Mehrsprachigkeit in Europa: Plurilinguismo in Europa ... - EURAC

Giovanni Poggeschi
2. The basque language (‘vascuence’) will also be offi cial in the basque-speaking zones of
Navarra. A regional law (‘ley foral’) will determine those zones, will regulate the offi cial
use of the ‘vascuence’ and, in the frame of the general legislation of the State, will state
about the teaching of this language”
A regional law has been enacted in December 1986 (“Ley del vascuence”), establishing
the concrete details of the status of the Basque language, which is different according to the
different areas of Navarra. The status of euskara in Navarra can not be compared with the
status of the same language in the near Autonomous Community of Euskadi, where the double
offi ciality stands for all the territory, and not only for some parts, like in Navarra.
The European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL), in a report of 2003 underlined
how the protection of the Basque language in Navarra has worsened in recent years. This is not
only due to the bad will of the Spanish government, though it is true that some of its policies
have softened the intensity of the autonomy of the Comunidades Autónomas through the abuse
of the notion of bases. Through the utilization of the “bases” of the law (Fernández Farreres
2005: 221-232), which belong to the jurisdiction of the State, the State controls to a large
extent the government of the Autonomous Communities.
France does not have regional laws: according to Article 34 of the Constitution, “Laws shall
be passed by Parliament”. But the constitutional revision of March 2003 seems to open the
possibility for the regions to enact laws: in fact, “in the manner provided by institutional Act,
where the essential conditions for the exercise of public liberties or of a right secured by the
Constitution are not affected, territorial units or associations thereof may, where provision is
made by law or regulation, as the case may be, derogate on an experimental basis for limited
purposes and duration from provisions laid down by law or regulation governing the exercise of
their powers” (Article 72).
It will be interesting to see how much the Regions will be able and will be wishing to use
this normative tool to determine some policies. So far, Alsace has been the most active to
develop activities regarding the strengthening of the local dialect and the German language.
From the juridical point of view this possibility to experiment is a considerable sign of change.
Nevertheless the most common interpretation that the doctrine gives is that it confi rms the
principle of uniformity: if the experiment made by a Region or a territorial unit and association
will work, then it will be extended to all the other territories of the Republic (Koubi 2005: 395).
There seems to be not much place in the imagination of the French scholars for the principle of
differentiation, perceived as a risk of dangerous discrimination (Koubi 2005: 27-40).
Greece does not have any regional legislation. The minority question is closely linked to
the religious identity: “religious beliefs are still the normative criterion on the basis of which
language rights are conferred, instead of language itself. This paradox is apparent in the case
of minority education in Thrace, as the access to the Turkish-language school is only achieved
through the Muslim faith” (Christopoulos –Tsitselikis 2003. 92).
Thus it is possible to state that also Greece could change its normative situation, for
different reasons, like France has done. It is true that many of the problems, uncertainties and
reticences of Greece’s policy towards linguistic minorities are linked to the diffi cult relations
with Turkey. Now that somehow those relations are improving, the Cyprus issue seems to be,
again, a relevant obstacle (Poggeschi 2004: 1639-1665; Hoffmeister 2006).
448
Multilingualism.indb 448 4-12-2006 12:29:39