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The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) is a European treaty (CETS 148) adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe. However, the charter does not provide any criterion or definition for an idiom to be a minority or a regional language, and the classification stays in the hands of the national state.

European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
CET 148
Member states that have signed and ratified in dark green, those that have signed but not ratified in light green, those that have neither signed nor ratified in white, non-member states of the Council of Europe in grey. Source: the list of signatories at the Council of Europe website.
Signed	5 November 1992
Location	Strasbourg
Effective	1 March 1998
Condition	Ratification by 5 States
Signatories	34
Parties	25
Depositary	Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Languages	English and French
Full text
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages at Wikisource

The preparation for the charter was undertaken by the predecessor to the current Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, the Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe because involvement of local and regional government was essential. The actual charter was written in the Parliamentary Assembly based on the Congress' Recommendations. It only applies to languages traditionally used by the nationals of the State Parties (thus excluding languages used by recent immigrants from other states, see immigrant languages), which significantly differ from the majority or official language (thus excluding what the state party wishes to consider as mere local dialects of the official or majority language) and that either have a territorial basis (and are therefore traditionally spoken by populations of regions or areas within the State) or are used by linguistic minorities within the State as a whole (thereby including such languages as Yiddish, Romani and Lemko, which are used over a wide geographic area).

Some states, such as Ukraine and Sweden, have tied the status of minority language to the recognized national minorities, which are defined by ethnic, cultural and/or religious criteria, thereby circumventing the Charter's notion of linguistic minority.

Languages that are official within regions, provinces or federal units within a State (for example Catalan in Spain) are not classified as official languages of the State and may therefore benefit from the Charter. On the other hand, Ireland has been unable to sign the Charter on behalf of the Irish language (although a minority language) as it is defined as the first official language of the state. The United Kingdom has ratified the Charter in respect to (among other languages) Welsh in Wales, Scots and Gaelic in Scotland, and Irish in Northern Ireland. France, although a signatory, has been constitutionally blocked from ratifying the Charter in respect to the languages of France.

The charter provides many actions state parties can take to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages. There are two levels of protection—all signatories must apply the lower level of protection to qualifying languages. Signatories may further declare that a qualifying language or languages will benefit from the higher level of protection, which lists a range of actions from which states must agree to undertake at least 35.

The Charter does not provide procedures for reactive judicial processing in case of lack of compliance but rather an elaborate proactive regular monitoring process in which the Committee of Experts drafts formal feedback and recommendations in regard to the situation in countries parties to the charter.

Protections

Countries can ratify the charter in respect of its minority languages based on Part II or Part III of the charter, which contain varying principles. Countries can treat languages differently under the charter, for example, in the United Kingdom, the Welsh language is ratified under the general Part II principles as well as the more specific Part III commitments, while the Cornish language is ratified only under Part II.

Part II

Part II of the Charter details eight main principles and objectives upon which States must base their policies and legislation. They are seen as a framework for the preservation of the languages concerned.

Recognition of regional or minority languages as an expression of cultural wealth.
Respect for the geographical area of each regional or minority language.
The need for resolute action to promote such languages.
The facilitation and/or encouragement of the use of such languages, in speech and writing, in public and private life.
The provision of appropriate forms and means for the teaching and study of such languages at all appropriate stages.
The promotion of relevant transnational exchanges.
The prohibition of all forms of unjustified distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference relating to the use of a regional or minority language and intended to discourage or endanger its maintenance or development.
The promotion by states of mutual understanding between all the country's linguistic groups.

Part III

Part III details comprehensive rules, across a number of sectors, by which states agree to abide. Each language to which Part III of the Charter is applied must be named specifically by the government. States must select at least thirty-five of the undertakings in respect to each language. Many provisions contain several options, of varying degrees of stringency, one of which has to be chosen "according to the situation of each language". The areas from which these specific undertakings must be chosen are as follows:

Education
Judicial authorities
Administrative authorities and public services
Media
Cultural activities and facilities
Economic and social life
Transfrontier exchanges

Languages protected under the Charter

Countries that have ratified the Charter, and languages for which the ratification was made
Country	Ratification	Language	Notes
Armenia	25 January 2002	Assyrian	Part II and III
		German	Part II
		Greek	Part II and III
		Kurdish	Part II and III
		Russian	Part II and III
		Ukrainian	Part II
		Yezidi	Part II and III
Austria	28 June 2001	Burgenland Croatian	(in Burgenland)
		Czech	(in Vienna)
		Hungarian	(in Burgenland and Vienna)
		Romani	(in Burgenland)
		Slovak	(in Vienna)
		Slovene	(in Carinthia and Styria)
Bosnia and Herzegovina	21 September 2010	Albanian	Part II and III
		Czech
		German
		Hungarian
		Italian
		Ladino
		Polish
		Romani
		Romanian
		Rusyn (as Ruthenian)
		Slovak
		Slovenian
		Turkish
		Ukrainian
		Yiddish
Croatia	5 November 1997	Czech
		German
		Hungarian
		Boyash Romanian
		Istro-Romanian
		Italian
		Romani
		Rusyn (as Ruthenian)
		Serbian
		Slovakian
		Slovenian
		Ukrainian
Cyprus	26 August 2002	Armenian	Part II (Article 7.5)
Cyprus	26 August 2002	Cypriot Maronite Arabic	Part II (Article 7)
Czech Republic	15 November 2006	Moravian Croatian	(part II only)
		German	(part II and part III in districts Cheb, Karlovy Vary, Sokolov, Liberec, Ústí nad Labem, Český Krumlov, Opava and Svitavy)
		Polish	(part II; and part III in Moravia-Silesia, in districts Frydek-Místek and Karviná)
		Romani	(part II only)
		Slovak	(parts II and III, across the whole territory)
Denmark	8 September 2000	German	(in Southern Jutland)
Finland	9 November 1994	Inari Sami
		Karelian
		North Sami
		Romani
		Russian
		Skolt Sami
		Swedish
		Tatar
		Yiddish
Germany	16 September 1998	Danish	(in Schleswig-Holstein)
		Low German	(part III in Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein); (part II in Brandenburg, Northrhine-Westphalia and Saxony-Anhalt)
		Lower Sorbian	(in Brandenburg)
		North Frisian	(in Schleswig-Holstein)
		Romani	(across Germany)
		Saterland Frisian	(in Lower Saxony)
		Upper Sorbian	(in the Free State of Saxony)
Hungary	26 April 1995	Armenian
		Boyash Romanian
		Bulgarian
		Croatian
		German
		Greek
		Polish
		Romani
		Romanian
		Rusyn (as Ruthenian)
		Serbian
		Slovak
		Slovene
		Ukrainian
Liechtenstein	18 November 1997	No regional or minority languages
Luxembourg	22 June 2005	No regional or minority languages
Montenegro	15 February 2006	Albanian
		Bosnian
		Croatian
		Romani
Netherlands	2 May 1996	Frisian	(in Friesland, under part III)
		Limburgish	(in Limburg, under part II)
		Low Saxon	(across the Netherlands, under part II)
		Papiamento	(on Bonaire under part III)
		Romani	(across the Netherlands, under part II)
		Yiddish	(across the Netherlands, under part II)
Norway	10 November 1993	Kven/Finnish	(part II only)
		Lule Sami
		North Sami
		Romanes
		Romani
		South Sami
Poland	12 February 2009	Armenian
		Belarusian
		Czech
		German
		Karaim
		Kashub
		Lemko
		Lithuanian
		Romani
		Russian
		Slovakian
		Tatar
		Ukrainian
		Yiddish
Romania	29 January 2008	Albanian	(Part II only)
		Armenian	(Part II only)
		Bulgarian	(Part III only)
		Croatian	(Part III only)
		Czech	(Part III only)
		German	(Part III only)
		Greek	(Part II only)
		Hungarian	(Part III only)
		Italian	(Part II only)
		Macedonian	(Part II only)
		Polish	(Part II only)
		Romani	(Part II only)
		Russian	Part II and III
		Rusyn (as Ruthenian)	(Part II only)
		Serbian	(Part III only)
		Slovak	(Part III only)
		Tatar	(Part II only)
		Turkish	(Part III only)
		Ukrainian	(Part III only)
		Yiddish	(Part II only)
Serbia	15 February 2006	Albanian
		Bosnian
		Bulgarian
		Bunjevac
		Croatian
		Czech
		German
		Hungarian
		Macedonian
		Romani
		Romanian
		Rusyn (as Ruthenian)
		Slovakian
		Ukrainian
		Vlach
Slovakia	5 September 2001	Bulgarian
		Croatian
		Czech
		German
		Hungarian
		Polish
		Romani
		Russian
		Rusyn (as Ruthenian)
		Serbian
		Ukrainian
		Yiddish
Slovenia	4 October 2000	Croatian
		German
		Hungarian
		Italian
		Romani
		Serbian
Spain	9 April 2001	Amazigh	in Melilla
		Aragonese	luenga propia in Aragon
		Aranese (Occitan)	in Catalonia
		Asturian language	present in Asturias; and in part of Leon, Zamora, Salamanca, Cantabria and Extremadura (recognized in Asturias, Castile and León)
		Basque	(official in the Basque Country and part of Navarre)
		Catalan	official in the Balearic Islands and Catalonia; llengua pròpia in Aragon.
		Darija	in Ceuta
		Extremaduran	in Extremadura
		Fala	in Extremadura
		Galician	present in Galicia; and in part of Asturias, Leon and Zamora provinces (official in Galicia)
		Leonese
		Portuguese
		Valencian (A dialect of Catalan)	official in Valencia
Sweden	9 February 2000	Finnish
		Lule Sami
		Meänkieli
		North Sami
		Romani
		South Sami
		Yiddish
Switzerland	23 December 1997	Franco-Provençal
		French
		German
		Italian
		Romansh
		Yenish
Ukraine	19 September 2005	Armenian	Ukraine does not specify languages by name, but rather ratifies on behalf of "the languages of the following ethnic minorities of Ukraine
		Belarusian
		Bulgarian
		Crimean Tatar
		Gagauz
		German
		Greek
		Hungarian
		Karaim
		Krimchak
		Moldovan
		Polish
		Romani
		Romanian
		Russian
		Rusyn (as Ruthenian)
		Slovakian
		Yiddish
United Kingdom	27 March 2001	Cornish	(Article 2, Part II only (Article 7))
		Irish	(Articles 2 and 3, Part II (Article 7) and Part III (Articles 8–14, with reservations))
		Scots	(Articles 2 and 3, Part II only (Article 7))
		Ulster-Scots	(Articles 2 and 3, Part II only (Article 7))
		Scottish Gaelic	(Articles 2 and 3, Part II (Article 7) and Part III (Articles 8–14, with reservations)) (British Nationality Act 1981, Schedule 1, Article 1(1)(c)[1], and the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 [2])
		Welsh	(Articles 2 and 3, Part II (Article 7) and Part III (Articles 8–14, with reservations)) (Welsh Language Act 1967 (repealed 21.12.1993) [3] and the Welsh Language Act 1993 [4])
Isle of Man	27 March 2001	Manx Gaelic	(Article 2, Part II only (Article 7)) (extension : 23 April 2003 (declaration dated 22 April 2003) The Government of the United Kingdom declares [on 23 April 2003] that the Charter should extend to the Isle of Man, being a territory for whose international relations the Government of the United Kingdom is responsible.

Notes and references

Gabrielle Bernoville, Europe's forgotten words. The case of the European Regional and minority languages Archived 2021-06-15 at the Wayback Machine, La Regionisto,
Kordić, Snježana (2024). "Ideology Against Language: The Current Situation in South Slavic Countries" (PDF). In Nomachi, Motoki; Kamusella, Tomasz (eds.). Languages and Nationalism Instead of Empires. Routledge Histories of Central and Eastern Europe. London: Routledge. pp. 167–179. doi:10.4324/9781003034025-11. ISBN 978-0-367-47191-0. OCLC 1390118985. S2CID 259576119. SSRN 4680766. (COBISS.RS 125229577). COBISS 171014403. Archived from the original on 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2024-01-16. p. 173, 169: In Croatia and Serbia, segregation takes place in the name of minority language rights, ignoring that the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages gives a clear definition of a minority language that excludes the term 'minority language' in this case. [...] although the Charter reads that a minority language must be different from the official language and must not be a dialect of the official language, and although the standard language of Bosniaks, Croats, Montenegrins and Serbs is based on the same dialect called Shtokavian, and it is clear that according to the Charter it cannot be regarded as several minority languages. {{cite book}}: no-break space character in |archive-url= at position 61 (help)
Hult, F.M. (2004). Planning for multilingualism and minority language rights in Sweden. Language Policy, 3(2), 181-201.
Mirko Savković (2022). "Inclusivity Principle in the CoE ECRLM Committee of Experts' Evaluations and Recommendations for Danube Countries". In Gerhard W. Mayer; Paul F. Langer (eds.). Cultural Communities and Minorities in the Danube Region. Ulm, Germany: European Danube Academy. p. 199-230. ISBN 978-3-86281-178-6.
"The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is the European convention for the protection and promotion of languages used by traditional minorities". European Charter for Regional
or Minority Languages.
"States Parties to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and their regional or minority languages (listed by language on p.6)". Council of Europe. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
"Chart of signatures and ratifications of Treaty 148". Council of Europe. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
"Czechia: Protection of German extended under the Charter - European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages". Council of Europe. 2024. Archived from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
"Reservations and Declarations for Treaty No.148 - European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ETS No. 148)". Council of Europe. Archived from the original on 22 Mar 2024.
"Report of the Committee of Experts on Luxembourg, December 2008" (PDF). Coe.int. Retrieved 2014-01-30.
Insider, Tanya Deen for the Bonaire (30 January 2024). "Papiamentu on Bonaire is Officially Recognized Under European Charter". InfoBonaire. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
"Full list".
"Aplicación de la Carta en España, Segundo ciclo de supervisión. Estrasburgo, 11 de diciembre de 2008. A.1.3.28 pag 7; A.2.2.5" (PDF). Coe.int. p. 107. Retrieved 2015-03-01.
"Law of Ukraine "On Principles of State Language Policy" (Current version – Revision from 01.02.2014)". 2014-04-30. states the following Ukraine declares that the provisions of the Charter shall apply to the languages of the following ethnic minorities of Ukraine : Armenian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Gagauz, Greek, Jewish, Crimean Tatar, Moldavian, German, Polish, Russian, Romanian, Slovak and Hungarian.
"Full list". Treaty Office.
"Full list". Treaty Office.

External links

European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages text
More information on the treaty
Charter website
Eurolang (News agency about minority languages in Europe)
Explanatory Report on the Charter
lexpress.fr (in French)
Application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Doc. 12881

[1] Gabrielle Bernoville, Europe's forgotten words. The case of the European Regional and minority languages Archived 2021-06-15 at the Wayback Machine, La Regionisto,

[Kord-2] Kordić, Snježana (2024). "Ideology Against Language: The Current Situation in South Slavic Countries" (PDF). In Nomachi, Motoki; Kamusella, Tomasz (eds.). Languages and Nationalism Instead of Empires. Routledge Histories of Central and Eastern Europe. London: Routledge. pp. 167–179. doi:10.4324/9781003034025-11. ISBN 978-0-367-47191-0. OCLC 1390118985. S2CID 259576119. SSRN 4680766. (COBISS.RS 125229577). COBISS 171014403. Archived from the original on 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2024-01-16. p. 173, 169: In Croatia and Serbia, segregation takes place in the name of minority language rights, ignoring that the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages gives a clear definition of a minority language that excludes the term 'minority language' in this case. [...] although the Charter reads that a minority language must be different from the official language and must not be a dialect of the official language, and although the standard language of Bosniaks, Croats, Montenegrins and Serbs is based on the same dialect called Shtokavian, and it is clear that according to the Charter it cannot be regarded as several minority languages. {{cite book}}: no-break space character in |archive-url= at position 61 (help)

[3] Hult, F.M. (2004). Planning for multilingualism and minority language rights in Sweden. Language Policy, 3(2), 181-201.

[Mayer&Langer-4] Mirko Savković (2022). "Inclusivity Principle in the CoE ECRLM Committee of Experts' Evaluations and Recommendations for Danube Countries". In Gerhard W. Mayer; Paul F. Langer (eds.). Cultural Communities and Minorities in the Danube Region. Ulm, Germany: European Danube Academy. p. 199-230. ISBN 978-3-86281-178-6.

[about-5] "The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is the European convention for the protection and promotion of languages used by traditional minorities". European Charter for Regional
or Minority Languages.

[6] "States Parties to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and their regional or minority languages (listed by language on p.6)". Council of Europe. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2023.

[Treaty_148-7] "Chart of signatures and ratifications of Treaty 148". Council of Europe. Retrieved 5 March 2021.

[8] "Czechia: Protection of German extended under the Charter - European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages". Council of Europe. 2024. Archived from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.

[9] "Reservations and Declarations for Treaty No.148 - European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ETS No. 148)". Council of Europe. Archived from the original on 22 Mar 2024.

[10] "Report of the Committee of Experts on Luxembourg, December 2008" (PDF). Coe.int. Retrieved 2014-01-30.

[11] Insider, Tanya Deen for the Bonaire (30 January 2024). "Papiamentu on Bonaire is Officially Recognized Under European Charter". InfoBonaire. Retrieved 31 January 2024.

[12] "Full list".

[Valenciano-13] "Aplicación de la Carta en España, Segundo ciclo de supervisión. Estrasburgo, 11 de diciembre de 2008. A.1.3.28 pag 7; A.2.2.5" (PDF). Coe.int. p. 107. Retrieved 2015-03-01.

[UA-14] "Law of Ukraine "On Principles of State Language Policy" (Current version – Revision from 01.02.2014)". 2014-04-30. states the following Ukraine declares that the provisions of the Charter shall apply to the languages of the following ethnic minorities of Ukraine : Armenian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Gagauz, Greek, Jewish, Crimean Tatar, Moldavian, German, Polish, Russian, Romanian, Slovak and Hungarian.

[15] "Full list". Treaty Office.

[16] "Full list". Treaty Office.