Summary of the claim before the European Ombudsman

A) BREACH OF THE RIGHT TO EQUALITY ON THE GROUNDS OF LANGUAGE AND
CULTURE, CONSECRATED IN THE EU's CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS.

** THERE IS NO ACTIVE POLICY ON THE PART OF THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS TO MAKE EFFECTIVE A PRINCIPLE DERIVING FROM ORIGINAL COMMUNITY LAW: CULTURAL PLURALITY IN THE COMMUNITY TERRITORY.

Legal foundations

1. Articles 149 and 151 of the TCE they establish as a value the principle of cultural diversity in the UE.

2. The Charter adopted in Nice establishes in article 21 the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of language. This rule can be interpreted in accordance with the cultural tradition of each state. That is, the interpretation that the EC makes of article 10.1 that establishes that the fundamental rights of the CE will be interpreted in accordance with international treaties would connect with the internal legislation of Spain. Therefore the breach of the language would fit with article 14 of the CE, which establishes the principle of equality and the prohibition of discrimination in accordance with the jurisprudence of the CC and SC (Supreme Court).

The interpretation of article 21 of the Nice Charter that already forms part of internal Spanish law, has to be interpreted in reference to the principle of equality laid down in article 14 and also to the jurisprudence of the CC (Constitutional Court), that ratifies that in order to determine that a situation of inequality exists, it is necessary to establish two terms of inequality, in this case the existence of one for European citizens that use Catalan as their way of relating with the authorities depending on which regional entity they are in - in this case Catalan-speaking Aragonese citizens in the Strip – compared to the Catalans of the Community autonomous of Catalonia; this juridical thread could be followed also in the case of North Catalans in France.

3. -The Committee of the Regions, in its current configuration does not contemplate representation. This thus means a serious deficit in its guarantees of legal protection for the situation of several national communities that in spite of being in a state, or in several, for questions of administrative divisions have heterogeneous linguistic regal regulations, with an evident degree of inequality as regards the right to use their language and to relate with the authorities in it. This happens to Europeans whose language is Catalan. Thus, in the territory of the EU, in the case of Spain the Catalans that live in the Autonomous Community of Aragon have some substantially different linguistic rights from those of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, leaving the contents of article 21 of the Nice Charter without effect.

CLAIM TO THE EUROPEAN OMBUDSMAN

1. EU Committee of the Regions:
a) That it propose a draft of a charter of basic linguistic rights for all European citizens,
b) That it dictate a resolution and addresses a recommendation to Spain and France so that a homogeneous regulation of the linguistic rights of the European citizens gives Catalan-speakers (in this concept Catalan-speaking European citizens as a subject of law, which suffer situations of inequality depending of the territory of the EU where they live).
c) Modification of its organizational structures to that it incorporates language groups and national communities that do not have such condition recognized by the member States.

2. The Commission:

The Commission should use its legislative initiative both in the form and in regulations, directives and recommendations:

Homogeneous linguistic criteria need to be fixed through directives and regulations.

A recommendation addressed to Spain, so that it intervenes before the Autonomous Community of Aragon so that linguistic regulations be drawn up for the citizens of Aragon to guarantee that whichever without regard for the language that they speak (Aragonese, Spanish or Catalan) they will not be not discriminated against.

To call for instruments of cooperation between Spain and France, for the creation of homogeneous linguistic rights for Catalan-speakers.

B) THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN DOES NOT RESPECT THE RIGHT TO THE EQUALITY OF ALL CITIZENS RECOGNIZED IN THE NICE CHARTER.

EFFECTIVE MEASURES ARE NEEDED TO PRESERVE THE PRINCIPLE OF CULTURAL PLURALITY IN ITS REGIONAL ENTITIES WITH LEGISLATIVE CAPACITY.

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN AS THE ONLY RESPONSIBLE SUBJECT RECOGNISED IN COMMUNITY LAW.

RESPONSIBILITY OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC. PRINCIPLE OF COOPERATION BETWEEN STATES AND EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS.

1. In connection with the abovementioned principles, we call for instruments of cooperation among states, taking into account that to guarantee the Catalan-speaking European citizens can enjoy the principle of equality in article 21 of the Constitution. This in no way means a breach of the principle of subsidiariness, since neither Spain nor France have yet adopted specific legislative measures in order to guarantee this principle of equality, for which reason the intervention of the European institutions to correct this imbalance could in no way be regarded as a breach of the principle of subsidiarity.

2. The policy of the EU with regard to the culture and the minority languages recognizes clearly their transversal nature, which means they affect several competencies that the EU enjoysd directly. Thus it is a duty of the European institutions to guarantee the linguistic and cultural rights of the citizens of the EU, and to see that these rights are substantially equal, since they affect matters like the rights of consumers, the right of competition, the cultural industry, etc.

CLAIM TO THE EUROPEAN OMBUDSMAN

1. Referred to above.

2. Explicit reference in the European Ombudsman's report about this deficit in the rights of several million Europeans.

c) CLAIM TO THE EUROPEAN OMBUDSMAN

- That the Commission, institution that has the competency in the field of foreign EU foreign trade according to Article 133 TCE, request an exception in cultural matters and that it urges the Commissioners for foreign trade, PETER MADELSON, and Education & Training JAN FIGEL, to ensure that in the framework of AGCS agreements of commercial liberalization the linguistic, cultural and social rights of all European citizens are respected, and that no agreement be reached that can lead to a direct breach of original community law.

This will link up directly with the Next claim, in Hong Kong:

The 6th World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference will be held in Hong Kong, China from 13 to 18 December 2005.

CLAIM BEFORE EU TRADE COMMISSIONER PETER MADELSON.

THERE IS NO PROTECTION OF THE MINORITY LANGUAGES AND CULTURES IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE WTO NEGOTIATIONS, WHICH WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE 6th MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE.

LEGAL FOUNDATIONS

1. The World Trade Organization since its conversion in 1995 from GATT to WTO is not linked to the basic principles of international law, among which the rules of international law that protect human rights.

2. Thus successive decisions of the WTO conflict-solving body have considered “unjustified barriers for free trade” any protectionist measure of states or regional authorities in the fields of work, environment or taxation, which as has already happened or has been endeavoured within ALCA with Quebec, and the French language, it can be considered within the framework of the negotiations of the General Agreement on Services Trade (AGCS), that regional and minority languages can be unjustified obstacles for the free trade in “sensitive” sectors such as educational services, the cultural industry, the audiovisual ones, etc.

3. In none of the rounds of negotiations in the framework of the WTO has the EU, that negotiates as a whole, shown at any time any measure directed to request a measure of cultural exception, despite the fact that France has requested it.