European Language Equality Network
AbbreviationELEN
Established2011 (2011)
Legal statusnon-governmental organization
Purposepromotion of lesser-used languages in Europe
Location
  • 6 plasenn Gwirioù Mab-Den,
    29270 Karaez    , France
Coordinates48°16′41″N 3°34′22″W / 48.27810°N 3.57290°W / 48.27810; -3.57290
Region
Europe
Websiteelen.ngo

The European Language Equality Network (ELEN) is an international non-governmental organization that is active at the European level which works to protect and promote European lesser-used languages (lesser-used languages), i.e. regional languages, minority languages, endangered languages, co-official languages and national languages of small nations.

History

ELEN was formed after the closure of EBLUL, European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages, a non-governmental organization with similar goals founded in 1982 and closed in 2010.

Missions

The missions and work of the NGO fall into different types of intervention:[1]

  • lobbying work aimed at the main international organizations involved in the defense of human and collective rights (United Nations, Council of Europe, European Union).[2] ELEN presents itself as the voice of the least audible minorities, in particular by bringing demands to elected bodies such as the European Parliament. The NGO also carries out actions at local level, for example by engaging in the national campaign in favor of the ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in France,[3] by committing to or bringing to the United Nations a report deploring the attitude of the Spanish government towards non-Spanish speaking minorities,[4][5] and by associating itself with the concerns of the defenders of minority languages in the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union.[6][7][8][9]
  • initiating or participating in monitoring and action projects on minority languages.

ELEN notably contributed to the launch of the Protocol for the Guarantee of Linguistic Rights of San Sebastián, [10] which lists concrete measures to ensure respect for linguistic rights in Europe, as well as to the Digital Language Diversity Project, a project for creating and sharing of digital content using minority languages.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Argouarch, Philippe. "Paul Molac : Il nous faut agir pour changer la Constitution avant l'élection présidentielle". Agence Bretagne Presse (in French). Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Morgan, Sam (9 June 2016). "Language discrimination rife across EU". www.euractiv.com. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  3. ↑ "Row brews over French regional languages as country's upcoming EU council presidency ponders future of linguistic diversity". The Parliament Magazine. 30 July 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  4. ↑ "Spain's "linguistic discrimination" debated in the European Committee on Civil Liberties for the first time". Catalan News Agency. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  5. ↑ "International Manifesto in Support of Catalonia's Right to Freedom as a People - The Bullet". Socialist Project. 31 May 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  6. ↑ Ó Caollaí, Éanna (22 June 2016). "Brexit a 'potential disaster' for minority languages". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  7. ↑ Sonnad, Nikhil. "Brexit may threaten the many minority languages of Britain". Quartz. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  8. ↑ "Brexit "disastrous" for Gaelic and Scots languages, warns European-wide campaigners". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  9. ↑ "Brexit Could Devastate Celtic Languages". Language Magazine. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  10. ↑ "Le Protocole de Donostia est déjà une réalité : les mesures permettant de concrétiser les droits linguistiques seront prêtes pour le 17 décembre". Protocol to Ensure Language Rights (in French). Archived from the original on 22 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  11. ↑ "Who | The Digital Language Diversity Project". Digital Language Diversity Project. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
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