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
In this new edition of Cultural Fridays, we bring you a selection of films produced in minoritised languages 🎬✨
These films tell powerful stories through Europe’s lesser-used languages, demonstrating that linguistic diversity thrives not only in everyday life, but also on the big screen. Cinema plays a key role in keeping these languages visible, relevant, and creatively alive.
Have you watched any of these films?
Are there others you would recommend in minority languages?
Share your suggestions in the comments! 👇
#CulturalFridays #FilmEdition #MinorityLanguages #MinoritisedLanguages #LinguisticDiversity LanguageRights
These films tell powerful stories through Europe’s lesser-used languages, demonstrating that linguistic diversity thrives not only in everyday life, but also on the big screen. Cinema plays a key role in keeping these languages visible, relevant, and creatively alive.
Have you watched any of these films?
Are there others you would recommend in minority languages?
Share your suggestions in the comments! 👇
#CulturalFridays #FilmEdition #MinorityLanguages #MinoritisedLanguages #LinguisticDiversity LanguageRights
"Despite the respect for language diversity being a European Value, and even though minoritised language speakers represent nearly ten percent of the EU population - with 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, and Elena Jimenez from Òmnium Cultural and ELEN Vice-President.
#CivSocWeek @followers #EUCivilSociety Michael McGrath EU Commissioner Diana Riba Vicent MarzĂ Ana Miranda Cynthia NĂ MhurchĂş Raquel GarcĂa - #ThuisinEuropa Kathleen Funchion-Sinn FĂ©in EESC - European Economic and Social Committee European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
"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, and Elena Jimenez from Òmnium Cultural and ELEN Vice-President.
#CivSocWeek @followers #EUCivilSociety Michael McGrath EU Commissioner Diana Riba Vicent MarzĂ Ana Miranda Cynthia NĂ MhurchĂş Raquel GarcĂa - #ThuisinEuropa Kathleen Funchion-Sinn FĂ©in EESC - European Economic and Social Committee European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
