Council of Europe publishes report on minority languages in the Netherlands
09.07.2008 The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers has today made public the third report on the situation of regional or minority languages in the Netherlands. This report has been drawn up by a committee of independent experts which monitors the application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
On the basis of the report, the Committee of Ministers calls on the Netherlands to take measures in favour of the Frisian language, emphasising more particularly the need to strengthen the teaching of and in the language at all levels of education and to ensure that it can be used in the central State administration agencies in Friesland. The Dutch authorities are also encouraged to develop a national language policy for Limburgish and Low Saxon, and again education is pinpointed as the main area of concern. This is also true for the Romanes language, and the authorities are particularly encouraged to develop a structured dialogue with representatives of the Romanes speakers so as to protect and promote their language.
The full text of the report and the Committee of Ministers’ recommendations can be downloaded from the Charter's website: http://www.coe.int/minlang ("Documents" section).
Further information can also be found on the Charter's website, or by contacting the Charter Secretariat (minlang.secretariat@coe.int – Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 31 86).
