92002E3198

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3198/02

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 November 2002)

Subject: Problems in Belgium in communicating in a language other than Flemish

According to complaints which have also been reported in the Belgian press, French-speaking Belgian nationals as well as other EU nationals who have contact with the authorities of the Flemish region of the country do not receive essential official documents in any language other than Flemish. The same applies to legal proceedings before the courts of the same region (e.g. Antwerp and elsewhere) in which the accused according to the same complaints are required to speak Flemish and only Flemish.

There have also been angry protests against the fact that in the Flemish region of Belgium, account information and official notices are exclusively in Flemish, despite Belgium being a country with more than one official language and hosting thousands of foreign nationals who work for the numerous international organisations and embassies based there.

Is this practice employed by the Flemish authorities consistent with Community law? Does it infringe the right of citizens who are either nationals of that country or have lived for long periods in Belgium to communicate in a language with which they are familiar? How could the Commission intervene to facilitate communication by non-Flemish speaking Belgian nationals and EU nationals who do not know Flemish but live in areas in which Flemish is the official language? What are the Commission's views on the difficulties of communication encountered particularly by anyone taking a case to the judicial authorities in the Flemish region of Belgium?

Answer given by Ms Reding on behalf of the Commission

(12 December 2002)

The Commission does not have the authority to express an opinion on the language regime in the Member States. This area is the exclusive responsibility of the Member States.