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oa Minority language rights at a deadlock
Assessing the EU’s approach to regional or minority languages
- Source: Language Problems and Language Planning, Volume 48, Issue 2, Dec 2024, p. 168 - 188
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- 25 Sept 2024
- 30 Oct 2024
- 16 Dec 2024
Abstract
This article analyses the European Union’s (EU) approach to the protection of regional or minority languages (RMLs) over the decade 2013 to 2023. It starts by providing a succinct overview of minority language rights in the international arena and focuses its analysis on the European Union, more specifically on the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. The article notes the downward trend in minority language promotion in Europe and highlights the mismatch between the bottom-up, societal demands claiming more support for RMLs and the top-down approach, which shows increasing reluctance to intervene in minority language protection at EU level, on the grounds that languages remain a competence of Member States.