A3-0162/94

Resolution on the right to use one's own language

The European Parliament,

-having regard to Article 217 of the EC Treaty,

-having regard to Council Regulation 1/58,

-having regard to the motions for resolutions by:

-Mr Malangré on the right to use one's own language (B3-0626/93),

-Mrs Ferrer and others on the amendment of the new Rule 128(2)a of the Rules of Procedure (B3-1385/93),

-Mr Staes on the minority languages in the European institutions (B3-0039/94),

-having regard to the decision by its Committee on Petitions on 26 and 27 January 1993 to the effect that the Galician and Basque languages must receive the same treatment as the Catalan language, as laid down by the European Parliament on the basis of the report on the language situation in the Community and the situation of the Catalan language,

-having regard to its resolution of 14 October 1992 on the multilingualism of the European Community,

-having regard to its resolution of 20 January 1993 on the structure and strategy for the European Union with regard to its enlargement and the creation of a Europe-wide order,

-having regard to the opinion of the Legal Service of 11 January 1994 (PE 207.538),

-having regard to Rules 45 and 163 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on the Rules of Procedure, the Verification of Credentials and Immunities (A3-0162/94),

A.whereas the rules governing the languages of the institutions of the European Communities - pursuant to the provisions of Article 217 of the Treaty on European Union, Article 190 of the EURATOM Treaty and Council Regulation No 1 of 15 April 1958 - are determined by the Council acting unanimously; whereas, as far as the Member States which have several official languages are concerned, use of the language must be determined, at the request of the Member State in question, in accordance with the general rules provided for in the legislation of that Member State,

B.whereas the European Parliament can determine the arrangements for applying the rules governing the languages in its Rules of Procedure,

C.whereas, under the present system, the right to use all official languages applies to the spoken and written word alike,

D.whereas restrictions on the use of official languages which adversely affected the democratic nature of Parliament should not be allowed;

E.whereas all of Parliament's Members are equal and are entitled to treatment on an equal basis in all respects, including languages,

F.whereas Members represent their electors and must therefore be able to use their language in all parliamentary meetings,

G.whereas Parliament's language rules should in no way involve the introduction of further conditions for eligibility,

H.whereas the possibility of using one's own language also contributes to the achievement of the People's Europe,

I.having regard to Parliament's previous stances on the use of languages,

1.Confirms that all of the European Union's official languages are also the working languages of the European Parliament;

2.Reaffirms that all of the Union's official languages must be used on a strictly equal basis, wherever necessary, for all meetings of the European Parliament, whether they are used actively or passively, orally or in writing;

3.Insists that the future Constitution of the Union should recognize Parliament's existing rights in respect of the arrangements for implementing the language rules;

4.Regards it as undesirable for an institution composed of elected Members to introduce restrictions on the use of languages;

5.Considers, therefore, that its Rules of Procedure should recognize the right of citizens to send their petitions to the Committee on Petitions and the Ombudsman in their own language provided that it is an official language in their territory;

6.Urges the Secretariat to maintain the present high standard of the interpreting and translation staff by means of a special in-house programme of further training and, if possible, to improve it still further and, at the same time, to look into and implement any steps aimed at securing a sufficient number of interpreters and translators in all the official languages of the Community;

7.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the parliaments and governments of the Member States, the Secretary-General and the heads of the interpreting and translation services.