ABSTRACT
Art. 1 Taking into account: • the intrinsic relation between multiculturalism and multi-
lingualism in Europe, as expressed in the vitality of regional, minority and immigrant languages;
• the (outdated) Directive 77.486 of the Council of the European Communities on the schooling of children of migrant workers (1977);
• the Charter on Regional or Minority Languages of the Council of Europe (1992);
• the Framework Convention on National Minorities of the Council of Europe (1995);
• the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights (1996); • the current support programme of the European
Commission for measures to promote and safeguard regional or minority languages;
• the aims(*) of the European Year of Languages (2001), prepared by the Council of Europe;
affirmative conventions and action programmes on regional, minority and immigrant languages within the context of multicultural Europe should be based on a non-exclusive acknowledgement of the existence of all of these languages as sources of linguistic diversity and cultural enrichment.
