• The Charter was drafted by the Council of Europe in 1992. It entered into force in 1998. Members of the Council of Europe can sign up for the Charter, and thus commit themselves to its principles¹⁾.

“regional or minority languages” defined as languages traditionally used within a given territory of a state by nationals of that state who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the state’s population; they are different from the official language(s) of that state, and they include neither dialects of the official language(s) of the state nor the languages of migrants.

The Charter is divided into two parts, a general one containing the principles applicable to all regional or minority languages (Part II), and a second part which lays down specific practical commitments which may vary according to the state and the language (Part III). To see which provisions apply to which langue, click here.