Conference "Majority-Minority-Liberty", Brussels, 11 September 2000

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Subject: Conference  "Majority-Minority-Liberty", Brussels, 11 September 2000

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Conference  "Majority-Minority-Liberty", Brussels, 11
September 2000


gemeenschapscentrum de kriekelaar /  Ville de Schaerbeek
instruction publique / IFIAS

Invitation

We would like to cordially invite you to the international conference 
"Majority-Minority-Liberty" which will take place the 11 September
2000 in the Town hall (Council room) of Schaerbeek (Place Colignon,
1030 Brussels). See the joint program. Please confirm your
participation with the attached form to: ifias, Fax: 02 245 62 97
(from outside Belgium: ++32 2 245 62 97). Please note, that speeches
will be in German, French, Dutch and English. The only available
interpretation will be into English.

The participation in the conference is free of charge. Unfortunately,
we can in no case cover travel and subsistence cost.


PROJECT: Protection of linguistic and cultural diversity

Majority - Minority - Liberty?

The problem of minorities, linguistic and cultural, is wide spread all
over Europe and handled with different results. Some countries, like
Italy and Belgium have found ways of living together for the different
cultural, linguistic and ethnic communities. In other EU countries we
witness even violent actions in the fight for a different status of
minority cultures and language groups, as for example the Basque, the
Corsican, the Northern Ireland conflict. The tragedy in Yugoslavia has
shown how a developed, prosperous country can be thrown into
catastrophic ethnic violence.  

Can we transpose positive experiences from one country to another? Are
the Italian and Belgian solutions suitable for other regions in the
world?

The respect of different ethnical groups is an important part also of
the acquis communautaire for the accession countries. Are there any
readymade solutions - can we learn from passed errors - do we have to
reinvent new procedures? Can we contribute to a tolerant living
together of "majorities" and "minorities" in the EU and candidate
countries by giving an overview of the different experiences and by
creating an inventory of the solutions found in EU countries?

The aim of this "protection of linguistic and cultural diversity"
project is to make a deep analysis of existing approaches, on three
levels: political, academic and from the point of view of NGOs working
practically with the people on the ground. We start with the Belgian
and Italian approach. At a later stage, Spain and Germany may join the
working group. Enlargement candidate countries will be involved in the
discussion from the start and state their own point of view and
already established practices.
The Belgian federalist experience will be directly explained in a
conference held in Brussels in the multicultural Commune of Schaerbeek
(Town hall) (See attached program for agenda and speakers)

This first conference also has the aim to forge a working group
uniting the Political level, the academic level and the NGO level in
order to come to concrete proposals as to how best practice can be
spread on the issue.

The results from this first part of the project, and the following
ongoing research will be publicized for the second meeting of the
working group in Bozen in the fall of 2001.  Case studies will also
discuss the possibilities to use the EU experiences and transfer of
best practice for the enlargement candidate countries.

The results of the different case studies will be published in a
survey in all the working languages that are Dutch, French, German,
and English.


Program of the Conference in Brussels:

11 September 2000 - Venue: Salle du Conseil, Maison Communale de
Schaerbeek

Please note: Interventions will be in German, French, Dutch and
English
There will only be interpretation into English language.

Draft Agenda:

9:30: Welcome from the Mayor and the assessors of the multicultural
Town Schaerbeek

10:00: Political Approach of the question
Annemie Neyts, Minister van Begroting, Financien en Externe
Betrekkingen van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (invited)
"The case of Brussels"  
Karl-Heinz Lambertz, Minister-President of the German speaking
community
"The Belgian Federal System"
MEP Freddy Thielemans
"An EU outlook to enlargement and the minority question"

12.00: Buffet-Lunch

13.00: Academic approach
Alexandra Bitusikova, University of Banska Bystrica (in English)
"The situation in Slovakia"
Vasile Neacsa, Universite Libre de Bruxelles (in French)
"The situation in Romania"
G�nther Rautz European Academy of Bozen (in German) 
"The approach of the European Academy Bozen"
Rudi Janssens VUB (in Dutch)
"The work of the center of intercultural studies on minority language
issues"
Zsuzsanna Boros, University of Budapest (invited)
"The Hungarian approach"

Followed by discussions

16.00: Coffee Break

16.30 Examples of social and cultural work
(Speeches, stalls and actions)
Bernadette Vriamont, De Kriekelaar (round table moderator)
Alberto Stenico, Lega Cooperative Bund
Susanne Drake, IFIAS 
Michal Kravcik, People and Water, Slovakia
Other NGOs (international and coming from different Belgian linguistic
groups)

18.30: End 

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