Activities of Liliana RODRIGUES related to 2018/2036(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on minimum standards for minorities in the EU
Amendments (26)
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Regrets that the EU has no explicit competence regarding minority issues, but recalls that minority rights are guaranteed under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which can also address a range of issues affecting those belonging to national and cross-border minorities;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Stresses that it is the responsibility of the Member States to implement political and legislative measures to safeguard and promote the identity and rights of minorities, including ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic rights;
Amendment 12 #
1b. Urges Member States, in accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, to ensure that their legal systems protect minority groups from discrimination and to bring specific protection measures into line with applicable international standards;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Points out that minorities suffer from economic and cultural marginalisation, social discrimination and political exclusion; stresses that women and minority LGBTI groups suffer various forms of discrimination on account of their ethnicity or gender, both inside and outside their communities;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Notes that preventing or hindering minorities from progressively availing themselves of their economic, social, educational and cultural rights has implications for the general well-being of individuals and communities and for the preservation of their identity; points out that that any restriction on aspects of their cultural identity that are in line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, together with economic and social inequalities, may become a cause of conflict and social exclusion;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Notes that the social inclusion of minorities has a positive impact on their economic and cultural integration;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3d. Recalls that an understanding of what is meant by 'culture' is essential in order to define the scope of minority rights in this respect; notes that, in a broad sense, culture amounts to the sum total of material and non-material activities and achievements of a given community and distinguishes it from others; stresses that cultural rights should include: the right to participate in cultural life; the right to enjoy culture; the right to choose to belong to a group; language rights; and protection of the cultural and scientific heritage;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 e (new)
Paragraph 3 e (new)
3e. Recalls that Member States have an obligation to guarantee to minorities the full enjoyment of their human rights, whether as individuals or as a community; points out that it is also incumbent on the Member States to ensure the preconditions for preservation of the cultural assets of minorities and to encourage their participation in the cultural life of the community;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 f (new)
Paragraph 3 f (new)
3f. Stresses the need for minorities to be duly informed and to give their free consent before any use is made of artistic content relating to their activities in order to safeguard their intellectual property rights;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 g (new)
Paragraph 3 g (new)
3g. Recalls that language is an essential element of minority cultures, distinguishing them from the mainstream and ensuring the expression, dissemination and transmission thereof;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 h (new)
Paragraph 3 h (new)
3h. Recalls that while, on the one hand, minority groups have the right to learn the national language in the same way as the remainder of the population, on the other hand, Member States should provide opportunities for all those interested on either side to learn minority languages;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 i (new)
Paragraph 3 i (new)
3i. Calls on the Member States, in the wake of the European Year of Cultural Heritage, to enhance and promote their minority cultures, thereby encouraging the dissemination of their history and traditions and ensuring that these communities do not remain isolated;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. RNotes that, in the European Union, 40 to 50 million people speak one of the 60 minority and regional languages that are in serious danger of extinction; recalls that mother-tongue education is essential for upholding language rights; encourages the Member States, therefore, to ensure that persons belonging to regional ethnic minorities have adequate opportunities to learn their languages and even to receive education in these languages at all levels of education in the territories in which they live; calls on the Member States to develop a concerted strategy for the integration of 'non- territorial languages', defined as idioms spoken by minority populations that cannot be identified with a particular area, such as the languages of the Eastern European Jewish community and the Roma;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Urges the Member States to foster access to minority and regional languages by means of funding and support for translation, dubbing and subtitling activities and the compilation of appropriate and non-discriminatory administrative, commercial, economic, social, technical and legal terminologies;
Amendment 77 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Notes the frequent link between the cultural identity of a minority group and a particular geographical territory; points out that for many minority groups the right to land defines the way and the means by which they live and practice their culture;
Amendment 79 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Considers that local and regional authorities should play an active role in the assimilation of minorities, for example through the planning and organisation by municipal councils and assemblies of information sessions and training activities and the provision of administrative assistance to facilitate their integration; urges the Member States to exchange information and examples of good practice in this area;
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide the local and regional authorities with adequate financial and other own resources to formulate and implement the strategies they deem best for the protection of minorities;
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 d (new)
Paragraph 7 d (new)
7d. Notes that education is one of the best means of enabling young people belonging to minorities to learn about their heritage and history and for their culture to be disseminated and recognized by society at large; stresses that education is fundamental to the promotion of minority rights and constitutes a precondition for the enjoyment of economic, political, social and cultural rights; points out that education is a vehicle for the empowerment of those belonging to minorities, enabling them to participate meaningfully in the society they belong to;
Amendment 82 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 e (new)
Paragraph 7 e (new)
7e. Believes that educational activities are fundamental for the assimilation of children and young people belonging to minorities, while observing that they are equally conducive to the integration of their parents and families; urges Member States to encourage schools to organise extracurricular activities involving parents and children, thereby enhancing the levels of interaction within the entire educational community;
Amendment 83 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 f (new)
Paragraph 7 f (new)
3f. Recommends investment in the preparation of staff, especially teaching staff, in educational establishments catering for minorities, providing them with the necessary skills to work with students from different cultural, religious, ethnic or linguistic backgrounds;
Amendment 84 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 g (new)
Paragraph 7 g (new)
3g. Encourages the Member States to promote cultural diversity and respect for such differences through a pluralist, inclusive and democratic education system;
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 h (new)
Paragraph 7 h (new)
7h. Encourages the Member State governments to include minority representatives in deliberations on the organisation of their education systems;
Amendment 86 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 i (new)
Paragraph 7 i (new)
7i. Recommends that, for the next period, 2021-2027, ESF+ appropriations earmarked for the promotion of social inclusion be used to support educational and cultural projects aimed at integrating ethnic, religious, cultural or linguistic minorities;
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 j (new)
Paragraph 7 j (new)
7j. Recalls that non-discrimination and equality with regard to minorities and other disadvantaged groups are the first principles of the International Labour Organization (ILO); notes that, in the promotion and application of fundamental rights and principles at the workplace, the ILO pays special attention to socially or economically disadvantaged groups and that its rules take account of the need to uphold and protect the rights of minorities;
Amendment 88 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 k (new)
Paragraph 7 k (new)
7k. Calls on the Member States regularly to collect data and provide statistical information regarding the assimilation of minorities into educational establishments, the employment market and civic life;
Amendment 89 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 l (new)
Paragraph 7 l (new)
7l. Calls on the Commission to set up mechanisms to monitor the progress of Member States in fulfilling their obligations regarding the protection of minority rights;