Minority language protection in Europe: into a new decade

This volume contains a selection of papers based on presentations given at the international conference entitled 'The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages: Achievements and Challenges', co-organised by the Council of Europe, the Government of Spain, the Government of the Basque Country and the University of the Basque Country, which was held in Bilbao on 20-21 April 2009.

This work looks at the future prospects of the charter in the light of the experience gained over the first decade of the charter's existence. It is evident that governments bear the primary responsibility in preparing for ratification and in applying the charter, and this is illustrated by case studies for some states parties to the charter. However, regional and local authorities also play a very important role in relation to the charter as they are confronted on a daily basis with the use and protection of minority languages.