Council Resolution of
on the promotion of
linguistic diversity and language learning in the framework of the
implementation of the objectives of the European Year of Languages 2001
Official Journal C 050 ,
THE COUNCIL OF
THE EUROPEAN
RECALLING:
(1) the Council
Resolution of 31 March 1995 on improving and diversifying language learning and
teaching within the education systems of the European Union(1), according to
which pupils should, as a general rule, have the opportunity of learning two
languages of the Union other than their mother tongue(s);
(2) the responsibility of Member States for the content of teaching and the organisation of education systems and their cultural and
linguistic diversity;
(3) the Commission's 1995 White Paper entitled Teaching and learning: Towards
the learning society;
(4) the Council Conclusions of 12 June 1995 on linguistic diversity and
multilingualism in the European Union;
(5) the Council Resolution of 16 December 1997 on the early teaching of
European Union languages(2);
(6) the Presidency conclusions of the Lisbon European Council of 23 and 24
March 2000 which include foreign languages within a European framework for the
definition of basic skills;
(7) Decision No 1934/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of
17 July 2000 on the European Year of Languages 2001(3);
(8) Article 22 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union of 7
December 2000(4), welcomed by the Nice European Council, which states that the
Union shall respect cultural, religious and linguistic diversity;
(9) the Resolution of the Council and of the representatives of the Governments
of the Member States, meeting within the Council, of 14 December 2000 on the
social inclusion of young people(5), which was approved by the Nice European
Council;
(10) the Council Decision of 19 January 2001 on Guidelines for Member States'
employment policies for the year 2001(6) and in particular the horizontal
objective concerning lifelong learning;
(11) the Report of the Education Council of 12 February 2001 on the concrete
future objectives of education and training systems which was submitted to the
Stockholm European Council and which explicitly includes improving foreign
language learning as one of its objectives, and the Council Conclusions of 28
May 2001 on the follow-up to be given to the Report;
(12) the Commission's 2000 Memorandum on lifelong learning which has given an
impetus to a broad discussion, both at European level and in the Member States,
on how to implement broad and coherent strategies for lifelong learning, inter alia in the field of language learning;
(13) the Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10
July 2001 on mobility within the Community for students, persons undergoing
training, volunteers, teachers and trainers(7);
(14) the activities developed by the Council of Europe in the field of the
promotion of linguistic diversity and language learning.
EMPHASISES THAT:
(1) the knowledge of languages is one of the basic skills which each citizen
needs to acquire in order to take part effectively in the European knowledge
society and therefore facilitates both integration into society and social
cohesion; a thorough knowledge of one's mother tongue(s) can facilitate the
learning of other languages;
(2) knowledge of languages plays an important role in facilitating mobility,
both in an educational context as well as for professional purposes and for
cultural and personal reasons;
(3) knowledge of languages is also beneficial for European cohesion, in the
light of EU enlargement;
(4) all European languages are equal in value and dignity from the cultural
point of view and form an integral part of European culture and civilisation.
RECALLS THAT:
the European Year of Languages 2001, organised in
cooperation with the Council of Europe, is stimulating awareness of linguistic
diversity and the promotion of language learning;
the Report of the Education Council of 12 February 2001 on the concrete future
objectives of education and training systems, which explicitly includes
improving foreign language learning as one of its objectives, should be implemented
via a detailed work programme to be defined in a
joint report which the Council and Commission will present to the Barcelona
European Council.
REAFFIRMS:
the objectives set out in Article 2 of Decision No 1934/2000/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council of
INVITES the Member States within the framework, limits and priorities of their
respective political, legal, budgetary, educational and training systems:
(1) to take the measures they deem appropriate to offer pupils, as far as
possible, the opportunity to learn two, or where appropriate, more languages in
addition to their mother tongues, and to promote the learning of foreign
languages by others in the context of lifelong learning, taking into account
the diverse needs of the target public and the importance of providing equal
access to learning opportunities. In order to promote cooperation and mobility
across Europe, the supply of languages should be as diversified as possible,
including those of neighbouring countries and/or
regions;
(2) to ensure that study programmes and educational
objectives promote a positive attitude to other languages and cultures and
stimulate intercultural communication skills from an early age;
(3) to promote the learning of languages in vocational training, thereby taking
into account the positive impact of language knowledge on mobility and
employability;
(4) to facilitate the integration of non-native speakers in the educational
system and in society as a whole, including through-measures to improve their
knowledge of the official language(s) of instruction, respecting the languages
and cultures of their country of origin;
(5) to promote the application of innovative pedagogical methods, in particular
also through teacher training;
(6) to encourage future language teachers to take advantage of relevant
European programmes to carry out part of their
studies in a country or region of a country where the language which they will
teach later is the official language;
(7) to set up systems of validation of competence in language knowledge based
on the common European framework of reference for languages developed by the
Council of Europe, taking sufficient account of skills acquired through
informal learning;
(8) to stimulate European cooperation in order to promote transparency of
qualifications and quality assurance of language learning;
(9) to bear in mind the wealth of linguistic diversity within the European
Community in the context of the abovementioned objectives, and thus to
encourage, inter alia, cooperation between official centres or other cultural institutions for the
dissemination of the languages and cultures of the Member States.
INVITES the Commission:
(1) to support the Member States in their implementation of the abovementioned
recommendations;
(2) to take into account, in this context, the principle of linguistic
diversity in its relations with third and candidate countries;
(3) to draw up proposals by early 2003 for actions for the promotion of
linguistic diversity and language learning while ensuring consistency with the
implementation of the report on concrete future objectives of education and
training systems.
(1) OJ C 207, 12.8.1995, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 1, 3.1.1998, p. 2.
(3) OJ L 232, 14.9.2000, p. 1.
(4) OJ C 364, 18.12.2000, p. 1.
(5) OJ C 374, 28.12.2000, p. 5.
(6) OJ L 22, 24.1.2001, p. 18.
(7) OJ L 215, 9.8.2001, p. 30.