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Ref. CG-PR 008 (2016) Council of Europe Congress examines a draft opinion on the situation in certain Belgian municipalities with special language arrangements Strasbourg, 22 Mars 2016, The Monitoring Committee of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe examined, in the framework of the 30th Congress Session, a draft opinion on the situation in certain municipalities with special language arrangements in the outskirts of Bruxelles (Belgium). Further to a request by six local government officials of such municipalities the President of the Group of Independent Experts (GIE) of the Congress, Dr. Angel Manuel Moreno Molina was invited to elaborate a legal analyses of the use of other languages than Dutch in regular meetings of the local city council, against the background of the provisions of the European Charter of local Self Government (the Charter). Mr Moreno Molina stated that applying a broader interpretation of the Charter would require the Belgian authorities to allow local residents as well as members of the city councils to use French in the meetings of the city councils in the so-called “rim municipalities” with special language arrangement. “Facilitating the use of languages is a prerequisite to the smooth functioning of local governance”, the lawyer concluded. “The Charter should be used as an interpretative tool in order to ensure that local politicians may carry out a meaningful representative function” stated Mr Moreno Molina. Participants in the debate both shared and opposed the analysis of the expert, referring in particular to possible contradictions with other texts of the Council of Europe in this respect. Consequently, the Monitoring Committee decided to ask the Flemish Government for a formal reaction to this draft opinion which also presents the situation as regards to the appointment of the “mayor” (Burgemeester in Dutch, Bourgmestre in French) of Linkebeek, which is also a “municipality with special language arrangements” in the same area. In order to complement the legal analysis by a political assessment, a fact-finding mission will be considered, to look more closely into this matter. Draft Opinion CG-MON02-2016-04 File 30th Session of the Congress Live webcast of debates: All the debates will be webcast live from Tuesday 22 March at 11 am. TV / Videos: Broadcast-quality videos of the debates and speeches may be downloaded free of charge around two hours after delivery. For other requests, please contact the Council of Europe’s Audiovisual Department, Tel: +33 3 88 41 25 64 (before the session); +33 3 88 41 35 00 (during the session). Photos: Professional quality photos may be downloaded free of charge and may be used copyright-free with the caption © Council of Europe. Accreditation: Directorate of Communication, [email protected] Media Box: A mobile studio is available for journalists. If you are interested in scheduling an interview during a session, contact [email protected] or call +33 3 90 21 48 95. More information on the Mediabox Social networks: Twitter: www.twitter.com/COECongress - @COECongress - #CoECongress Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/CouncilOfEurope (Congress Playlist) Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/councilofeurope/albums For further information: Please consult the Congress website and the 30th session file. |
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The Congress has two chambers, the Chamber of Local Authorities and the Chamber of Regions. It brings together 324 full and 324 substitute members representing more than 200 000 European territorial communities. |
