Establishment of Eurpean Language Agency recommended

A report published last week strongly recommends the establishment of an autonomous Agency for Linguistic Diversity and Language Learning. A total 74% of those who participated in the study (NGOs, experts, state-run language organisations and civil servants) were in favour of such an agency.

The strong support for the idea of creating a language agency reflects the growing importance of linguistic diversity across Europe. An agency "would put language issues and conflicts into a European context and take them out of member state politics, giving the Agency, and the language issue, a neutrality."

The study stresses the importance of continuity in language policies and planning in the face of short-term decisions being made for political reasons. It underlines the need for an Agency to ensure continuity, a pre- requisite in any reversing language shift effort. In this respect the proposed Agency would complement the continuity of the Commission's work to date.

Maintaining a language agency like this would cost the European member states approximately 11 Million Euro each year.

A FEASIBILITY STUDY: AGENCY FOR LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY AND LANGUAGE LEARNING

Source: Eurolang