On this European Day of Languages, the Advisory Council on Youth wishes to reaffirm the need to preserve and promote language diversity in Europe, and recognise the efforts done through the Council of Europe framework to support regional or minoritised language speakers.

In 2001, the Council of Europe (CoE) declared September 26 as the European Day of Languages as a means to keep alive the spirit and goals of the European Year of Languages (EYL) 2001. However, language policy in the framework of the Council of Europe dates all the way back to 1954 with the European Cultural Convention, one of Council of Europe’s first treaties and which led to the creation of the Council’s own youth policy from which the co-management structure stems. This comes to highlight the strong bond between youth and language in the CoE framework.  Read the entire statement

The statements of the Advisory Council are published for the purpose of informing the public about the activities of the statutory bodies of the Council of Europe youth sector. The statements reflect the opinions and positions of the Advisory Council and its members. The views expressed therein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Council of Europe.The statements of the Advisory Council are published for the purpose of informing the public about the activities of the statutory bodies of the Council of Europe youth sector. The statements reflect the opinions and positions of the Advisory Council and its members. The views expressed therein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Council of Europe.