With equal chances in Hungarian as well
DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor congratulated Hungarian journalist from Transylvania, Tímea Bakk-Dávid, editor of Transindex on behalf of his colleagues. The journalist submitted an article written in Hungarian for the European Commission’s The European Year Journalist Award 2010: Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.
- It a great pleasure to see that a journalist working in a minority language from Romania is the winner of the award in the printed and online press section – declared the Hungarian MEP from Transylvania. Tímea Bakk-Dávid won the EC award with her reportage entitled „Orphans, with parents – What happens with the children abandoned in the hospital”.
Originally, the conditions of the contest did not specify whether journalists working in a minority language can apply and it wasn’t clear whether they would receive equal treatment at the national evaluation. Thus, twelve member of the Traditional Minorities Intergroup joined MEP Csaba Sógor in addressing a written question to the EC on the subject. The MEPs welcomed the EC’s initiative but also pointed out the deficiencies of the text of the contest: „In the spirit of the Lisbon Treaty, which prohibits discrimination against national minorities and languages, how does it intend to ensure that the competition will respect national or linguistic minorities’ right to equal opportunities?”
The question posed by the thirteen MEPs was answered by Commissioner László Andor with the EC having made the necessary adjustments, thus journalists working in a minority language also got the opportunity to participate in the contest with equal chances although Catalan, Breton, Corsican or Occitan speaking journalists, lacking the support of an official language of the EU, still do not have such opportunities. – I sincerely congratulate Tímea Bakk-Dávid, her professional success is a great feedback for us: it was indeed worthwhile to raise our voices! – said Csaba Sógor.
Commissioner László Andor’s reply on July 28th on behalf of the EC:
The conditions for entering the competition for the European Year Journalist Award 2010 specify that entries must be submitted in (or translated into) one of the European Union’s 23 official languages, Icelandic or Norwegian (29 countries comprising the Member States, Norway and Iceland are taking part in the 2010 European Year).
Members of national minorities who speak an official language of the Union can submit their articles in that language.
The Commission has developed a strategy to promote multilingualism in the EU which covers official, national, regional, minority and migrant languages. The communication ‘Multilingualism: an asset for Europe and a shared commitment confirms the Commission's support for all languages spoken in the EU, including those spoken by minorities.
It was difficult, however, to open the competition up to the high number of minority languages that are not recognized as official languages of the Union, because translating such submissions into a language understood by all members of the selection board would have called for additional human and financial resources.
As the budget for the 2010 European Year could not support that cost and in order to allow all journalists interested to take part, it was decided to accept articles written in minority languages not recognized as official languages of the Union, provided that they were submitted along with a translation into an official language of the Union. This condition will not prevent anyone from participating because journalists know at least one of the official languages of the country in which they live. Another important condition for participating in the competition is that all entries must have originally been published or aired in a media outlet based in one of the Member States, Iceland or Norway.
- The EC answer ensures equal chances for the journalists working in one of the 23 official languages of the EU. I am truly sorry for the journalists working in Catalan, Breton, Corsican, Occitan or any other minority or regional language that do not have the possibility of expressing themselves in an official language – said Csaba Sógor with regard to the EC’s answer.
Originally, the conditions of the contest did not specify whether journalists working in a minority language can apply and it wasn’t clear whether they would receive equal treatment at the national evaluation. Thus, twelve member of the Traditional Minorities Intergroup joined MEP Csaba Sógor in addressing a written question to the EC on the subject. The MEPs welcomed the EC’s initiative but also pointed out the deficiencies of the text of the contest: „In the spirit of the Lisbon Treaty, which prohibits discrimination against national minorities and languages, how does it intend to ensure that the competition will respect national or linguistic minorities’ right to equal opportunities?”
The question posed by the thirteen MEPs was answered by Commissioner László Andor with the EC having made the necessary adjustments, thus journalists working in a minority language also got the opportunity to participate in the contest with equal chances although Catalan, Breton, Corsican or Occitan speaking journalists, lacking the support of an official language of the EU, still do not have such opportunities. – I sincerely congratulate Tímea Bakk-Dávid, her professional success is a great feedback for us: it was indeed worthwhile to raise our voices! – said Csaba Sógor.
Commissioner László Andor’s reply on July 28th on behalf of the EC:
The conditions for entering the competition for the European Year Journalist Award 2010 specify that entries must be submitted in (or translated into) one of the European Union’s 23 official languages, Icelandic or Norwegian (29 countries comprising the Member States, Norway and Iceland are taking part in the 2010 European Year).
Members of national minorities who speak an official language of the Union can submit their articles in that language.
The Commission has developed a strategy to promote multilingualism in the EU which covers official, national, regional, minority and migrant languages. The communication ‘Multilingualism: an asset for Europe and a shared commitment confirms the Commission's support for all languages spoken in the EU, including those spoken by minorities.
It was difficult, however, to open the competition up to the high number of minority languages that are not recognized as official languages of the Union, because translating such submissions into a language understood by all members of the selection board would have called for additional human and financial resources.
As the budget for the 2010 European Year could not support that cost and in order to allow all journalists interested to take part, it was decided to accept articles written in minority languages not recognized as official languages of the Union, provided that they were submitted along with a translation into an official language of the Union. This condition will not prevent anyone from participating because journalists know at least one of the official languages of the country in which they live. Another important condition for participating in the competition is that all entries must have originally been published or aired in a media outlet based in one of the Member States, Iceland or Norway.
- The EC answer ensures equal chances for the journalists working in one of the 23 official languages of the EU. I am truly sorry for the journalists working in Catalan, Breton, Corsican, Occitan or any other minority or regional language that do not have the possibility of expressing themselves in an official language – said Csaba Sógor with regard to the EC’s answer.
