The European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages (EBLUL) was a

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

that was set up to promote

linguistic diversity Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing. Human language is ch ...

and

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

s. It was founded in 1982 and discontinued in 2010. The organisation had close ties with both the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

and the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

, and was funded by both the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

and local and regional governmental organisations. Following its establishment in 1982, the European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages worked to strengthen contacts and develop mutual co-operation between lesser-used language communities. The main goal was to promote linguistic diversity and to support these languages. It acted to facilitate links and communications with the European institutions, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, and UN and UNESCO. It spoke on behalf of Europe's 50 million speakers of regional or minority languages. EBLUL's operational grant was discontinued by the EU in 2007 despite recommendations from the European Parliament, including the 2003 Ebner Report and the EU's own evaluation conducted by

Ernst and Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms. The EY network is composed of member firms ...

that the EU should continue to support the organisation. The cut in funding remains controversial because the 2003 Ebner Report a European Parliament legislative report, which has to be implemented by the EU, recommended that EBLUL continue to receive EU funding. However, with the cut in its core funding, EBLUL was finally closed by a decision of its board of directors on 27 January 2010. The main reason given was that "the funding mechanism of such an organisational model asnot suitable in current circumstances". EBLUL has since been replaced by the

European Language Equality Network 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 languag ...

(ELEN) the European NGO for lesser-used languages, it gathers most of the former EBLUL members plus many more civil society organisations from across Europe. To date, ELEN represents 44 languages with 60 member organisations in 20 European states.

References

External links

European Language Equality Network

Council of Europe: Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

Council of Europe: Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

United Nations: Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities
{{Authority control Council of Europe Politics of Europe Linguistics organizations International organizations based in Europe Organizations established in 1982 Organizations disestablished in 1982 1982 establishments in Europe 2010 disestablishments in Europe Languages of Europe

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External links