Once again this year, FUEN (the Federal Union of European Nationalities) called its delegates to its annual assembly to report on its organisational and economic situation this year. The international coordinator of Plataforma per la Llengua, Marga Payola, attended to represent the Catalan organisation. Because of the exceptional situation in 2020 due to COVID-19, the meeting was held online. These exceptional circumstances required an amendment to the statutes, approved during the assembly, making it possible to continue working and adopting decisions remotely.
The assembly also adopted a resolution to safeguard and ensure the protection of native national minorities and language communities and their cultural legacy. During the pandemic, access to healthcare and information in people's own languages becomes more essential than ever.
The assembly celebrated the success of the European Minority SafePack citizens' initiative, one of the actions undertaken this year by FUEN. The campaign urges European institutions to legislate on non-official languages in the European Union. Last week, the public hearing of the initiative took place in the European Parliament, when the organisations promoting the project appeared, together with the various European institutions that have to give their backing to the continuation of the consultation process. This is the phase prior to the European Commission issuing an evaluation.
FUEN is an international non-governmental organisation set up in 1949 at the same time as the formation of the Council of Europe. It currently brings together more than 100 organisations representing ethnic, linguistic and national minorities all over Europe. The network played a key role in encouraging the Council of Europe to adopt the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. FUEN has had participative status with the Council of Europe since 1989 and with the United Nations (UN) since 1995. It is based in Flensburg (Germany), Berlin and Brussels.
