Samenvatting van hoorzitting met kandidaat-eurocommissaris Leonard Orban (en)

"I will spearhead the Commission's work on a portfolio which has become more important with every enlargement," said Leonard Orban, the Romanian Commissioner-designate for Multilingualism, at the start of his three-hour hearing before the Culture and Education Committee on Monday. He assured MEPs that his portfolio was a substantial one, covering a range of important political and managerial responsibilities.

"Politically, I will steer the Commission's work on bringing an active multilingualism policy into a variety of policies which are the key to the functioning of the EU and the internal market: culture, education and competitiveness", Mr Orban told the committee.

"Europe's linguistic and cultural diversity is a source of richness which also needs to be nurtured and promoted," he said. Multilingualism was good for business, the Commissioner-designate told MEPs: "At first sight, one single language might appear easier to manage [... but] multilingualism can also give any industry a competitive advantage if it helps them to tap local markets and create new products which also cater for multilingualism."

He added that "our efforts to support multilingualism are not limited to EU languages; we are also encouraging training in Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Turkish and Russian".  Mr Orban said he would also aim to improve language teaching and work for the creation of a Business Forum on Multilingualism and to make the media and new communication technologies more language-friendly. He also announced a translation contest between schools from all over Europe, as part of events marking the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. 

Political groups' questions

Erna Hennicot-Schopges (EPP-ED, LU) stressed the important role of the European Schools in multilingualism and also called for increased links with the Council of Europe. Mr Orban agreed, while also stressing language learning opportunities beyond the European schools.

Christa Prets (PES, DE) questioned the extent of Mr Orban's proposed portfolio and noted that education matters were mainly the responsibility of the Member States. Mr Orban pointed out that, including translation and interpreting services, he would be responsible for some 3 400 Commission officials. 

Hannu Takkula (ALDE, FI) raised the issue of the Sami people of northern Finland as an example of linguistic diversity which should be protected. Mr Orban said that life-long learning opportunities should be available also to speakers of lesser-used languages.

Responding to a question from Miguel Portas (GUE/NGL, PT) on the problems faced by children from immigrant communities in Member States' schools, Mr Orban stressed that education systems were a matter for the Member States, but that this was a case where the "mother tongue plus two" principle could be endorsed. 

Thomas Wise (IND/DEM, UK) said multilingualism was in one way the highest expression of European diversity, but that it was also likely to become one of the biggest challenges for the EU's administrative budget. Mr Orban said that costs needed to be kept under control, but stressed that ensuring the highest quality of translation and interpretation in the EU would be one of his priorities.

Gender sensitive language?

"Women's rights need to have an impact on every version of official documents," said Mr Orban, giving examples of "Mme la secrétaire générale" replacing "Mme le secrétaire général" in French, and "chairperson" replacing "chairman" in English. He was responding to Lissy Gröner (PES, DE) who asked about the linguistic aspects of equality between men and women. "It will be an important part of my activity, and I can assure you that my Cabinet will be perfectly balanced from that point of view," added the candidate Commissioner.

Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann (GUE/NGL, DE) pursued the point, saying that language use reflected a society based on patriarchal structures. Mr Orban said that language use inside the Commission had really changed. "I intend to have a very close dialogue with all interested parties to find a solution to these questions," he said.

Minority issues - and other political language questions

A number of questions focussed on the Roma and Hungarian minorities in Romania and the Slovenian minorities in Austria. On these issues, and on the use of Catalan, Mr Orban responded each time that he supported the official position of the European Commission, and that protection of language rights was a matter for the Member States: "When it comes to language rights, I am not in favour of adopting legislation at European level to be imposed on Member States", he added.

Referring to the Slovenian minority in Carinthia (Austria), Zdzis?aw Zbigniew Podka?ski (EPP-ED, PL) asked Mr Orban if he would protest or act against infringements of multilingualism. Mr Orban stressed the "different models and different standards" applied by the Member States.

"The Roma minority is a very important issue, it needs a special attention [...] I am strongly supporting their integration into the society - access to education, employment, housing, etc", Mr Orban said, adding that "My activity will follow the direction of protecting all languages within the EU, including the languages of minorities," acting in line with the treaties. "I will not hesitate to establish a dialogue with the Roma minority or other minorities - within the competences I will have, if confirmed, established by President Barroso." 

On the Hungarian minority in Romania, Mr Orban stated: "I repeat the point of view of the Commission, with which I agree. Romania has made remarkable progress with regard to the right of minorities [...] My opinion and the opinion of the Commission is that minority rights in Romania are respected".

No constitutional "cherry-picking"

"I am against a cherry-picking. We have to adopt the whole document in order to prevent any imbalance", Mr Orban replied to a set of questions on the draft Constitutional Treaty posed by members of the Constitutional Affairs Committee, including its chair, Jo Leinen (PES, DE). Asked about the Commission's contribution to the "period of reflexion", Mr Orban spoke of "a very solid basis which will allow us to consolidate and to get out of this institutional crisis". On the capacity of the EU to integrate new Member States, Mr Orban called the Commission's proposal "a very good basis for the future enlargements to come."

Mr Leinen also asked about language diversity within the EU institutions, where there was a growing tendency to use English as the first working language. "English is not enough", said Mr Orban, "We cannot be satisfied with the use of just English. All my actions will keep this in mind."

Asked by Andrew Duff (ALDE, UK) whether he considered himself a federalist, Mr Orban said: "I am in favour of a political Union, and a powerful Union."

27/11/2006

Committee on Culture and Education

Chair : Nikolaos Sifunakis (PES, EL)

Hearing of Leonard Orban - Commissioner-designate for multilingualism