El Mercat Únic, les llengües no majoritàries i la proposta flamenca de l'Europa de les cultures

Resum

The Single European Market, minority languages and the Flemish proposal of the Europe of cultures The foundational treaties of the European Community, along with the Treaty of Maasticht, encourage the existence of economies of scale on a community level, and thus affect languages and cultures with a lesser demographic and/or economic potential. Cultural and linguistic production cannot be seen as unrelated to such economies, and is clearly affected by the suppression of barriers, as is shown by such examples as the labeling of food products, and publishing, educational or audio-visual policies. The Treaty of Maastricht slightly modifies a trend whereby, in earlier European treaties, there was an absence of references to cultural matters, although it is not clear, either, that the new treaty favors quantitatively minor cultures. In a view of the possibility that the survival of these minority cultures within the EC be under threat, and in view of the discrepancies between cultural and economic policies, the government of the Flemish Community has submitted a cultural and linguistic proposal, the "Europe of Cultures", whereby the European Union is to be built taking into consideration cultural regions within the EC rather that States. In order to do that, it is necessary to adjust market economy to cultural needs through the protection of weaker cultures. With this goal in mind, the project defines the notions of "cultural region" -which is simultaneously based on cultural, economic, political, and administrative factors-, and "cultural adjustment of the market", which would entail the right to enforce stricter laws in order to protect minority cultures from majority cultures. In order to reestablish a balance within the EC market in favor of demographically minor cultures, a European Community of Cultures should be created, or else, certain Community freedoms should be allowed to have exceptions.