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Neasa Ní Chinnéide Vice President John McIntyre
Simon Faber Mikel Etxebarria Tangi Louarn Pádraig O Ceithearnaigh Tomasz Wicherkiewicz Domenico Morelli
Eurolang - EBLUL Davyth Hicks
The European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages (EBLUL) is a democratically governed Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) promoting languages and linguistic diversity. It is based on a network of Member State Committees (MSCs) in all the ‘old' 15 EU Member States and many of the new Member States that joined the EU in May 2004. In today's EU there are some 46 million speakers of European lesser-used, regional and minoritised languages. EBLUL, with a mandate from its democratically elected Member State Committees, represents the interests of these language communities at regional, state and European level. It plays a pre-eminent role in information generation, sharing and networking in the field of language promotion at European and international levels. EBLUL also disseminates information on EU action in the field of languages and to represent and inform lesser-used language communities on EU policies and funding programmes which are appropriate to their languages. It has close relations to the European Commission, European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and it has operational relations with the UN, UNESCO and the OSCE. EBLUL sits on the civil society Platform of the Fundamental Rights Agency and the Commission's Platforms for Multilingualism and Access to Culture. EBLUL acts to link and service linguistic communities, through the Member State Committees, as well as local and regional authorities in EU Member States and supports their activities for the promotion and protection of lesser-used languages in the context of linguistic diversity. The Bureau provides information on European policies and programmes to its Member State Committees, European linguistic communities, and local and regional authorities, and it serves their activities through supporting administrative procedures for applications and seeking partnerships. The Bureau also provides information at the European level through publications, seminars and other presentations of European policies. Finally, EBLUL actively produces information on linguistic issues in Europe and the situation of linguistic communities in the European Union. EBLUL makes every effort to achieve these aims by: 1. Providing EU institutions with any information, documentation or draft documents to develop activities for the defence and promotion of regional and minority languages, as reported by the Member State Committees; 2. Disseminating information to the linguistic minority communities about policies and activities carried out by the European Commission, the European Parliament, the EU Council of Ministers; 3. Providing expertise to linguistic minorities on particular problems and servicing the communities' needs, particularly in seeking partners, contacting the European institutions and providing adequate information on EU programmes, specifically on examples of good practice; 4. Organising seminars, conferences and other meetings. The aforementioned Member State Committees are the basic constituencies of EBLUL. They are autonomous bodies and they develop as state-based NGOs. They are wholly representative of all the lesser-used languages in the relevant state, not only among their members, but also official language promotion bodies and representative institutions, cultural organisations, scientific institutions, media and other organisations promoting lesser-used languages. Through their activities and by their very existence, the Member State Committees encourage co-operation between the linguistic communities within a single State. The Bureau has as its objective to express the importance of the work, and the legitimacy of this extensive network of voluntary contributors, who represent the community of lesser-used languages in its entirety. It also reaches out beyond its core constituency to take part in the wider debates about linguistic matters in the EU as it considers appropriate The European Bureau aims to give concrete substance to European citizenship by bringing speakers of lesser-used languages from all over Europe together, enabling them to learn from each other, to appreciate each other and to seek co-operation in a wide range of domains where they have similar interests and aims. EBLUL works under Irish law. It co-operates with the European institutions, and implements an annual work programme. In addition, it works with international organisations, such as the Council of Europe on matters related to the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Since its establishment in 1982, the European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages has been strengthening contacts and mutual co-operation between lesser-used language communities. It has acted as a facilitator in their links and communications with European institutions. Its aim is to continue to speak on behalf of Europe's 46 million speakers of lesser used languages.
EBLUL (Limited Company under Irish Law, Companies Act, 1963-2001)
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