Every two years, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe presents a detailed report on the Charter to the Parliamentary Assembly to ensure that parliamentarians are kept informed about the application of the Charter, enabling them to bring political pressure encourage national governments to take appropriate measures to implement or ratify the Charter. The most recent report covering the period 2021-22 was published on 13 April 2023 and highlights the work carried out by the Committee of Experts and the positive impact of the reform which entered into force in 2019.

The first half of 2023 has been busy for the Committee of Experts with many visits and new reports. The year started off with a visit to Romania in February, where the delegation met with the representatives of regional or minority languages speakers and authorities. In March a delegation of the COMEX visited Poland to evaluate progress made in the protection and promotion of regional and minority languages. In parallel, a visit to Montenegro took place. In the beginning of 2023 the COMEX published six reports, on Sweden, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Norway and Liechtenstein, and adopted another two, on Austria and Serbia, which will become public shortly.

At their 76th plenary meeting in June, the Committee of Experts will examine the evaluation reports on Montenegro, Poland and Romania. Additionally, two visits are scheduled over the coming months: one to Denmark from 28 to 29 June, coordinated with the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, and another to the Czech Republic from 25 to 29 September. More will follow.

In time for its 25th anniversary the Charter’s visual identity has been completely redesigned. As of now, the word ‘language’ will feature on the cover pages of the Committee’s reports and other publications in many different regional or minority languages and the Charter colours of pink and blue. The new visual identity has also been adapted on the Charter website.