expenditures; in order to assure a harmonious integration of these language groups into the local cultural and linguistic environment, the official language(s) of the place concerned shall be taught obligatorily in the private schools, in accordance with legislation applicable to public schools .

Version: 13.11.2002

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