Do we write the citizens' communication rights and duties
into a European Constitution?

1. The European Union (EU) is a multicultural, multilingual and multinational community of people.
   In contrast to constitutions of 'Nation States', which, in their vast majority, are based on the concept of one official national language, a future Constitution of the European Union will have as its major specificity, the equal treatment of the languages of the Member States (articles 20 and 21 of the Charter on Fundamental Rights, equality before the law, non-discrimination on the ground of nationality or language), and, expressively, the respect of cultural, linguistic and religious diversity within the Union (article 22 of the Charter).
   This major constitutional difference in the field of linguistic pluralism has an important impact on the possible language use (communication) of the citizen when he or she is travelling, working or settling somewhere on the territory of the Union.
   It looks evident to everybody that each citizen in the Union should be informed about his or her rights and duties in communication in another Member State or region of the Union, and, in particular, in relation to public services, administrations and institutions at the different political levels in the EU (local, regional, national and European).
   Everybody needs to know, at least, the principles and guidelines as to language use (communication) in different circumstances of daily life, whether these principles are included in an article about EU citizenship (article 7 of the draft constitution of the European Convention), or, whether they are encoded in a "Declaration on the citizens' communication rights and duties in the European Union" might be of secondary importance.
2. In order to avoid misconceptions or misunderstandings in the fields of communication rights and duties, a constitution for a multilingual community like the European Union should give to each citizen, at least, some principles as answers to questions like:
   • What is the general guideline for any individual in communication, when he or she is travelling, working or settling somewhere in the Union?
   • Does the territorial principle also apply to the internal communication of firms, associations and institutions?
   • Do we need to distinguish between individual, collective and public communication rights and duties?
   • What are the principles behind each of these categories in daily life activities?
   • Do we have to distinguish also between private and professional activities, between individual rights based on the Charter on Fundamental Rights and professional requirements in the language use and capacity?
   • How the indigenous population in small local communities, or in retirement resorts within the Union, can be protected in their traditional communication rights, under the conditions of common citizenship of the Union, free movement of people and the right of EU citizens to participate actively and passively, for example, in local elections?
   • Can a newly created party, for example, in local elections, change with a democratic majority the linguistic provisions in communication in and officially with the concerned public services?
   • In which fields of activities the Institutions of the EU have to communicate (translation and interpretation) in all official languages of the Union with the citizens in the Union?
   • What are the rights and duties in language use of a civil servant in the EU institutions; is there a distinction to be made between his/her professional duties and his fundamental rights as citizen?
   • Without prejudice to the autonomy of each institution of the European Union as to its internal organisation, what are the universal principles to be applied for rational and efficient internal communication purposes (a common working language) as it is, for the example, the case at the European Court of Justice?
   • What are the duties of the European Institutions and of the competent authorities in Member States to avoid discrimination in language use (communication) in the internal communication of the European institutions in the future?
   • In view of the ideal of non-discriminatory communication within the EU institutions and between citizens with different linguistic background, shall the Union and the competent bodies in the Member State have, in the future, the duty to undertake research, feasibility studies and language experiments in a universal and non-discriminatory language model (a planned language like Esperanto)?
3. Major messages to the people in the Union as to communication rights and duties could be:
   • Everybody is free in the choice of the language for the communication with others, but, in the communication with public services and authorities, everyone has to conform to the legal and linguistic provisions that are applied at the place concerned (territorial principle).
   • In the private sphere, everybody has the right to communicate in the language of his/her choice, but, at least, as a candidate in elections, everyone should master communication in the language(s) of the place he/she stands for and recognise the legal and linguistic provisions of the place concerned. (principle of integration)
   • In the field of private activities, everyone can organise his/her communication in the language of his/her preference, but, in dealing with public authorities, everyone's language use (communication) has to be in conformity with the legal and linguistic provisions that are applied at the place concerned (principle of local self-government).
   • In the internal communication of one's own business, everyone is free to determine the language of communication, but, in applying for a job, everyone has to meet the professional requirements including the necessary linguistic qualification for communication requested for the activity concerned by the employing firm, association or institution (principle of professional qualification).
   • Communication within public services and administration in Member States depend on the legal and constitutional framework of the country concerned. (principle of subsidiarity).
   • Communication of the Institutions of the European Union should be non-discriminatory, rational and efficient; therefore, as general guideline can be said: External communication towards the citizen and within the framework of a political mandate has to cover all official languages of the Union, while internal communication needs a common means of communication; as long as such a working language consists of a national language, discrimination in communication persists. (distinction between external 'citizen' communication and internal 'professional' communication)
   • As long as discrimination in the internal communication of the institutions of the Union does exist, the competent bodies at the Union level and the educational authorities in the Member States should undertake research in the field of a non-discriminatory system such as an universal language model (planned language), its conditions, capacities and limits, to support feasibility studies and to facilitate language experiments with view to ultimately resolve the remaining discrimination in internal and inter-ethnic communication. (principle of equality and non-discrimination)
   • Finally, it is in the responsibility of the competent authorities in the Member States and of the competent bodies at the European level to coordinate best practices in this field, to organise the necessary language instruction in schools, to offer and to guarantee diversity in language learning, and, finally, to safeguard the cultural and linguistic identities within this multilingual Union. (principle of diversity in unity)
4. Long-term political cohesion of the Union will largely depend on how people feel that their cultural and linguistic identity is protected and on how far communication between people of different languages is realised according to the criteria like equal treatment and non-discrimination, rationality and efficiency throughout a Union which is challenged every day by respecting "diversity within unity". The people should know what right and duties they have within this multilingual Union; one can include the principles related to communication in the article on EU citizenship (7 of the draft constitution) and/or adopt a separate 'Declaration on the citizen's communication rights and duties in a multilingual European Union'.

With view to the discussion about a "European Constitution", we have to give answers now, at least, about principles concerning the "citizen's communication rights and duties in a multilingual European Union"!

All members of the Convention should be conscious about the need for common principles in this field in order to guarantee long-term cohesion of this "Union of and for the citizen".

On behalf of the
" Working group on the language problem in the European Union"
and the " Forum for language rights and cultural diversity"

H. Erasmus and M. Cwik
Version: 7.5.2003

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