ELEN Press Releases
ELEN set for EESC Civil Society Week 2026
From Monday March 2nd to Thursday March 5th 2026, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) will bring together the main European civil society organisations from across Europe to discuss, debate and contribute to shaping the future of democracy and building...
UN Special Rapporteur for Minorities slams EU for its lack of protection of European minoritized languages.
Speaking in Brussels today, the UN Special Rapporteur for Minority Issues, Nicolas Levrat, strongly criticised the EU over its double standards regarding minority protection in general and the continuing lack of protection for European minoritized and endangered...
ELEN calls on EU to take action to protect European minoritised languages at the UN Forum for Minority Issues
ELEN has issued a formal statement at the UN Forum for Minority Issues in Geneva calling on the EU to take action to protect European minoritized and endangered languages, something that the EU is required to do under Article 2 of the Lisbon Treaty. The statement,...
Events
Despite the respect for language diversity being a European Value, and even though we represent nearly ten percent of the population - around forty-five million speakers - the process of language endangerment continues, with many of the languages that we represent actively and systematically discriminated against, even though they are endangered.
I think that there’s this assumption that languages somehow gradually fade out of use in a benign way. But no language does this. Languages become minoritized because they’ve been deliberately attacked…
The EU must accept that the protection of language minorities and linguistic diversity is foundational to the EU, and that it must take measures to protect our languages under Article 2 of the Lisbon treaty (rights of minorities). Furthermore, that it is empowered to do this under Article 167 of the Treaty which underlines, for example, that the EU can act to safeguard cultural heritage.
The other point is that we know more and more about how to ensure effective language recovery but we’re lacking the legal base, language legislation and finances to ensure that.
Therefore, ELEN is calling on the EU, firstly, for a Strategic Framework for European Minoritised and Endangered Languages and, secondly, for an Emergency Committee for European endangered languages with its own budget line to finance vital endangered and minoritized language projects.
— Dr. Davyth Hicks, Secretary-General of ELEN, at the workshop “Whose resilience? Intergenerational fairness, gender and minoritised language communities” during the EESC Civil Society Week 2026🇪🇺🗣️
In the photos📸: Davyth Hicks with Nicolas Levrat, UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, who also participated in the workshop.
I think that there’s this assumption that languages somehow gradually fade out of use in a benign way. But no language does this. Languages become minoritized because they’ve been deliberately attacked…
The EU must accept that the protection of language minorities and linguistic diversity is foundational to the EU, and that it must take measures to protect our languages under Article 2 of the Lisbon treaty (rights of minorities). Furthermore, that it is empowered to do this under Article 167 of the Treaty which underlines, for example, that the EU can act to safeguard cultural heritage.
The other point is that we know more and more about how to ensure effective language recovery but we’re lacking the legal base, language legislation and finances to ensure that.
Therefore, ELEN is calling on the EU, firstly, for a Strategic Framework for European Minoritised and Endangered Languages and, secondly, for an Emergency Committee for European endangered languages with its own budget line to finance vital endangered and minoritized language projects.
— Dr. Davyth Hicks, Secretary-General of ELEN, at the workshop “Whose resilience? Intergenerational fairness, gender and minoritised language communities” during the EESC Civil Society Week 2026🇪🇺🗣️
In the photos📸: Davyth Hicks with Nicolas Levrat, UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, who also participated in the workshop.
Gool Peran Lowen!!!
Dydh Sen Peran (St. Piran’s Day), celebrated on March 5th, is the national day of Kernow (Cornwall) honouring the country’s identity and heritage. Communities across Cornwall mark the occasion with parades in many Cornish towns, music, dances, and traditional food. From Pennwydh to the River Tamar, Cornish communities come together over Pirantide to celebrate the country’s language, culture, and history. Many events, such as the procession to St Piran’s Oratory, also highlight the Cornish language, with songs, performances, and speeches in Kernewek.
See the Gorsedh Kernow site for a listing of many of the Pirantide events: https://gorsedhkernow.org.uk/st-pirans-events/
Gorsedh Kernow Kernow Sodhva an Yeth Kernewek / Cornish Language Office Kernow Rydh Speak Cornish Cornish Made Easy Kowethas: The Cornish Language Fellowship Institute of Cornish Studies
#Kernewek #kernow #stpiransday #GoolPeranLowen #KernowBysVyken #KernowRydh
Dydh Sen Peran (St. Piran’s Day), celebrated on March 5th, is the national day of Kernow (Cornwall) honouring the country’s identity and heritage. Communities across Cornwall mark the occasion with parades in many Cornish towns, music, dances, and traditional food. From Pennwydh to the River Tamar, Cornish communities come together over Pirantide to celebrate the country’s language, culture, and history. Many events, such as the procession to St Piran’s Oratory, also highlight the Cornish language, with songs, performances, and speeches in Kernewek.
See the Gorsedh Kernow site for a listing of many of the Pirantide events: https://gorsedhkernow.org.uk/st-pirans-events/
Gorsedh Kernow Kernow Sodhva an Yeth Kernewek / Cornish Language Office Kernow Rydh Speak Cornish Cornish Made Easy Kowethas: The Cornish Language Fellowship Institute of Cornish Studies
#Kernewek #kernow #stpiransday #GoolPeranLowen #KernowBysVyken #KernowRydh