Executive summary - Sveriges Radio · Web viewAccording to the sixth periodical report, Lund University has had a special undertaking for education about Yiddish and Yiddish culture

MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES CM Documents CM(2017)... ….. 20171

12…th meeting, … 201710 Legal questions

10.3 European Charter for Regional or Minority LanguagesSixth report of the Committee of Experts in respect of Sweden

Item to be considered by the GR-J at its meeting on 4 May 2017

In accordance with Article 16 paragraph 3 of the Charter, the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages submits its sixth report on the application of the Charter in Sweden to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The report contains proposals for recommendations to be addressed by the Committee of Ministers to Sweden. The Swedish Government has been given the opportunity to comment on the content, in accordance with Article 16 paragraph 3 of the Charter.

1 This document has been classified restricted at the date of issue; it will be declassified in accordance with Resolution Res(2001)6 on access to Council of Europe documents.

Website: www.coe.int/cm

http://www.coe.int/cm

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The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages provides for a control mechanism to evaluate how the Charter is applied in State Parties with a view to, where necessary, making recommendations for improving their legislation, policy and practices. The central element of this procedure is the Committee of Experts, set up under Article 17 of the Charter. Its principal purpose is to report to the Committee of Ministers on its evaluation of compliance by a Party with its undertakings, to examine the real situation of regional or minority languages in the State and, where appropriate, to encourage the Party to gradually reach a higher level of commitment.

To facilitate this task, the Committee of Ministers adopted, in accordance with Article 15, paragraph 1, an outline for periodical reports that a Party is required to submit to the Secretary General. This outline requires the State to give an account of the concrete application of the Charter, the general policy for the languages protected under Part II and, in more precise terms, all measures that have been taken in application of the provisions chosen for each language protected under Part III of the Charter. The Committee of Experts’ first task is therefore to examine the information contained in the periodical report for all the relevant regional or minority languages on the territory of the State concerned. The periodical report shall be made public by the State in accordance with Article 15, paragraph 2.

The Committee of Experts’ role is to evaluate the existing legal acts, regulations and real practice applied in each State for its regional or minority languages. It has established its working methods accordingly. The Committee of Experts gathers information from the respective authorities and from independent sources within the State, in order to obtain a fair and just overview of the real language situation. After a preliminary examination of a periodical report, the Committee of Experts submits, if necessary, a number of questions to each Party to obtain supplementary information from the authorities on matters it considers insufficiently developed in the report itself. This written procedure is usually followed up by an on-the-spot visit by a delegation of the Committee of Experts to the State in question. During this visit the delegation meets bodies and associations whose work is closely related to the use of the relevant languages, and consults the authorities on matters that have been brought to its attention. This information-gathering process is designed to enable the Committee of Experts to evaluate more effectively the application of the Charter in the State concerned.

Having concluded this process, the Committee of Experts adopts its own report. Once adopted by the Committee of Experts, this evaluation report is submitted to the authorities of the respective State Party for possible comments within a given deadline. Subsequently, the evaluation report is submitted to the Committee of Ministers, together with suggestions for recommendations that, once adopted by the latter, will be addressed to the State Party. The full report also contains the comments which the authorities of the State Party may have made.

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CONTENTS

Executive summary.................................................................................................................................. 4Chapter 1 Background information.........................................................................................................5

1.1. The ratification of the Charter by Sweden...................................................................................51.2. The work of the Committee of Experts.........................................................................................51.3. General issues................................................................................................................................ 51.4. Particular issues arising in the evaluation of the application of the Charter in Sweden.........6

1.4.1. Territorial application of the Charter..........................................................................................6

1.4.2. State monitoring system............................................................................................................7

1.4.3. Status of Elfdalian...................................................................................................................... 8

1.4.4. Status and promotion of Sami and in particular of Ume Sami....................................................8

Chapter 2 Conclusions of the Committee of Experts on how the State authorities have reacted to the recommendations of the Committee of Ministers (CM/RecChL(2015)1)......................................10Chapter 3 The Committee of Experts' evaluation in respect of Part II and Part................................11III of the Charter...................................................................................................................................... 11

3.1. Evaluation in respect of Part II of the Charter............................................................................113.2. Evaluation in respect of Part III of the Charter...........................................................................19

3.2.1. General issues pertaining to the education of all Part III languages........................................20

3.2.2. Sami......................................................................................................................................... 22

3.2.3. Finnish..................................................................................................................................... 32

3.2.4. Meänkieli.................................................................................................................................. 43

Chapter 4 Findings and proposals for recommendations..................................................................554.1. Findings of the Committee of Experts in the sixth monitoring cycle.................................554.2. Proposals for recommendations on the basis of the results of the sixth monitoring cycle

.................................................................................................................................................. 57Appendix I: Instrument of Ratification..................................................................................................58Appendix II: Comments from the Swedish authorities........................................................................60

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Executive summary

Sweden protects and promotes Sami, Finnish, Meänkieli, Romani Chib and Yiddish under the Charter. Improvements pertaining to their promotion and protection have taken place with regard to the legal framework. The number of municipalities belonging to the administrative areas of Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli has increased. However, the intermediate halt in the extension of the administrative areas is hindering the implementation of the Charter on the whole.

The situation of minority languages in education remains unsatisfactory. The offer of one lesson per week is considered insufficient for the needs and demands of the speakers, as well as for the development of a mature literacy and the survival of the minority languages. No teacher education exists for pre-schools, school years 1 to 6 in primary school or for bilingual education. A structured policy in education, teacher training and additional teaching materials is needed to ensure the protection of all minority languages.

With regard to the judiciary and administrative authorities, there are online translations of relevant materials and documents. There is a gap developing between the obligations of the authorities and the need to provide interpreters and translators in the minority languages. The authorities need to take proactive measures to bridge this gap. As regards the display and public use of place names in Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli, positive advances have been noted in this monitoring cycle.

Problems persist in the field of media. Radio and television broadcasting in Sami and Finnish is by and large satisfactory, but Meänkieli is facing shortcomings in television. Romani and Yiddish are largely invisible in the media, notably on television.

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Chapter 1 Background information

1.1. The ratification of the Charter by Sweden

1. Sweden signed and ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (hereafter referred to as “the Charter”) on 9 February 2000. The Charter entered into force in respect of Sweden on 1 June 2000. The instrument of ratification of Sweden is set out in Appendix I of this report.

2. Article 15.1 of the Charter requires States Parties to submit three-yearly reports in a form prescribed by the Committee of Ministers2. The Swedish authorities presented their sixth periodical report to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on 1 June 2016, respecting the timetable.

1.2. The work of the Committee of Experts

3. This sixth evaluation report is based on the information obtained by the Committee of Experts from the sixth periodical report of Sweden as well as through meetings held with representatives of the speakers of the regional or minority languages in Sweden and the Swedish authorities during the on-the-spot visit (3-5 October 2016). The Committee of Experts received comments from bodies and associations legally established in Sweden, submitted pursuant to Article 16.2 of the Charter. The present report reflects the policies, legislation and practice prevailing at the time of the on-the-spot visit. Any changes in the situation will be taken into account in the next report of the Committee of Experts concerning Sweden.

4. The present report focuses on the measures taken by the Swedish authorities to respond to the findings of the Committee of Experts in the fifth monitoring cycle and to the recommendations addressed to the Swedish authorities by the Committee of Ministers. It also aims to highlight new issues made known to the Committee of Experts during the sixth monitoring cycle.

5. The present report contains detailed observations that the Swedish authorities are urged to take into account when developing their policy on regional or minority languages. On the basis of these detailed observations, the Committee of Experts has also established a list of general proposals for the preparation of a sixth set of recommendations to be addressed to Sweden by the Committee of Ministers, as provided in Article 16.4 of the Charter (Chapter 4.2. of this report).

6. The present report was adopted by the Committee of Experts on 18 November 2016.

1.3. General issues

7. The Committee of Experts refers to the relevant paragraphs of the previous evaluation reports for basic information on the situation of regional or minority languages in Sweden. Sweden declared at the time of ratification that Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli are regional or minority languages, protected under Part III of the Charter. It also identified Romani Chib and Yiddish as non-territorial languages spoken in Sweden. Since the first monitoring cycle, representatives of Elfdalian speakers have encouraged the Swedish authorities to include Elfdalian among the regional or minority languages of Sweden.

8. The present minority language policy of Sweden has increased its ambitions to protect and promote its regional or minority languages, for example within pre-school and elderly care, for contacts with administrative authorities and courts, as well as in some parts of the educational field. However, the possibilities to fulfil these ambitions depend on oral and written proficiency in these languages, both among speakers and authorities. There is no structured policy on how to develop such language proficiency for staff in education, social and health care, judiciary and administrative authorities.

S a m i 9. Sweden has ratified for Sami without distinguishing between its separate languages. During the process of monitoring the protection and promotion of Sami, it has become clear that there is a need to differentiate between North, Lule, South and Ume Sami, especially in the field of education. The Committee of Experts has therefore adopted this approach where appropriate.3 This approach is consistent with the approach of the Swedish authorities and the Sami speakers.

2 MI N-LA NG (2009) 8 Out line f or three-yearly periodic al report s as adopt ed by t he Comm itt ee of Minist ers of t he Counc il of E urope .3 see also Chapter 1.3. of the fourth evaluation report of the Committee of Experts in respect of Norway, ECRML (2010) 3

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Romani10. Sweden has ratified for Romani Chib4 without distinguishing between its separate varieties. During the process of monitoring the protection and promotion of Romani, it has become clear that there is a need to differentiate between Romani varieties, especially in the field of education and language cultivation. The Swedish authorities have taken into account this differentiation of varieties in co-operation with the Romani speakers. The Committee of Experts has therefore adopted this approach where appropriate. This approach is consistent with the approach of the Swedish authorities and the Romani speakers.

Off ic i al sta t ist i cs r eg a r d i ng the n u m b er of sp e a k er s of the r egi o n a l or m in o r ity l an g uag e s

11. The Committee of Experts has, during the preceding monitoring cycles, urged the Swedish authorities to take pragmatic steps to collect, in co-operation with the speakers, reliable data on the number and geographic distribution of the speakers of the regional or minority languages.

12. According to the fifth periodical report, on 4 December 2011, the government entrusted the Equality Ombudsman with undertaking a pilot study on methods for investigating the composition and living conditions of the population. The findings of this pilot study were reported upon by the Equality Ombudsman. According to the study there is currently no general method that is suitable for collecting information on the national minorities.

13. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of speakers of the Part III languages stressed the urgent need for the collection of reliable data on the number and geographical distribution of their languages. Although some studies on the number of speakers have been recently conducted for all languages in Sweden, they are only rough estimations and not sufficiently reliable for an effective language policy planning, which would be most instrumental in order to improve the needs assessment of the various minority language communities.

14. The Committee of Experts understands the sensitivity connected to the collection of official data on ethnic affiliation and possible infringements upon the Swedish Personal Data Act. However, the Committee is of the view that collecting reliable statistics on minority language users does not need to involve personal data. Representatives of the three Part III languages, Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli, reiterated their view that language statistics are essential for the implementation of the Swedish minority language policy, whereas representatives of the speakers of the Part II languages, Romani and Yiddish, remain sceptical about collecting statistics on their languages. The Committee of Experts encourages the authorities to try to harmonise these opposing views, in co-operation with the speakers of all regional or minority languages.

1.4. Particular issues arising in the evaluation of the application of the Charter in Sweden

1.4.1. Territorial application of the Charter

15. In the previous monitoring cycles, the Committee of Experts has observed that the territorial scope of the Charter in Sweden has been limited to too few defined administrative districts, a fact which has also been criticised by the representatives of the speakers. The Swedish authorities have reacted to this criticism by extending both the number of municipalities and districts where the territorial protection and promotion of regional and minority languages apply. Even after extensions of the territorial scope, representatives of Finnish, Meänkieli and Sami remained concerned that a considerable number of speakers of all the mentioned languages remain outside the defined administrative districts. The Committee of Experts encouraged the Swedish authorities to further define, in co-operation with the speakers, the entire areas where Lule, North and South Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli are traditionally used in Sweden and to apply the Charter in these areas.

16. Due to the extension of the administrative areas for Finnish, Meänkieli and Sami, substantial progress has been made in respect of the territorial application of Article 10 (“administrative authorities and public services”) as well as in pre-school and elderly care.

17. According to the Act on National Minorities and Minority Languages (2010; henceforth referred to as the Minority Act), municipalities may voluntarily join the administrative areas, subject to a final decision by the government. The County Administrative Board of Stockholm and the Sami Parliament have the duty to facilitate this process. The administrative area for Finnish has been further widened. Since 1 February 2015, a total of 59 municipalities out of 290 are within the administrative area of 4 Romani Chib meaning Romani language is used in the ratification by Sweden, henceforth referred to here as ‘Romani’.

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Finnish. On 1 May 2010, the administrative area for Sami was further widened by one municipality and now reaches a total of 19 municipalities. As regards Meänkieli, the administrative area was extended to six municipalities.

18. Since 2015, the voluntary joining by municipalities to the administrative areas has been halted by the authorities. The reason for this is a commissioned evaluation on the functionality of the Swedish minority and minority language policy, which is planned to produce a report in 2018. According to representatives of the speakers, this standstill hampers the implementation of the Charter.

19. The County Administrative Board of Stockholm and the Sami Parliament have been commissioned to support and co-ordinate the implementation of the Minority Act. The administrative areas have been provided ring-fenced money for the implementation of the Minority Act, specifically to cover additional costs arising from the implementation of the Minority Act. The ring-fenced funding is based on a population count.

20. According to the Minority Act, there are clearly defined provisions to use Finnish, Meänkieli and Sami within the administrative areas in oral and written contacts with public authorities. However, other provisions of the Minority Act apply throughout the country. It seems that so far these national provisions of the Minority Act have not been applied in practice, due to lack of awareness amongst the speakers and the authorities about the fact that the Minority Act also applies nationwide in certain respects. However, according to Section 8 of the Language Act (2009) the public sector has a particular responsibility to protect and promote the national minority languages.

21. The right to use Finnish, Meänkieli and Sami is not extended to cover courts outside of the original administrative areas. The government does not consider it a priority at this stage. Therefore, the right to use these languages in courts, which is limited in practice, also remains restricted to the original administrative area. The same situation applies to administrative authorities: the right to use these languages in communication with administrative authorities, which is limited in practice, also remains restricted to the original administrative area.

1.4.2. State monitoring system

22. The County Administrative Board of Stockholm and the Sami Parliament are responsible for co-ordinating and monitoring the implementation of the minority language policy at national level, except for education, which is not covered by the Minority Act. These two bodies also have the task of assisting municipalities in applying the Minority Act and of submitting an overall assessment of the compliance with the Minority Act. Their role is also to implement measures aimed at increasing awareness.

23. As for County Councils, the necessary structure to allow implementation is not yet fully operational. The County Administrative Board of Stockholm has identified three success factors for local and regional authorities in the administrative areas: a) clear political support in the leadership of the municipalities; b) appointment of a language co-ordinator from an early stage; c) regular dialogue and increased co-operation between local authorities and representatives of the speakers. These factors still seem to be valid, both for municipalities and county councils. The authorities’ awareness of the different provisions of the Minority Act still seems to be restricted.

24. In addition to municipalities and county councils, selected public bodies are obliged to submit reports to the Sami Parliament and the County Administrative Board of Stockholm on the implementation of their minority language policy. These annual reports are then forwarded to the government for further consideration and possible follow-up.

25. Most of these public bodies have increased the visibility and awareness of regional or minority languages by translating parts of their websites into these languages and/or by providing information about the speakers’ language rights.

26. The public bodies that were obliged to submit reports during the sixth monitoring cycle are:– National Agency for Education;– Swedish Arts Council (now a long-term task since the obligation is in the Ordinance of Instruction);– Swedish Council for Higher Education;– Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore;– Swedish Schools Inspectorate;– Sami Education Board;– Swedish Tax Agency (during 2015);

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– Swedish Pensions Agency;– Swedish Social Insurance Agency;– Public Health Agency of Sweden;– National Board of Health and Welfare;– all 21 County Administrative Boards.

27. According to representatives of the speakers, the process of implementing and monitoring the Minority Act has lost momentum. This is connected to both the preceding lack of efficiency of implementation of the Minority Act, and now also to the evaluation report commissioned regarding the efficiency of funding and implementation of the Minority Act.

1.4.3. Status of Elfdalian

28. In its previous evaluation reports, the Committee of Experts commented on Elfdalian and the desire of its speakers to obtain protection for Elfdalian under Part II of the Charter in accordance with Article 2.1. While acknowledging the ongoing dialogue between the Swedish authorities and representatives of the municipality of Älvdalen and speakers of Elfdalian, the Committee of Experts urged t he S w e d i s h a u t h o r i t i es to c l a r i f y t h e s ta t us of E l f d a l i an i n c o - o p e r at i on w i th t he s p e a k er s .

29. In their comments on the fifth evaluation report, the Swedish authorities pointed out that the government commissioned the Institute for Language and Folklore (ISOF) to increase and spread knowledge of all languages and dialects spoken in Sweden, including Elfdalian. During the on-the-spot visit of the sixth monitoring cycle, government officials reiterated that the government does not recognise Elfdalian as a language to receive protection under the Charter.

30. In the sixth monitoring round, the Committee of Experts met again with representatives of the Elfdalian speakers. To date, all activities aimed at promoting and safeguarding Elfdalian have been financially supported by the municipality of Älvdalen or by private donors and initiatives. During the process of becoming ISO registered as an endangered language, a list of writings in Elfdalian has been published. These include an Elfdalian grammar book, a Swedish-Elfdalian dictionary, language courses, children’s books, poetry and a novel.

31. During the sixth monitoring cycle, an increasing number of researchers have come to the conclusion that Elfdalian is a separate language from Swedish.

32. In 2016, Älvdalen municipality council decided to set up a pre-school section where only Elfdalian is supposed to be spoken. Currently 12 children, aged 1 to 3 years, attend the section opened in September 2016, working practically on a bilingual basis. However, civil servants of the municipality are reluctant to continue to run the section, partly referring to the lack of teachers and printed teaching materials.

33. Ulum Dalska, the association for the promotion of Elfdalian has taken initiatives to make Elfdalian more visible in local shops through bilingual or Elfdalian signs, with the co-operation of the owners. Some bilingual or Elfdalian place name signs have also been put up in the territory of the municipality. Ulum Dalska and the local bank continue to award grants to students who speak Elfdalian. So far, € 40 000 has been granted since 2009.

34. There are songs written and performed in Elfdalian, both regionally and nationally, modern and traditional. Local cabarets are often partly in Elfdalian and there is also a musical in Elfdalian, performed once so far, as well as a number of historical plays. One folk singer often sings in Elfdalian.

35. In October 2016, the Elfdalian speakers presented their case in front of a dozen Parliamentarians, and had an open hearing on the situation. Following this, the municipality of Älvdalen took the decision to create an action plan for Elfdalian.

36. The Committee of Experts encourages the Swedish authorities to look into these arguments presented by the speakers and decide on the issue.

1.4.4. Status and promotion of Sami and in particular of Ume Sami

37. The recently introduced Sami language centres have, according to representatives of the speakers, been successful in their attempts to create new methods to learn the languages, revitalise them and use them. The Sami Language Centre in Tärnaby also undertakes Ume Sami language promotion and language revitalisation activities, while still supporting other varieties of Sami.

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38. Some progress has been made in relation with the promotion of Ume Sami. According to representatives of the speakers, a standardised orthography of Ume Sami has been established. There are two teachers using Ume Sami, but the overall structure of teacher training and teacher availability remains problematic. Nevertheless, eight students have shown interest to participate in Ume Sami teacher training.

39. As one consequence of practical problems encountered in the instruction of Sami, the Swedish authorities have, in co-operation with the speakers, initiated distance education. The Committee of Experts is looking forward to being informed about the results of this type of education for the different Sami languages.

40. According to information provided by representatives of the Sami speakers, discrimination and harassment of Sami prevail locally and regionally. There is a need for a structured approach to these problems, as well as for improved information about the Sami within education, media and authorities.

41. In addition, representatives of the Sami speakers pointed out that there is a need for improved dialogue from the authorities on the promotion of the Sami languages, beyond the support to the Sami language centres.

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Chapter 2 Conclusions of the Committee of Experts on how the State authorities have reacted to the recommendations of the Committee of Ministers (CM/RecChL(2015)1)

Recommendation No. 1:

“strengthen education of/in all national minority languages by adopting a comprehensive and structured approach based on the needs of the speakers and according to the situation of each of the languages;”

42. During the sixth monitoring cycle, no such structured approach has been created according to the situation of the different languages. Some initiatives, such as an amendment of the Education Act, and the introduction of mother tongue teacher training, have been taken. From 1 July 2015, as a result of the need to revitalise the regional and minority languages, a new stream of teaching them as a second language has been introduced, except for Yiddish, which in practice means that the languages are also taught at beginner’s level.


“ensure that “mother-tongue” education meets the requirements of the Charter and offers adequate language tuition, enabling pupils to achieve mature literacy in the languages concerned;”

43. The Swedish model of mother tongue education still does not meet the requirements of the Charter and does not enable pupils to achieve mature literacy in the languages concerned.


“increase the amount of bilingual education available in Finnish and Sami, and establish bilingual education in Meänkieli;”

44. No initiatives from the Swedish authorities have been taken to increase the amount of bilingual education available in Finnish and Sami, nor to establish bilingual education in Meänkieli. There are a few local initiatives to re-start bilingual classes. In about one fourth of the municipalities within the administrative areas of these languages, there is no offer of pre-school education partly or fully in Finnish, Meänkieli or Sami.


“develop a dedicated and properly resourced system of teacher training for all national minority languages;”

45. Teacher training for the school years 7 to 9 has been initiated for Finnish, Meänkieli, Romani and Sami. Yiddish has not been included in this process. Short-term in-service teacher training has been provided for Meänkieli, Sami and Romani. There is no training for teachers in and of the regional or minority languages for pre-school, primary school years 1 to 6 or bilingual education.


“create teaching and learning materials for all national minority languages.”

46. Some teaching materials for Finnish, Meänkieli, Romani and Sami have been produced through the National Agency of Education, in co-operation with the speakers and targeting the new stream of Finnish as a second language in primary school. The need for adequate teaching materials for all levels of education is nevertheless not met.

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Chapter 3 The Committee of Experts' evaluation in respect of Part II and PartIII of the Charter

3.1. Evaluation in respect of Part II of the Charter

47. The Committee of Experts will not comment again on Articles 7.1.a, g and i, and 7.5, as no major issues arose in these areas during the sixth monitoring cycle.

Article 7 - Objectives and principles

Paragraph 1

In respect of regional or minority languages, within the territories in which such languages are used and according to the situation of each language, the Parties shall base their policies, legislation and practice on the following objectives and principles:

b. the respect of the geographical area of each regional or minority language in order to ensure that existing or new administrative divisions do not constitute an obstacle to the promotion of the regional or minority language in question;

48. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts acknowledged the extension of administrative areas for Part III languages according to the Minority Act.

49. According to the sixth periodical report, the extended administrative areas for Part III languages currently cover 75 municipalities and 14 county councils where language rights have been defined for Finnish, Sami and Meänkieli. These rights give the individuals the possibility to use their minority language, under certain conditions, in dealings with an administrative authority for matters which coincide with the administrative area of the minority language. The Act also gives the right to receive pre-school and elderly care services completely or partly in the minority language.

50. However, a shadow report submitted by the Sweden Finnish Delegation and the National Association of Swedish Tornedalians notes that the government decided to stop voluntary admission of municipalities to the administrative area. This measure was taken in September 2015, against the expressed wishes of the national minorities concerned.

51. A new division of the Swedish regions into ‘super-districts’ is foreseen. There are concerns among the representatives of the speakers that this new division may negatively affect the protection and promotion of the regional or minority languages, both according to the Charter and the Minority Act. The Committee of Experts encourages the Swedish authorities to create a dialogue with the speakers regarding the possible effects of this administrative change beginning from the planning stage.

c. the need for resolute action to promote regional or minority languages in order to safeguard them;

52. The Committee of Experts notes that practical and financial support from the Language Council of the Institute for Language and Folklore (ISOF) is provided for revitalisation projects, also involving Romani Chib and Yiddish. Moreover, two Sami Language Centres have been established in order to create innovative measures to revitalise Sami. This type of language centre has been successful and it has been proposed by representatives of the other languages that similar centres should also be established for these other languages, in order to increase and sustain the effectiveness in the revitalisation efforts.

53. In the previous monitoring cycle, the transfer of the ISOF archives for Meänkieli and Sami to Uppsala was criticised. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of Meänkieli speakers maintained that practical problems arising from this transfer have not been solved. The Committee of Experts asks the Swedish authorities to remedy these problems by entering into a dialogue with the speakers.

54. According to the sixth periodical report, the requirement that a pupil must have basic knowledge of the language in order to receive mother tongue instruction has been abolished – at primary and lower secondary school level – regarding the national minority languages, which means that more children who belong to a national minority are now able to receive mother tongue instruction at school. To ensure the quality of teaching, the Swedish National Agency for Education was commissioned by the government to draw up syllabi for first and second language speakers respectively in all five languages concerned. These syllabi entered into force on 1 July 2016.

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55. The sixth periodical report also states that the budget of the ISOF was increased by 3 000 000 SEK (€305 000) from 2014 onwards. A language cultivation advisor for Yiddish (a 50% post) has been employed by the ISOF since 2014. As far as Meänkieli is concerned, the Language Council of the ISOF gave priority to support lexicographical work. The Council’s Reference group for Romani Chib, meeting twice a year, includes representatives of the language varieties Arli, Kelderash, Lovari, Kalé and Resande (Traveller) Romani. The ISOF also provides training and courses for Finnish-speaking care staff. The Language Council published its guidelines for government agencies aiming at the application of the Language Act and the Minority Act to multilingual websites. A survey was also carried out by the council in order to investigate access to information in languages other than Swedish on websites of agencies, municipalities and county councils. The council’s annual reports contain the results of its monitoring of language policy events concerning the national minority languages, as well as current relevant issues of the year, including deficiencies and inconsistencies in legislation. The Language Council has also twice launched surveys (the second in 2015) about the general knowledge of and attitudes towards the national minorities and their languages and cultures. The Committee of Experts welcomes information about the measures taken and how the information collected has been used, in order to improve the promotion of regional or minority languages, in the next periodical report.

d. the facilitation and/or encouragement of the use of regional or minority languages, in speech and writing, in public and private life;

56. Various kinds of measures have been taken to facilitate and encourage the use of regional or minority languages in public life. To a considerable degree, this is the effect of the Minority Act and the posts, especially within municipalities, promoting national minority languages within the administrative areas for Finnish, Meänkieli and Sami, as well as within the public bodies covered by the Minority Act. There is also a long-term plan to substantially increase the broadcasting time in some of the regional or minority languages, as provided by the public broadcasters.

57. In the sixth periodical report, the Swedish authorities point out the lack of films available for children in the national minority languages, and state that they have commissioned the Swedish Film Institute to support access to children's films in the national minority languages. The Institute may spend a maximum of SEK 814 000 (€82 700) to this end, to be used mainly for dubbing. During the monitoring period, a Roma and a Jewish film festival received financing through the Swedish Arts Council’s funding for national minority cultural activities. Moreover, the Swedish Film Institute granted production support to a film on a Roma theme.

Heal th a nd Soci al Care

58. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts welcomed the efforts of the National Institute of Public Health and the National Board of Health and Welfare (NBHW) in translating texts directed at the general public into the national minority languages as well as in publishing information on the application of the Minority Act. It also noted that NBHW produced a web-based tool that offers each employee the opportunity to state the languages of which they have a command and which they could consider using in their work. The Committee of Experts has yet not been made aware of the level of competence and capacity to use the regional or minority languages within their professions, among the employees within the health and social care sector. It asks the Swedish authorities to provide the relevant information in the next periodical report.

59. According to the sixth periodical report, work on the development of terminology is a condition sine qua non for the national minority languages to be able to be used in contacts with government agencies and public services, including health, social and elderly care, as well as with the judicial system. The need is particularly great for languages that are not standardised (Romani Chib, Meänkieli and Yiddish). Therefore, a large proportion of the ISOF’s language cultivation initiatives are focusing on terminology work in areas of society life, including health care, law and public administration. A great number of glossaries are available for Finnish already, and some for Romani Chib (topics of education, medicine and social work, household budget management, interaction with financial and juridical authorities).

60. According to the sixth periodical report and the representatives of the speakers, the Sweden-Finnish youth organisation has also produced a language package for new parents. This package gives practical tips and information on multilingual living. There is also information on the national minority languages and on the linguistic rights of the national minorities. Similar packages are planned for Sami and Meänkieli. This package has been distributed partly through some county councils, like Västmanland.

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Eld erly Car e

61. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts pointed out that in only less than half of the municipalities in the administrative area of Finnish, general information about elderly care was made available in Finnish.

62. According to the sixth periodical report, a report by the NBHW revealed a great variation among municipalities in the availability of elderly care in minority languages. The insufficiencies were mainly due to a limited supply of staff with skills in minority languages, to the low number of elderly people requesting the use of minority languages, as well as to the lack of knowledge of the Minority Act among employees and elected representatives, and a lack of information translated into minority languages. In the light of these problems, the NBHW was commissioned to publish a supplement to its existing booklet “Your right to health and social care – guidelines for elderly people”, containing information on the rights of the national minorities. NBHW also translated both publications into Sami, Meänkieli and Finnish in 2016, and is supposed to distribute them in the municipalities concerned. The Committee of Experts commends the Swedish authorities for publishing the booklet and asks for information regarding the progress in this area to be provided in the next periodical report.

Visi bi lity of S am i, Fi nn is h a nd Meänk iel i

63. The sixth periodical report provides information about the Institute for Language and Folklore (ISOF), which aims to spread knowledge about the national minority languages and which gives lectures and advice and provides assistance, with other information initiatives, on the minority languages and their status, primarily to government agencies. The ISOF and its Language Council published an information document entitled “Guidelines on applying the Language Act and Guidance for multilingual information – practical guidelines for multilingual websites”. The purpose of these guidelines is to inform government agencies of how the Language Act and the Minority Act are to be applied.

64. During the on-the-spot visit, the representatives of the speakers repeated statements from earlier monitoring cycles. In their experience, there is a great variation in municipalities’ willingness to implement obligations and activities in the area of minority language rights, but also with regard to the knowledge of the special rights of national minorities. These languages have a low priority in many municipalities.

Visi bi lity of Y id dis h

65. During the fifth monitoring cycle, the Committee of Experts was informed by representatives of the Jewish community that there is an insufficient presence of Yiddish in the national public media.

66. According to the sixth periodical report, all public broadcasters offer programmes in Yiddish.

67. However, the Federation of Yiddish in Sweden still considers the present offer in Yiddish in the national public media insufficient for the needs of the Yiddish speakers. Nevertheless, the representatives of the speakers presented the view that a positive trend is to be observed in the interest for Yiddish as a cultural heritage language.

68. The new positive interest in Yiddish is reflected by the participation among pupils in one upper secondary school in Stockholm in the mother tongue instruction of Yiddish, which has attracted 25 new pupils.

69. The Committee of Experts asks the Swedish authorities to provide information on the number of hours of broadcasting in Yiddish in the different media companies.

Visi bi lity of Ro man i

70. The Swedish authorities previously published a white paper on the treatment of Roma throughout Swedish history and recently they have commissioned a report on anti-Gypsyism. This reflects a willingness to deal with these issues at governmental level. In the view of the speakers, little progress has however been made in practice. The overall perception of Roma people and Roma culture by the majority of the Swedish population remains negative.

71. According to the sixth periodical report, SVT broadcast a total of 30 hours of programming in Romani Chib in 2014, while SR broadcast a total of 391 hours in Romani Chib on the terrestrial network in the same year. Radio Romano has produced programmes explaining electoral institutions and the history and political and social ideas of Swedish parliamentary parties. UR broadcast radio and

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television programmes in Romani Chib amounting to a total of 17 hours of broadcasting. Programmes in Romani Chib were also available on the television companies’ respective online services SVT Play, SR Play and UR Play, and on the open online archive Öppet arkiv.

72. Despite the progress made, and considering the wishes of the speakers to receive broadcasting in different varieties of Romani, the offer still does not correspond to the demands expressed by the speakers.

e. the maintenance and development of links, in the fields covered by this Charter, between groups using a regional or minority language and other groups in the State employing a language used in identical or similar form, as well as the establishment of cultural relations with other groups in the State using different languages;

73. Since the establishment of the Minority Act, the County Administrative Board of Stockholm and the Sami Parliament have attempted to raise awareness and increase knowledge of minority language speakers about their respective rights, through the publication of information materials in most of the minority languages. The website www.minoritet.se provides information in Swedish about national minority languages and a common platform for the exchange of news about the national minority languages between these groups.

74. During the previous monitoring cycle, a common platform of youth organisations of the national minorities, called Young Minority (Ung Minoritet), was set up with the project funding of the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society (MUCF). These activities under the Young Minority banner have strengthened young people's identity and links to their origins and also given opportunities for minority young people and the national minorities to meet and co-operate.

75. MUCF also distributes government grants to the respective children’s and youth organisations of the national minorities. In 2015, the Roma youth organisation received a grant for the project Young Roma Ambassadors for Roma Inclusion, which seeks to increase the influence of young Roma by running outreach work, recruiting young Roma at local level and setting up training sessions to make young people more aware of how to exert influence locally. The work is partly carried out in collaboration with the municipalities running pilot schemes in the government's initiative for Roma inclusion.

76. During the on-the-spot visit, concerns were raised by representatives of the youth national minority organisations regarding the future funding of the networking and practical co-operation between all five youth national minority language representatives. The Committee of Experts asks the Swedish authorities to provide information about how this well-functioning co-operation can be funded in the long term.

f. the provision of appropriate forms and means for the teaching and study of regional or minority languages at all appropriate stages;

77. The situation of education regarding the Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli languages will be dealt with in greater detail in the paragraphs under Part III below.

78. In the fifth monitoring cycle, the Committee of Ministers adopted its reiterated recommendation addressed to the Swedish authorities to “strengthen education of / in all national minority languages by adopting a comprehensive and structured approach based on the needs of the speakers and according to the situation of the languages.”

79. According to the sixth periodical report, the government has commissioned the Swedish National Agency for Education to draw up proposals for syllabi and to support the development and production of teaching tools in the national minority languages. The current mother tongue syllabi for Yiddish and Romani Chib is the one designed for pupils studying the language as a first or second language and in which the second language is taught at beginner’s level. According to the syllabus, teaching has to seek to ensure that pupils develop skills in and about the language and knowledge of the minority culture. It also states that teaching for all years must cover culture linked to the language concerned. For example, the syllabus in Yiddish must include Yiddish culture, primarily consisting of songs and its other aesthetic forms of expression, the historic way of life in Yiddish-speaking communities, and the history of the Jewish population in Sweden.

80. The present average amount of time, which is not defined by the authorities, spent on the teaching of Romani and Yiddish in primary school, is insufficient in relation to the pupils’ possibilities to attain the knowledge requirements of the syllabi. There is no structured approach to the teaching of these

http://www.minoritet.se/

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languages in the school system and there are no attempts to provide bilingual forms of education for Romani and Yiddish.

81. The sixth periodical report adds that in primary school and lower secondary school, Chapter 9, section 12 of the Education Ordinance applies. It states that for pupils who have a language other than Swedish as their daily means of interaction with one or both parents at home, parts of the teaching in school years 1-6 may be organised in this language. This also implies that it would be possible to set up bilingual education in Romani and Yiddish. The sixth periodical report also mentions the ordinance on a pilot project with bilingual teaching in compulsory school. The Committee of Experts asks the Swedish authorities to report on this pilot project, and on the extent to which it applies to the national minority languages, in the next periodical report.

Romani82. During the on-the-spot visit, the Committee of Experts was informed by teachers of a primary school and lower secondary school section offering Romani (Roma Kulturklass) about the following data: Currently there are 15 mother tongue teachers of Romani in Sweden and another 28 people are attending a training to become teachers.

83. Roma Kulturklass itself offers courses in six classes for 6-16 year old pupils. The total number of pupils is currently 35. Three teachers and a mediator are employed by the institution funded by the municipality of Stockholm. Two of the teachers have an M.A. degree. Roma Kulturklass has been a functioning and safe model of how to provide bilingual education for Roma children. It has also functioned as a good example known in media both among Roma and the majority population of how educational problems may be solved for Roma children, with Roma teachers and the involvement of parents. A highly critical report by the Swedish School Inspectorate from autumn 2016 threatens the existence of this Roma Kulturklass. The Committee of Experts regrets that this type of school is challenged and asks the Swedish authorities to report on the developments in the next periodical report.

84. According to the data of the Swedish Schools Inspectorate, a high number of municipalities find it difficult to recruit teachers able to teach the minority languages. In order to increase the availability of mother tongue teachers for minority languages, including Romani, the Swedish National Agency for Education is in charge of ensuring that short-term training is organised and implemented for Sami, Meänkieli and Romani. The Agency is thus in charge of ensuring that such training in Romani Chib is organised and implemented for at least eight participants. The Committee of Experts asks the Swedish authorities to provide information on the progress of this training concerning Romani in the next periodical report.

85. It has been pointed out during the previous monitoring cycles, that there is an increasing and now strong need for qualified teachers at the lower levels of the education system (pre-school and the early years of primary school). Measures have been taken to remedy the lack of mother tongue subject teachers for the later years of primary school and the secondary school level, for all other languages than Yiddish.

86. Regarding Romani Chib, the responsibility of developing a framework for teacher education was situated at Södertörn University in Stockholm. The initial phases start out from the attempt to train assistants and educational mediators who have also had the opportunity of doing their practice in the Roma Kulturklass which is now threatened by closure after the School Inspectorate’s inspection of the class. Courses aiming at in-service training for staff working with Roma children have attracted about 25 students in the first round. The Committee of Experts asks the Swedish authorities to provide information on the development of the Roma Kulturklass, concerning the use of Romani, in the next periodical report.

87. Representatives of Romani speakers informed the Committee of Experts during the on-the-spot visit about the inequality in the recognition (in terms of credit counting) of commissioned teacher training courses (offered to future teachers of Romani and to school mediators) compared to students of “regular” teacher training courses at universities.

88. Representatives of the academic staff in charge of teacher training in minority languages, including Romani Chib, informed the Committee of Experts about the inadequacy of the current system of a four- or five-year curriculum. Some students need to follow these studies in parallel to their regular jobs as teachers, whereas others are required to take study loans for the whole period of study. Since the labour market for teachers in mother tongues, including national minority languages, is unattractive under present conditions, other ways of attracting students to these teacher education programmes are

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needed. Such incentives have been proposed by the representatives of the speakers, for example through a scholarship system or compensation to the employers of teachers already working in schools.

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Yi d d i s h 89. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts encouraged the Swedish authorities to pay increased attention to the need both to promote Yiddish and to stimulate modern culture in Yiddish. It also urged the Swedish authorities to continue their efforts to promote Yiddish in education in order to safeguard it.

90. The sixth periodical report notes that the Swedish National Agency for Education was commissioned by the government to draw up syllabi for first and second language speakers respectively in minority languages, including Yiddish. These syllabi entered into force on 1 July 2016.

91. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the Yiddish speakers reiterated their concern for teacher training which is still not organised and funded by the Swedish authorities for Yiddish. This concern is further highlighted considering the increasing interest in mother tongue instruction in Yiddish.

92. The Committee of Experts has not been informed of any structured approach to the teaching of Yiddish in the educational system.

h. the promotion of study and research on regional or minority languages at universities or equivalent institutions;

93. The teaching of Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli at higher education institutions is examined in detail in the section dealing with the Part III undertakings.

Rom a ni 94. According to the sixth periodical report, the Swedish government has given specific education institutions the responsibility and the associated financial resources for the development and offer of curricula in minority languages. Teaching and research in Romani are to be developed at Södertörn University. The government is regularly monitoring and evaluating progress regarding this task of the institutions. For Romani, two research projects are also in progress at the Institute for Language and Folklore (ISOF). One research project within the institute is entitled Romsk vardag (Roma daily life) and is gathering important information on Roma identity, customs and traditions.

95. During the on-the-spot visit, the Committee of Experts was also informed by representatives of the academic staff in charge of teacher training in Romani about the presence of Romani studies in higher education in Sweden. The Committee of Experts was also informed about the plan of Södertörn University to launch a professorship in the subject Romani studies. So far there has been no university curriculum in Romani studies (for M.A. or PhD qualifications), which is one of the reasons for the very small number of PhD students.

Yi d d i s h 96. According to the sixth periodical report, Lund University has had a special undertaking for education about Yiddish and Yiddish culture for many years, the responsibility of which has largely been carried by the university itself.

Paragraph 2

The Parties undertake to eliminate, if they have not yet done so, any unjustified distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference relating to the use of a regional or minority language and intended to discourage or endanger the maintenance or development of it. The adoption of special measures in favour of regional or minority languages aimed at promoting equality between the users of these languages and the rest of the population or which take due account of their specific conditions is not considered to be an act of discrimination against the users of more widely-used languages.”

97. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts mentioned the principles enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 30, as fully applicable and in line with the principles laid down in the Charter. “In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origin exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practise his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language.”

98. In the sixth periodical report, the Swedish authorities provide information on an inquiry that has been commissioned by them in order to investigate the circumstances for incorporating the Convention on the Rights of the Child into Swedish law. The inquiry, which is currently undergoing consultation, proposes that the Convention on the Rights of the Child be incorporated into Swedish law from 1 January 2018.

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99. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the Sami speakers repeated their concerns about the fact that Sweden has not ratified the ILO Convention No. 169 and the effects that this has for the potential discrimination of Sami languages and cultures.

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Paragraph 3

The Parties undertake to promote, by appropriate measures, mutual understanding between all the linguistic groups of the country and in particular the inclusion of respect, understanding and tolerance in relation to regional or minority languages among the objectives of education and training provided within their countries and encouragement of the mass media to pursue the same objective.

100. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts noted that teachers and academic staff in charge of the overall teacher training were not provided with adequate and updated knowledge about the national minorities. This caused difficulties both for the implementation and the curricula for compulsory school (i.e. primary and lower secondary) and upper secondary school . In addition, this prevents an adequate teacher education for all teachers.

101. In the sixth periodical report, the Swedish authorities provide information on the activity of the Swedish National Agency for Education in order to spread knowledge through its digital channels on the availability of mother tongue tuition in the national minority languages. Information on the national minorities and teaching material supplements on Roma are also provided via these channels. The website www.minoritet.se is mentioned again in the sixth periodical report as a source of information on Sweden’s undertakings for national minorities, its current legislation and government agencies with competency in the field. In autumn 2015, this website was updated and re-designed with improved accessibility.

Paragraph 4

In determining their policy with regard to regional or minority languages, the Parties shall take into consideration the needs and wishes expressed by the groups which use such languages. They are encouraged to establish bodies, if necessary, for the purpose of advising the authorities on all matters pertaining to regional or minority languages.

102. With the introduction of the Minority Act in 2010, the Swedish authorities have taken the responsibility and created the framework for the inclusion of the views of the Swedish national minority language policy, among the speakers of these languages. However, it was repeatedly pointed out by the speakers that the implementation of the Minority Act still presents some problems locally also in this respect. This is connected with the frequent lack of consultation with the speakers in matters pertaining to regional or minority languages.

103. The sixth periodical report also provides data – although without indicating their source – on the rate of participation opportunities given to minorities in local and regional administrative units of Sweden: “In 91 per cent of the municipalities and 77 per cent of the county councils in the administrative areas, the national minorities were given an opportunity to exert influence through formalised consultation during 2014. Of the municipalities outside the administrative areas, 10 per cent had formalised consultations and almost half state that they do not provide any particular opportunity to exert influence through consultation or similar. The biggest positive changes since 2013 have been seen in the county councils that are incorporated in the administrative areas, and in [the category of] other Government agencies. A quarter of the agencies state that influence for the national minorities played a crucial role in the agency's decisions in 2014, compared with only a twentieth in 2013. In 65 per cent of the municipalities and 62 per cent of the county councils in the administrative areas, dialogue with the minorities, which may also include opportunities other than formalised consultation, was decisive in making decisions and determining the focus of activities. Outside the administrative areas, the corresponding figure is seven per cent for the municipalities and 13 per cent for the county councils.”

104. The periodical report also states that Stockholm County Administrative Board and the Sami Parliament, the agencies responsible for coordination and follow-up in the area of minority policy, have been carrying out consultations throughout the reporting period. Furthermore, the responsible ministers or state secretaries have carried out at least six consultations per year during this period.

105. The public service media, notably the educational radio (UR), also arrange hearings and consultation meetings both with different minority language groups represented at the same time and separate meetings with the minority groups.

Rom a ni 106. According to the sixth periodical report, the Strategy for Roma Inclusion of the Swedish government involves all levels of public administration (government offices, sectorial agencies concerned and municipalities) in consultation with Roma experts and representatives. The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions received a grant from the government to develop a working model which supports several of the pilot municipalities in their work to develop systematic consultation

http://www.minoritet.se/

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with the Roma population. The agencies commissioned under the strategy also consider consultations and dialogue with Roma representatives as an essential part of their work. The Government Offices of Sweden are in continuous dialogue with a Roma reference group of 20 Roma experts in different areas, comprising men and women of different ages from the five major Roma groups in Sweden. The participants were appointed after a nomination process in which Roma representatives were included as partners. The government has commissioned the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society to carry out an initiative to make it easier for Roma and non-Roma organisations to exchange their experiences. The purpose is to facilitate Roma involvement in civil society and Roma organisations’ participation in the work for Roma inclusion.

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3.2. Evaluation in respect of Part III of the Charter

107. In this section, the Committee of Experts will focus on the problematic areas and new developments in the protection and promotion of Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli. It will therefore not assess the implementation of provisions which were fulfilled in previous monitoring cycles, apart from such undertakings where the Committee of Experts has received new relevant information. The following provisions will not be commented upon:

In the case of Sami:– Article 8, paragraph 1. f.iii; g;– Article 9, paragraph 1. a.iii; b.iii; c.iii; d; paragraph 2.a;– Article 10, paragraph 5;– Article 11, paragraph 1.d; 2;– Article 12, paragraph 1.a; b; c; d; e; f; g; h; paragraph 2;– Article 13, paragraph 1.a;– Article 14.a; b.

In the case of Finnish:– Article 8, paragraph 1.f.iii;– Article 9, paragraph 1. a. ii; a.iii; b.ii; b.iii; c.ii; c.iii; d; paragraph 2.a;– Article 10, paragraph 2.b; paragraph 4.a; paragraph 5;– Article 11, paragraph 1. c.i; paragraph 2;– Article 12, paragraph 1.a; b; c; d; f; h; paragraph 2;– Article 13, paragraph 1.a;– Article 14.a; b.

In the case of Meänkieli:– Article 8, paragraph 1.f.iii;– Article 9, paragraph 1.a.iii; b.iii; d; paragraph 2;– Article 10, paragraph 4.a; paragraph 5;– Article 11, paragraph 2;– Article 12, paragraph 1.a; d; f; paragraph 2;– Article 13, paragraph 1.a;– Article 14.a; b.

108. For these provisions, the Committee of Experts refers to the conclusions reached in its previous reports, but reserves the right to re-evaluate the situation again at a later stage.

109. The paragraphs and sub-paragraphs that are quoted in bold italics are the obligations chosen by Sweden.

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3.2.1. General issues pertaining to the education of all Part III languages

110. In Sweden, grundskola refers to primary [and lower secondary] education (up to year 9, age 16), and gymnasieskola refers to [upper] secondary education (age 16-19). “Compulsory school” refers to primary and lower secondary education, up to year 9, age 16.

111. During the fifth monitoring cycle, the Committee of Ministers recommended to the Swedish authorities to “strengthen education of/in all national minority languages by adopting a comprehensive and structured approach based on the needs of the speakers and according to the situation of the languages”; to “ensure that “mother tongue” education meets the requirements of the Charter and offers adequate language tuition, enabling pupils to achieve mature literacy in the languages concerned”; to “develop a dedicated and properly resourced system of teacher training for all national minority languages”; to “increase the amount of bilingual education available in Sami”; and to “create teaching and learning materials for all national minority languages”.

112. According to the sixth periodical report, the amendments to the Education Act, in force since July 2015, provide extended opportunities for pupils who belong to the national minorities to study a national minority language at school. This may lead to a higher number of pupils attending minority language lessons, which would result in a higher demand for teachers. According to the data of the Swedish Schools Inspectorate, a high number of municipalities find it difficult to recruit teachers who can teach the minority languages. In order to increase the availability of mother tongue teachers in Sami and Meänkieli in the short term, the Swedish National Agency for Education has been, since 2013, in charge of ensuring that suitable training is organised and implemented with the aim of having at least twelve mother tongue teachers of the minority languages recruited by municipalities. Since 2014, the agency has also been in charge of ensuring that conditions are in place for additional participants to complete the training initiatives in Sami and Meänkieli. The government has earmarked SEK 6.1 million (€640 500) for this task (including also similar measures for Romani). For Sami and Meänkieli, a second round of the short-term in-service training of teachers is foreseen.

113. A problem discussed by the representatives of the speakers has been that municipalities, even when offered some compensation for teachers participating in the training, do not apply for this option. Since it is the municipality that applies for the training, some teachers do not receive this training, despite their willingness to participate in it.

114. According to the sixth periodical report, within the respective administrative areas for the minority languages, children are entitled to attend pre-school completely or partly in the minority language concerned, on request. The municipalities in these administrative areas receive a government grant which can be used for this purpose. However, this grant is not ear-marked, thus its use in order to meet this requirement is only optional for the municipalities.

115. According to the sixth periodical report, there is a continuously increasing demand for pre-school education in minority languages in the municipalities. Approximately two-thirds of the municipalities in the administrative areas for Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli have some form of pre-school activity in minority languages. However, the proportion of municipalities offering a pre-school activity in a minority language decreased during 2014.

116. According to the representatives of the speakers, this demand for pre-school education in minority languages is occasionally either not met or refuted in the municipalities. One argument is that there is not enough demand.

117. During the on-the-spot visit, the Committee of Experts was informed by representatives of the speakers about the persisting “freedom of interpretation” by some municipalities (that are part of the administrative areas for Finnish, Sami and Meänkieli) of their obligation to provide parents with the opportunity to place their children in a pre-school or equivalent, “where all, or parts” of the activities are conducted in the minority language. The formulation “all, or parts” has continued to be interpreted variably, often in a minimalistic way. Although the Committee of Experts pointed out this problem, no relevant information was provided in the sixth periodical report.

118. Where the interpretation by municipalities of “all, or parts” has been and/or is minimalistic (see the previous paragraph), primary school education is also affected, as a consequence of fewer children receiving pre-school education in the regional or minority languages.

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119. During the on-the-spot visit, the Committee of Experts was again informed by the representatives of the speakers about the low level of compliance of offering teaching in minority languages with the provisions of the (now amended) Education Act in most of the municipalities.

120. According to representatives of the Swedish authorities, a recent inquiry has revealed the insufficiency of the measures taken so far to increase efficiency of minority language education in municipalities. According to the representatives of the authorities, the main reason for this insufficiency is the lack of knowledge on minorities in most of the municipalities of Sweden.

121. According to representatives of the minority language speakers, the above-mentioned inquiry may reveal important factors regarding the insufficiencies, however, there is a tendency with a number of actors in central and local authorities to postpone measures to be taken, referring to the situation created by the inquiry in progress.

122. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the speakers pointed out the critical lack of teachers at all levels of education as well as the low number of applications for teacher training. According to the speakers, this is partly due to structural difficulties: teacher training students already at work can hardly or not at all afford – in terms of time and costs – the current long studies (given the five-year curricula in place); their employers, i.e. the municipalities, do not always have funds to keep these teachers in training (as training is based on paying replacing teachers and the employee would also need income compensation for the hours spent on training); being a minority language teacher is not considered as a high-profile career with a perspective in society; lessons given by mother tongue teachers are dispersed in space and time involving many hours and costs spent on transport. Considering the unattractive working conditions in general as well, there is an even stronger need for the authorities to consider favourable economic conditions for the teacher training students.

123. Representatives of the speakers as well as members of the academic staff consider distance teaching/learning as a part of the solution. Some stakeholders are reluctant though, as they fear a lower efficiency in teaching and a higher drop-out rate linked to distance learning. There is also a reluctance with respect to the effects of the lack of face-to-face interaction in general, in distance education. In addition, it is not known to what extent teacher education prepares teachers for teaching through distance teaching methods.

124. According to the speakers, another general difficulty is the lack of information on the available offer in mother tongue teaching, as neither government agencies nor municipalities make sufficient efforts to spread knowledge on the existing courses and about the right to request mother tongue education. Section 14 of the Minority Language Act prescribes as an obligation of the ISOF the awareness-raising among minority language speakers regarding their right to learn, develop and use the minority language, as well as the ensuring of the respect of duties by public administration in the field.

125. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the speakers pointed out that one lesson (20 to 45 minutes) per week – a frequent practice in municipality schools (pre-schools, primary and secondary schools) that offer minority language courses at all – is insufficient for enabling pupils to achieve mature literacy in the language concerned, especially in the social and linguistic context of a minority language speaker child or a child who has not been able to learn even the basics of the minority language.

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3.2.2. Sami

Article 8 – Education

Pr e-sc hool

a. i to make available pre-school education in the relevant regional or minority languages; or

ii to make available a substantial part of pre-school education in the relevant regional or minority languages; or

iii to apply one of the measures provided for under i and ii above at least to those pupils whose families so request and whose number is considered sufficient;

126. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that this undertaking remained partly fulfilled, but still “strongly urged the Swedish authorities to take resolute action to promote Sami pre-school education”. The Committee of Experts asked the Swedish authorities to provide the relevant information in the next periodical report.

127. According to the sixth periodical report, the Sami Education Board may, on agreement with the municipality, offer a pre-school in which teaching is carried out entirely or partly in Sami. Sami pre-schools are run at all five Sami state schools. There were 137 children attending the Sami pre-schools in 2015. The number of children has increased by 22 children in the past three years and the pre-school in Jokkmokk has a waiting list. The Sami pre-schools have a higher staffing rate than pre-schools that do not run activities in the language. This is because the pre-schools provide teaching in the different Sami languages. The aim of the work of the Sami pre-schools is to develop and strengthen Sami and the Sami culture in parallel to the priorities of the pre-school on the basis of the national goals for Sami pre-school.

128. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the speakers pointed out the critical lack of pre-school teachers, partly due to the structural difficulties mentioned above in paragraph 122. The speakers also mentioned the recurrent problem of the lack of teaching materials and the lack of funds for producing them.

129. Speakers also gave account on the recent initiative of some municipalities that set up “full immersion” pre-school groups that work in Sami.

130. The shadow report submitted by the Sami Parliament refers to the education progress report of this organisation and reiterates its suggestion for a reform of the structure of mother tongue education. The statement points out that sufficient research-based knowledge has been accumulated in the matter so that the authorities in charge of education are able to develop a model for a more efficient mother tongue education. The statement considers a new, structured minority language education policy as a condition for the survival of Sami in Sweden. It presents arguments for a bottom-up approach, pointing out that the strengthening of mother tongue education at pre-school and primary school level is much more needed for the passing-on of the language than the current practice of the education policy which gives priority and allocates resources to secondary school level mother tongue education. The statement also notes that a scholarship scheme is vital for the recruitment and successful maintaining of students in minority language teacher training. Norway’s scholarship policy towards Sami teacher training students – including Swedish citizens – is considered as a model by the report. The statement also highlights the lack of teaching materials at all levels of education and that the critically insufficient support from the state forces the Sami School Board, in charge of the matter, to focus only on producing material for primary schools.

131. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking only partly fulfilled and again strongly urges the Swedish authorities to take appropriate measures to strengthen pre-school education in Sami. The Committee of Experts also asks the Swedish authorities to provide information on the number of municipalities offering pre-school activities in Sami in the next periodical report.

Primary school

b. i to make available primary education in the relevant regional or minority languages; or

ii to make available a substantial part of primary education in the relevant regional or minority languages; or

iii to provide, within primary education, for the teaching of the relevant regional or minority languages as an integral part of the curriculum; or

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iv to apply one of the measures provided for under i to iii above at least to those pupils whose families so request and whose number is considered sufficient;

132. In its fifth monitoring cycle, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertaking remained partly fulfilled and “urged the Swedish authorities to take resolute action in order to strengthen Sami-medium primary education”.

133. According to the sixth periodical report, current legislation makes possible education partially in the minority language for children of 1st to 6th grade who already have this language as their mother tongue. However, this option is not offered in practice.

134. In the periodical report, distance teaching is presented as a new form of tuition and a solution to mother tongue education especially for Sami. It has been enabled by the new Education Act (of July 2015). “The conditions under which an education provider must provide distance teaching are where the school does not have a licensed or qualified teacher for the subjects in question or where the number of pupils is insufficient.” Another statutory act on distance teaching, specifically for mother tongue teaching and study guidance entered into force in April 2016. The periodical report notes that the government intends to conduct a survey in order to gain an overall view on teaching of and in the national minority languages, focusing on the needs and the measures of improvement judged to be necessary. The periodical report also notes that the Sami Education Board is involved in drawing up a system for distance teaching in Sami for pupils nationwide. According to the report, there is an increasing demand. The number of pupils across Sweden who took part in Sami distance teaching was 52 in autumn 2015, increasing to approximately 100 by December 2015.

135. The shadow report submitted by the Sami Parliament presents arguments for a bottom-up approach, pointing out that the strengthening of mother tongue education at pre-school and primary school level is much more needed for the passing-on of the language than the current practice of the education policy which gives priority and allocates resources to the secondary school level in mother tongue education.

136. The Committee of Experts considers that the undertaking remains only partly fulfilled and strongly urges the Swedish authorities to take resolute action in order to strengthen primary education in Sami.

Sec on dar y school

c. i to make available secondary education in the relevant regional or minority languages; or

ii to make available a substantial part of secondary education in the relevant regional or minority languages; or

iii to provide, within secondary education, for the teaching of the relevant regional or minority languages as anintegral part of the curriculum; or

iv to apply one of the measures provided for under i to iii above at least to those pupils who, or where appropriate whose families, so wish in a number considered sufficient;

137. In its fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts concluded that the undertaking remained partly fulfilled and urged the Swedish authorities to improve the situation for Sami secondary education and to report on this in the next periodical report.

138. The sixth periodical report does not provide any new relevant information on this undertaking.

139. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the speakers noted the lack of teaching materials as well as the lack of funds for producing them.

140. The Committee of Experts considers that the undertaking remains only partly fulfilled and strongly urges the Swedish authorities to strengthen secondary education in Sami.

Tec hnic a l a nd v oc at ion al education

d. i to make available technical and vocational education in the relevant regional or minority languages; or

ii to make available a substantial part of technical and vocational education in the relevant regional or minority languages; or

iii to provide, within technical and vocational education, for the teaching of the relevant regional or minority languages as an integral part of the curriculum; or

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141. In its fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts concluded that the undertaking remained partly fulfilled. It encouraged the authorities to develop a strategy adapted to the needs of the Sami speakers.

142. During the sixth monitoring cycle, no relevant information was provided on this undertaking.

143. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled. It encourages the Swedish authorities to develop a strategy adapted to the needs of the Sami speakers, as well as the needs of the specific professions connected to Sami culture and asks for the relevant information to be provided in the next periodical report.

Univ ers ity a nd other hi gher educ at ion

e. i to make available university and other higher education in regional or minority languages; or

ii to provide facilities for the study of these languages as university and higher education subjects; or

iii if, by reason of the role of the State in relation to higher education institutions, sub-paragraphs i and ii cannot be applied, to encourage and/or allow the provision of university or other forms of higher education in regional or minority languages or of facilities for the study of these languages as university or higher education subjects;

144. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertaking remained partly fulfilled and encouraged the Swedish authorities to provide the necessary funding in order to allow the universities to fulfil their additional tasks and obligations for both Sami teacher education and subject education. The Committee asked the Swedish authorities to provide information about actions taken in order to ensure compatibility between the tasks entrusted to the universities and the resources provided.

145. The sixth periodical report does not provide any new relevant information on this undertaking.

146. During the on-the-spot visit, the issue of university or other higher level education in/of Sami was raised in the context of teacher training only - see below under point h.

147. The shadow report submitted by the Sami Parliament notes that university level education in Sami is available in Norway (in Kautokeino) only. Hovewer, academic staff of Umeå University highlighted, during the on-the-spot visit, that a senior lecturer of Sami is working at their Department of Language Studies, within the framework of a five year teacher training program, set up in 2014 by the Swedish government.

148. The Committee of Experts considers that the undertaking remains only partly fulfilled and encourages the Swedish authorities to continue its efforts to provide the necessary legal, administrative and financial conditions in order to allow the universities to fulfil their additional tasks and obligations for an attractive and efficient Sami teacher education. The Committee again asks the Swedish authorities to provide information about actions taken in order to ensure compatibility between the tasks entrusted to the universities and the resources provided.

Bas ic a nd f urther t eac her tr ain ing

h. to provide the basic and further training of the teachers required to implement those of paragraphs a to g accepted by the Party;

149. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered the undertaking partly fulfilled and asked the Swedish authorities to provide information in the next periodical report on how they have pursued their efforts to provide teacher education in Sami. The Committee of Ministers recommended to the Swedish authorities to “develop a dedicated and properly resourced system of teacher training for all national minority languages.”

150. According to the sixth periodical report, an additional SEK 1.5 million (€160 000) will be allocated to the teacher training for Finnish, Meänkieli, Sami and Romani from 2016 onwards, raising the annual funding per language to SEK 2 million (€210 000).

151. However, representatives of the speakers pointed out the critical lack of teachers at all levels of education as well as the low number of applications for teacher training. The lack of teachers is largely a

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result of the fact that there is no teacher training education for pre-school, the first six years of primary school or bilingual education. This also makes it possible for municipalities to avoid offering provisions that protect and promote the use of minority languages, including Sami, in education.

152. The shadow report submitted by the Sami Parliament notes that a scholarship scheme is vital for the recruitment and successful maintaining of students in minority language teacher training, as well as providing them with some incitements for becoming teachers for primary school. Norway’s scholarship policy towards Sami teacher training students – including Swedish citizens – is considered as a model by the report.

153. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled and urges the Swedish authorities to develop a dedicated and properly resourced system of teacher training for Sami at all levels of schooling, and which includes an adequately funded scholarship scheme.

The Committee of Experts urges the Swedish authorities to create a structured policy for Sami education, including an adequate provision of mother tongue instruction in municipal schools, a coherent teacher education for all levels and to create additional teaching materials for all levels, as well as to set up a supervisory body in charge of monitoring the measures taken and progress achieved in establishing or developing the teaching of Sami and of drawing up periodic reports of their findings, which will be made public.

Sup erv is ory bod ies

i. to set up a supervisory body or bodies responsible for monitoring the measures taken and progress achieved in establishing or developing the teaching of regional or minority languages and for drawing up periodic reports of their findings, which will be made public.

154. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered the undertaking fulfilled. However, it was unclear to the Committee of Experts if reports, i.e. monitoring and quality control surveys by the Swedish Schools Inspectorate, were published at regular intervals. It asked the Swedish authorities to provide such information in the next periodical report.

155. According to the sixth periodical report, no examination of the situation of minority language education has been carried out by the Swedish Schools Inspectorate since the previous reporting round. The monitoring by the Schools Inspectorate on the use of minority languages in education, which covered pre-school, primary and secondary school, was not repeated. The periodical report also mentions other state bodies that monitor the compliance with the Minority Act. However, the Minority Act does not cover education in national minority languages.

156. During the on-the-spot visit, the Swedish authorities mentioned that an inquiry is being conducted on the efficiency of the measures taken so far to strengthen the minority language policy and the minority education policy in municipalities.

157. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking not fulfilled at present. It asks the Swedish authorities to provide the relevant information in the next periodical report.

Paragraph 2

With regard to education and in respect of territories other than those in which the regional or minority languages are traditionally used, the Parties undertake, if the number of users of a regional or minority language justifies it, to allow, encourage or provide teaching in or of the regional or minority language at all the appropriate stages of education.

158. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts concluded that the undertaking remained partly fulfilled. It urged the Swedish authorities to monitor the implementation of the Education Act and Minority Act with respect to mother tongue instruction.

159. According to the sixth periodical report, the Institute for Languages and Folklore (ISOF) allocates funding for revitalising all the national minority languages, amounting to approximately SEK 3.5 million (€370 000) per year. The initiative seeks to enable individuals to acquire languages. When allocating grants, projects targeted to children and young people, literacy projects, projects focusing on the language as a bearer of culture, and language transfer between the generations are given priority. The number of applicants has fallen in recent years and the reason for this has not yet been explored in further detail. However, the ISOF has stated that the projects, in the vast majority, have been successful.

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160. According to an evaluation report on the Swedish national minority policy in the period 2010-2014, only a few of the 215 municipalities which do not belong to any administrative areas made efforts to fulfil their legal obligations concerning the ”basic protection‟ of national minorities and minority languages.

161. The projects and activities described in the sixth periodical report refer to initiatives by the speakers, which are at least partly funded by the authorities and belong within the realm of informal learning of the minority languages. However, the formal education of Sami outside the territories in which it is traditionally used and partly even within these areas, remains patchy and unsatisfactory.

162. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled and urges the Swedish authorities to take proactive measures to strengthen the education offer in Sami in municipalities which do not belong to the administrative area for Sami.

Article 9 – Judicial authorities

Paragraph 1

The Parties undertake, in respect of those judicial districts in which the number of residents using the regional or minority languages justifies the measures specified below, according to the situation of each of these languages and on condition that the use of the facilities afforded by the present paragraph is not considered by the judge to hamper the proper administration of justice:

a. in criminal proceedings:

ii to guarantee the accused the right to use his/her regional or minority language;

if necessary by the use of interpreters and translations involving no extra expense for the persons concerned;

163. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts concluded that the undertaking remained formally fulfilled. It encouraged the Swedish authorities to improve its practical implementation, in co-operation with the speakers, and to provide information in the next periodical report about the possible extension to use Sami in court for the newly included municipalities/courts following the enlargement of the administrative area for Sami.

164. According to the sixth periodical report, the right to use minority languages in contact with the judicial authorities remains a work in progress, “as it is vital to maintain the linguistic quality of processes within the judicial system.” In October 2013, more stringent rules were introduced on interpretation and translation in criminal cases. A person found guilty of a crime does not have to repay the costs paid by the state for public defence counsel expenses for the interpretation of deliberations with the accused. A person who has a private defence counsel and is found guilty of a crime must also be able to have their own costs for the interpretation of deliberations with the defence counsel repaid by the State. The rules also cover the minority languages and apply to all courts in Sweden.

165. The periodical report notes that the website of the Swedish courts contains exhaustive information on the opportunity and the right to use minority languages in a judicial process. The information is provided in Finnish, Sami and Meänkieli.

166. An additional statement submitted by the Swedish National Court Administration lists more details regarding information about the Swedish justice system, available in Finnish, Sami and Meänkieli on the website of the Swedish courts:

– General information on judicial process and crime;– Judicial procedure in criminal cases at district court level, including the different stages of an oral

proceeding, the judgement and how to appeal;– General information about the procedure in civil cases; legal disputes, summons application,

preparatory proceedings, oral hearings, the judgement and how to appeal;– General information on the administrative court procedure; how to appeal a Government Agency

official decision, the proceedings in the administrative court and how to appeal.There are also links to other relevant websites where information is available in these minority languages.

167. The periodical report notes that there is a great need for interpreters in the Swedish courts and the availability of interpreters is limited. In 2015, the Swedish Agency for Public Management was commissioned by the government to produce a number of proposed measures to enable the courts to make more effective use of existing translation and interpretation resources. The proposals are currently being prepared within the government offices of Sweden.

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168. During the on-the-spot visit, officials of the Swedish National Court Administration noted that interpreting for Sami is requested in none or only a handful of the cases at court. An interpreter for Sami could hardly be found; only six of them are registered at courts for the whole country. The National Courts Administration has recently obtained a mandate for the training of court interpreters. A newly launched “fast track” training of five months for interpreters and translators was also mentioned, however, this course doesn’t provide specialisation, for example, in legal subjects. Neither does this education foresee authorisation of interpreters, which is a requirement for some court cases. Another reason for the lack of interpreters is the retirement of the older generation, and the fact that much fewer new professional interpreters are being trained and recruited.

169. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled.

a. iv to produce, on request, documents connected with legal proceedings in the relevant regional or minority language,


170. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertaking remained partly fulfilled. It encouraged the Swedish authorities to promote the use of Sami in legal proceedings and asked them for further information.

171. The shadow report submitted by the Sami Parliament points out that the authorities interpret the terms used in the relevant provision of the Minority Act in a restrictive way.

172. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled. It again asks the Swedish authorities to provide the relevant specific information in the next periodical report.

b. in civil proceedings:

ii to allow, whenever a litigant has to appear in person before a court, that he or she may use his or her regional or minority language without thereby incurring additional expense;

if necessary by the use of interpreters and translations;

173. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts concluded that the undertaking remained formally fulfilled and asked the Swedish authorities to provide information about the implementation of this undertaking in the next periodical report.

174. For the information provided during the sixth monitoring cycle, see the information above, under sub-paragraph 9(1)a.ii.


c. in proceedings before courts concerning administrative matters:



176. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertaking remained formally fulfilled and asked the Swedish authorities to provide information in the next periodical report.

177. For the information provided during the sixth monitoring cycle, see the information above, under sub-paragraph 9(1)a.ii.


Paragraph 3

The Parties undertake to make available in the regional or minority languages the most important national statutory texts and those relating particularly to users of these languages, unless they are otherwise provided.

179. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts maintained its conclusion that the undertaking was partly fulfilled. It asked the Swedish authorities to consult the Sami Parliament and to

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provide information on the progress made with respect to planned and accomplished translations of statutory or legal texts into North Sami, South Sami and Lule Sami in the next periodical report.



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Article 10 – Administrative authorities and public services

Paragraph 1

Within the administrative districts of the State in which the number of residents who are users of regional or minority languages justifies the measures specified below and according to the situation of each language, the Parties undertake, as far as this is reasonably possible:

a. iii to ensure that users of regional or minority languages may submit oral or written applications and receive a reply in these languages;

c to allow the administrative authorities to draft documents in a regional or minority language.

182. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts maintained its previous conclusions that Article 10(1)a.iii is not fulfilled and that 10(1) c is formally fulfilled. It encouraged the state authorities to pursue their efforts to increase the number of Sami-speaking staff at all levels of the administrative area for Sami. The Committee of Experts also asked the Swedish authorities to provide additional information in the next periodical report.

183. According to the sixth periodical report, the government lacks specific and comprehensive information with respect to the extent to which administrative bodies and organisations, as well as public services and providers, have staff skilled in minority languages. However, the report mentions a few specific county authorities which register and use the information on the language skills of their staff. As a good example, the periodical report quotes Jämtland County that launched a collaborative venture with Norway to preserve and develop South Sami, and the staff of the county council in Jämtland are given cultural training about the Sami population and their culture. Sami children must be addressed in Sami when visiting the child health clinics run by Jämtland county council. The staff get to learn a certain amount of Sami, but the basic idea involves the use of a speaking pen. Using pictures and speaking pens, the staff are to be able to introduce Sami words and expressions into consultations with 3 year-olds. The purpose of integrating Sami is to confirm the child’s Sami identity and support the family in using Sami on a day-to-day basis. Visits to the child health clinic are supplemented by a language package called ‘Giellaskurppo’, produced by the Sami youth organisation Sáminuorra.

184. Another good example mentioned in the periodical report is that of Norrbotten County, since part of their web content is available in Sami, Meänkieli and Finnish. Where necessary, translation or interpreting services are used. In addition, the switchboard has information on which people know languages other than Swedish, including minority languages. In the animal protection and veterinary unit, documents and decisions are translated into minority languages where relevant. To facilitate communication and enable owners to look after their livestock according to regulations, some brochures and information sheets have been translated into the minority languages of Finnish and Sami.

185. The Committee of Experts considers Article 10(1)a.iii fulfilled and Article 10(1)c formally fulfilled. It urges the state authorities to pursue their efforts to increase the number of Sami-speaking staff at all levels of the administrative area for Sami. The Committee of Experts asks the Swedish authorities to provide additional information in the next periodical report, and regarding 10(1)c, on the drafting of documents in Sami.

Paragraph 2

In respect of the local and regional authorities on whose territory the number of residents who are users of regional or minority languages is such as to justify the measures specified below, the Parties undertake to allow and/or encourage:

...

b the possibility for users of regional or minority languages to submit oral or written applications in these languages;

c the publication by regional authorities of their official documents also in the relevant regional or minority languages;

d the publication by local authorities of their official documents also in the relevant regional or minority languages;

186. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts concluded that the undertaking remained not fulfilled with respect to Article 10(2)c and asked the Swedish authorities to provide additional information, in the next periodical report, about the extent to which the implementation of the Minority Act has created possibilities to fulfil the undertakings 10(2)b and 10(2)d.

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187. According to the sixth periodical report, Section 8 of the Act on National Minorities and National Minority Languages states that a person shall have the right to use Finnish, Meänkieli or the Sami language in oral and written dealings with an administrative authority whose geographical sphere of activity coincides completely or partly with the administrative area of the minority language. If a person uses Finnish, Meänkieli or Sami in such a matter, the authority is obliged to give an oral answer in the same language. Also, a person who lacks legal assistance shall have the right, on request, to receive a written translation into Finnish, Meänkieli or the Sami language of the decision and rationale for the decision in the matter.

188. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the speakers noted that an insufficient number of staff speaks Sami in county or municipality agencies, e.g. employment agency. In spite of the legal obligation, there are no or not enough employees speaking Sami, with the result that in some cases the clients are forced to speak Swedish.

189. The shadow report submitted by the Sami Parliament points out that generally, although there is some progress, shortcomings prevail, as the Minority Act focuses on language and neglects other aspects. Even with respect to language, its practical application is more accepting of language use in oral communication than in written form. Moreover, this law contains no provision for motivating the recruitment of speakers as public service staff, nor for the speakers themselves so that a sufficient number of them apply for employment in these services.

190. The Committee of Experts concludes that 10(2)b is partly fulfilled. It is not in the position to conclude on 10.(2)c and d. The Committee of Experts asks the Swedish authorities to provide information on the implementation of the undertakings 10(2)c and d in the next periodical report.

g. the use or adoption, if necessary in conjunction with the name in the official language(s), of traditional and correct forms of place-names in regional or minority languages.

191. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertaking is fulfilled for Sami, but also asked the Swedish authorities to report on the further progress of this undertaking.

192. In the sixth periodical report, the Swedish authorities point out a positive trend in this area. A high number of place names in the different variants of Sami have been added to the basic map database of the Swedish mapping, cadastral and land registration authority in the reporting period. They were included on the most commonly used Swedish hiking map and road map as well. The ISOF is currently carrying out a language check of about fifty South Sami names listed in Åre municipality. As of February 2016, there were 3500 place names in North Sami on the place name register, as well as 6200 in Lule Sami, 2900 in South Sami and 3500 in Ume Sami (rounded data). There were 938,400 place names in Swedish in the register. The Sami Parliament gave views on the place name signs set up by the Swedish Transport Administration on the public road network at the Place Name Advisory Board’s meeting in October 2013. The Sami Parliament also stated that most of the work of correcting the names in Lule Sami in the mountain area was now complete.

193. The increased density of place names in the Sami areas today is largely due to new lists of place names being reported to the mapping authority by private individuals, by representatives of the different Sami villages and by the Sami Parliament. When marking place names, the Historic Environment Act applies and this entered into force in its current wording on 1 January 2014. The work also means that many of the place names that require signage need to be submitted to the ISOF and representatives of minorities, e.g. the Sami Parliament and Swedish Tornedalian Association (STR-T), for consultation.

194. Adding names in minority languages only applies to place name signs, i.e. only such signs that label a geographical place such as a community, watercourse, etc. When it comes to road signs, i.e. signs showing the direction of a location, there is no double signage in both Swedish and the minority language. To cement the current use of place names in each respective area, the ISOF works with a far-reaching network of contacts at local level comprising, e.g. Sami study circle leaders, members of Sami villages and local place name projects plus municipal Sami coordinators. This network is completed by contacts with researchers in Sami in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany. The ISOF also runs training for organisations and government agencies to improve language skills and awareness of the importance of place names.

195. According to the sixth periodical report, in total 275 sites for road signs with place names in Sami have been set up.

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196. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the speakers also noted that some progress has been made with regard to place name signs in municipalities on public buildings as well as on road signs. However, this development has not been general, since a number of municipalities lack the funds to finance the replacing of signs. Therefore, the Sami Parliament has to do the scientific part of the operation with its own funds, although it does not receive support for this activity from the public budget.

197. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking fulfilled. It encourages the Swedish authorities to continue promoting the use or adoption of traditional forms of place names in Sami and to find solutions in cooperation with the speakers with regard to the costs for the Sami Parliament for their contribution.

Paragraph 4

With a view to putting into effect those provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 accepted by them, the Parties undertake to take one or more of the following measures:

a. translation or interpretation as may be required;

198. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts commended the Swedish authorities on the progress made and considered the undertaking fulfilled.

199. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking fulfilled at present. However, it considers the future fulfilment of this undertaking clearly at risk, due to the retirement of specialised interpreters and translators.

Article 11 – Media

Paragraph 1

The Parties undertake, for the users of the regional or minority languages within the territories in which those languages are spoken, according to the situation of each language, to the extent that the public authorities, directly or indirectly, are competent, have power or play a role in this field, and respecting the principle of the independence and autonomy of the media:

a. to the extent that radio and television carry out a public service mission:

...

iii to make adequate provision so that broadcasters offer programmes in the regional or minority languages

200. In its previous evaluation reports, the Committee of Experts considered the undertaking fulfilled.

201. However, in the sixth monitoring cycle, the Committee of Experts has received new relevant information, in the light of which it considers necessary to re-evaluate the situation with regard to this undertaking.

202. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the speakers pointed out that although the news in Sami is broadcast daily on television as well on radio, the broadcast time of the programmes in Sami language and on Sami issues is decreasing on public television (SVT). The situation is particularly problematic for South and Lule Sami, being almost without media outlets and presence.

203. The Committee of Experts considers that the undertaking remains fulfilled. However, it considers the future fulfilment of this undertaking clearly at risk with regard to television. The Committee of Experts asks the Swedish authorities to provide the relevant information in the next periodical report.

e. i to encourage and/or facilitate the creation and/or maintenance of at least one newspaper inthe regional or minority languages;

204. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered the undertaking partly fulfilled and encouraged the Swedish authorities to pursue their efforts in close dialogue and co-operation with the speakers. It also asked the Swedish authorities to provide additional information in the next periodical report.

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205. According to the sixth periodical report, subsidy criteria have been relaxed regarding eligibility for funding since 1 January 2014, in order to make it easier to produce newspapers in Sami.

206. A new ordinance on government grants for printed public newspapers to develop electronic publication services entered into force on 15 April 2016. According to the ordinance, initiatives of particular importance to national minorities can obtain grants for up to 75 per cent of the cost of the initiative or the pilot study. In other cases, the funding may cover a maximum of 40 per cent of the cost.

207. All the proposals that the Press Subsidies Committee submitted in the interim report “Support for daily newspapers in Sami and Meänkieli” have been carried out. The circulation limit for public operational support has been lowered from 1,500 to 750 subscribers for daily newspapers which are mainly written in Sami or Meänkieli. At the same time, the requirement that 90 per cent of the circulation must be spread in Sweden has been removed for such newspapers but the subsidy is calculated, as it is for other newspapers, on the basis of the part of the circulation that is mainly distributed in Sweden.

208. The provision on limited operational support for a newspaper whose editorial content is at least 25 per cent Finnish has been expanded to also cover Meänkieli or Sami if at least 25 per cent of the editorial content is written in one or more of these languages and the place where the newspaper is published is a municipality included in the administrative area for one of the languages under the Minority Act. The changes entered into force on 1 January 2014 and seek to make it easier for newspapers entirely or partly written in Sami or Meänkieli to obtain operational support.

209. The Swedish Arts Council also allocates funding for publishing cultural periodicals in the national minority languages. In 2014, eight national minority cultural periodicals received funding amounting to a total of SEK 850,000 (€89 000) from the Swedish Arts Council, six of which were published entirely or partly in a national minority language.

210. During the on-the-spot visit, the representatives of the speakers pointed out that the number of qualified journalists speaking Sami is very low.

211. The shadow report submitted by the Sami Parliament notes that the Sami Parliament has adopted a media policy action plan, indicating how media policy should be conducted to promote the best of Sami. The report states that there are no Sami newspapers in Sweden, despite the change that has been made in the regulatory framework for press subsidies. Northern Sami speakers can be helped out, to some extent, by the only daily newspaper in Northern Sami, published in Norway, but speakers of Lule and South Sami have no such options.

212. The Committee of Experts commends the Swedish authorities for the measures taken and looks forward to receiving new information about the results.

f. ii to apply existing measures for financial assistance also to audiovisual productions in theregional or minority languages;

213. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered the undertaking partly fulfilled.

214. According to the sixth periodical report, regional production centres, particularly Filmpool Nord, have a main role in producing films in Sami. In the period 2013–2015, Filmpool Nord produced six films which entirely or partly include one of the national minority languages, four of which involved Sami. The international drama series “Midnattssol” includes five languages, one of which is Sami. This series will be broadcast in Sweden and France in parallel in autumn 2016 and is expected to have high export potential and reach global audiences. Filmpool Nord works with the Sami Film Institute in Kautekeino, Northern Norway, partly via the project “7 Sápmi Stories” launched in Berlin in 2014.

215. The Swedish Film Institute which allocates production support does not have any particular forms of support for film production in minority languages. However, the Swedish Film Institute does have a number of initiatives for minority language projects in terms of distributing and showing films. Through this initiative, the Umeå International Film Festival was granted support for its activities in 2013–2015. During the period, the festival had a Sami section in its programme.

216. A Sami film festival received funding via the Swedish Arts Council’s funding for national minority cultural activities.

217. In December 2015, the government commissioned the Swedish Film Institute to support access to children's films in the national minority languages. The Swedish Film Institute has SEK 814 000 (€82

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700) available to spend on adapting the language of films aimed at children, primarily for those aged 4 to 8, mainly through dubbing. The commission also involves working to ensure that such adapted films are widely distributed.

218. According to the shadow report of the Sami Parliament, the volume of production of media, films and documentaries in and on Sami is relatively limited and also difficult to access since producers are dispersed across several countries. The situation is particularly problematic for South and Lule Sami, being almost without audiovisual productions, media outlets and presence.

219. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking fulfilled.

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3.2.3. Finnish


Paragraph 1

With regard to education, the Parties undertake, within the territory in which such languages are used, according to the situation of each of these languages, and without prejudice to the teaching of the official language(s) of the State:

Pr e-sc hool




220. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered the undertaking partly fulfilled, and asked the authorities to provide information on the implementation of the Minority Act and the Education Act, with regard to the provision of mother tongue support in pre-school.

221. The shadow report submitted by the Sweden Finnish Delegation (SFD) and the National Association of Swedish Tornedalians (STR-T) notes that there is a dire need to strengthen and develop pre-school education in order to revitalise the minority languages, yet serious and fundamental structural problems hamper the implementation of this goal, especially the lack of a strategy. Inadequacy in the approach of institutional actors in charge results in a number of negative developments. In some cases, government agencies in charge of minority language education suggest or operate changes with no legal basis and interpret the legislation and regulations relating to education without consulting the minority language speakers. The purpose of the legislation defines certain protection or support for the children concerned but this purpose is lost in implementation. According to the Swedish School Inspectorate, there is no right to mother tongue support in pre-school with language competent teachers to which parents could refer. The County Administrative Board proposes that government funding should not be allowed to be used by municipalities for purchasing additional teaching materials in the minority language for pre-school, since this cannot be seen as an additional cost for pre-schools as defined in the government regulation. In any case, pre-schools are supposed to purchase such materials in Swedish.

222. The shadow report also points out a shortage in qualified teachers in Finnish, due inter alia to the lack of good and flexible chances to study and complete one´s studies to become a Finnish teacher. Teacher training in Finnish is concentrated to Stockholm University.

223. The statement by SFD/STR-T provides information on municipalities not fulfilling their obligations with regard to mother tongue tuition in pre-schools. Besides positive examples, the report notes the case of Norrköping, where the municipality had looked into the question for the past two years and finally was considering a teacher that would visit different – up to 16 – pre-schools. In September 2014, in the 52 municipalities that belonged to the Finnish administrative area at the time, only 21 municipalities had Finnish language pre-school units (out of a total of 30 such units). Many children do not receive a place in these pre-school units and the waiting lists are long. Some children waited for a Finnish language pre-school place in their district for four years. Many parents have to place their children in Swedish language pre-schools instead and give up waiting for a Finnish language place. The failure of municipalities to provide services required by the Minority Act may have many reasons, for instance financial ones or the difficulty of recruiting minority language speaking staff. While the situation can be difficult within the administrative areas, it is even worse outside these areas. There are municipalities who ignore their legal obligations.

224. The shadow report of SFD/STR-T states that support provided for children’s linguistic and cultural development in the mother tongue / minority language is insufficient in pre-schools and schools. Most municipalities have no strategy for this. Most of the pedagogues are hired by the hour and they are not part of the pre-school/school organisation. They have very few possibilities to influence the content of the curriculum.

225. Nevertheless, according to the representatives of the speakers, there has been an increase in the amount of municipalities which offer pre-school services of some kind for Finnish.

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226. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled and urges the Swedish authorities to take appropriate measures to strengthen pre-school education in Finnish. The Committee of Experts also asks the Swedish authorities to provide information on the number of municipalities offering pre-school activities in Finnish in the next periodical report.

Pr im ary sc hool





227. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered this undertaking partly fulfilled in municipal schools.

228. According to the sixth periodical report, the Education Ordinance states that for pupils who have a language other than Swedish as their daily means of interaction with one or both custodians in the home, parts of the teaching in years 1-6 may be organised in this language. For Finnish this also applies in years 7-9. In addition, the ordinance on a pilot project with bilingual teaching in compulsory school was extended to 30 June 2016, with a further year’s extension to be added in spring 2016.

229. According to representatives of the speakers, one class in Västerås municipality and one class in Haninge, south of Stockholm, are the only municipalities of the 290 existing ones in Sweden, which offer education partly in Finnish. In addition, the language school in Haparanda offers a bilingual stream in cooperation with its Finnish twin-city Tornio. In part of the remaining municipalities, about one hour of subject teaching per week is offered. The teaching also often takes place outside the regular curriculum and is voluntary. No proactive measures have been taken from the Swedish authorities to increase the offer of bilingual education.

230. However, since there is no teacher education for bilingual teaching methodology, the lack of formally qualified teachers is used by municipalities as an excuse not to offer bilingual education.

231. In the periodical report, distance teaching is presented as a new form of tuition and a solution to mother tongue education. It has been enabled by the new Education Act (of July 2015). “The conditions under which an education provider must provide distance teaching are where the school does not have a licensed or qualified teacher for the subjects in question or where the number of pupils is insufficient.” Another bill on distance teaching, specifically for mother tongue teaching and study guidance, entered into force in April 2016. The periodical report notes that the government intends to conduct a survey in order to gain an overall view on teaching of and in the national minority languages, focusing on the needs and the measures of improvement judged to be necessary. According to the report, there is an increasing demand.

232. The shadow report submitted by SFD/STR-T notes that the situation of bilingual teaching on national minority language has deteriorated regarding the Sweden Finnish minority since the previous monitoring visit. One of the independent bilingual Sweden Finnish Language Schools, in Örebro, had to close down in 2014. Today only six such bilingual independent Sweden Finnish schools remain.

233. Representatives of the speakers confirmed to the Committee of Experts that primary and lower secondary education in Finnish continues to be offered in independent, i.e. private, schools only which are partly financed from the public budget. Only four of the existing six Sweden Finnish independent schools have classes in lower secondary school grades, namely in grades 7 to 9. Another limitative feature of these institutions is that most of them – four out of six – are to be found in or around Stockholm. There is no education for bilingual school or pre-school teachers at present, which means that the possibilities to run bilingual education now and in the future is under threat.

234. See also points 221-224 above, referring to the statement submitted by SFD/STR-T, as information relevant also for primary education.

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235. The Committee of Experts considers that the undertaking remains partly fulfilled and strongly urges the Swedish authorities to take proactive measures to increase the offer of bilingual education and increase the amount of teaching of primary school education for Finnish.

Sec on dar y school





236. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertaking remained not fulfilled and urged the Swedish authorities to take immediate action, in close consultation with the speakers, in order to provide adequate training offers to guarantee education in Finnish at secondary level.

237. Only a few upper secondary schools in Sweden offer lessons in Finnish as an integral part of the curriculum. The number of pupils admitted is very limited, e.g. in Uppsala merely ten. Since the choice of receiving Finnish at upper secondary level is a formal requirement for entrance onto, for example, teacher training programmes, hardly any students fulfil these formal criteria. The Committee of Experts asks the Swedish authorities to solve the problem with the formal requirement for higher education study programmes, in cooperation with the speakers.

238. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled. Therefore, it urges the Swedish authorities to take action, in close consultation with the speakers, in order to provide adequate training offers to guarantee education of Finnish at upper secondary level.






239. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered this undertaking not fulfilled. It u r g e d t he S w edi s h au t ho r ities t o t a k e p r ag m atic ste p s, in co n sul t ati on s w ith the s p e a k e r s, t o p r ovide t e a ch i ng in and of Fi n nish at a ll l e v e ls of ed u c ati o n.


241. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking not fulfilled.





242. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertaking remained fulfilled, but urged the Swedish authorities to make a long-term strategy for Finnish at higher education level, in co-operation with the educational institutions concerned.

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243. The shadow report submitted by the Sweden Finnish Delegation and the National Association of Swedish Tornedalians notes that, although there is a growing interest among youth in studying Finnish (e.g. 400 applications in Uppsala University in autumn 2016, out of which 110 were admitted), the institutional structure of the offer at higher education level is limited and not flexible. Studies in and on Finnish are available at the Universities of Stockholm, Uppsala and Umeå only. Finnish was formerly taught at many other universities – in addition to Stockholm, Uppsala and Umeå, also in Gothenburg, Lund, Luleå Technical University and Mälardalen University. The Finnish section, with a special Sweden Finnish profile, at Mälardalen University was closed down in 2013 when the ear-marked financing was stopped. Luleå Technical University has closed down its Finnish, Meänkieli and Sami language courses, which were given in connection with the former teacher training education.

244. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the speakers added that in Uppsala University only distance learning in Finnish is available. Stockholm University is now the only institution that offers education about Finnish both for speakers of Finnish and at beginner’s level.

245. The Committee of Experts considers that the undertaking remains fulfilled. However, it strongly urges the Swedish authorities to make a long-term strategy for Finnish at higher education level, in co-operation with the educational institutions concerned.

Teac hin g of th e h is tory and c ulture

g. to make arrangements to ensure the teaching of the history and the culture which is reflected by the regional or minority language;

246. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertaking remained partly fulfilled.

247. In the sixth periodical report, the Swedish authorities state that knowledge on the culture, language, religion and history of the national minorities is an integrated part of the curriculum in compulsory schools. However, the knowledge required by teachers is not part of teacher training in general.

248. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled. It asks the Swedish authorities to provide information in the next periodical report on how the gap between the required compulsory curriculum content in schools and the lack of teacher training content concerning the national minorities is being closed.

Bas ic and further teacher tr aining


249. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertaking remained partly fulfilled and asked the Swedish authorities to present updated information on the processes in the next periodical report. The Committee of Ministers recommended to the Swedish authorities to “develop a dedicated and properly resourced system of teacher training for all national minority languages.”

250. According to the sixth periodical report, an additional SEK 1.5 million (€160 000) will be allocated to teacher training for Finnish, Meänkieli, Sami and Romani from 2016 onwards, raising the annual funding per language to SEK 2 million (€210 000). Stockholm University was granted authorisation in June 2013 to issue grades in the subject “teacher qualification”, specialising in working in years 7-9 of compulsory (i.e. primary plus lower secondary) school in Finnish as a mother tongue. This course has been offered since 2015 and 10 students have taken the course so far.

251. There is no teacher education for pre-school teachers, teachers for the lower grades 1-6 in primary school, or bilingual education, all of which directions are demanded by the speakers.

252. The shadow report submitted by the Sweden Finnish Delegation and the National Association of Swedish Tornedalians notes that one of the main reasons for the shortage in qualified teachers in Finnish is the lack of good and flexible chances to study and complete one’s studies to become a Finnish teacher.

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253. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled. It encourages the Swedish authorities to develop a coherent teacher education system, including training of pre-school, lower primary school teacher, and bilingual education teacher profiles, in cooperation with the speakers and the educational institutions concerned.

The Committee of Experts urges the Swedish authorities to create a structured policy for Finnish education, including an adequate provision of mother tongue instruction and bilingual education in municipal schools, a coherent teacher education for all levels and to create additional teaching materials for all levels.



254. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered the undertaking fulfilled. However, it was unclear to the Committee of Experts if reports, i.e. monitoring and quality control surveys by the Swedish Schools Inspectorate, were published at regular intervals. It asked the Swedish authorities to provide such information in the next periodical report.


256. During the on-the-spot visit, the Swedish authorities mentioned that an inquiry is being conducted on the efficiency of the measures taken so far to strengthening the minority language policy and the minority education policy in municipalities.

257. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking not fulfilled at present and asks the Swedish authorities to provide the relevant information in the next periodical report.

Paragraph 2


258. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts concluded that the undertaking remained partly fulfilled. It urged the Swedish authorities to monitor the implementation of the Education Act and Minority Act with respect to mother tongue instruction.

259. According to the sixth periodical report, the Institute for Languages and Folklore (ISOF) allocates funding for revitalising all the national minority languages, amounting to approximately SEK 3.5 million (€370 000) per year. The initiative seeks to enable individuals to acquire languages. When allocating grants, projects targeted to children and young people, literacy projects, projects focusing on the language as a bearer of culture and language transfer between the generations are given priority. The number of applicants has fallen in recent years and the reason for this has not yet been explored in further detail. However, the ISOF stated that the projects, in the vast majority, have been successful.

260. According to an evaluation report on the Swedish national minority policy in the period 2010-2014, only a few of the 215 municipalities which do not belong to any administrative areas took efforts to fulfil their legal obligations concerning the “basic protection‟ of national minorities and minority languages.

261. The projects and activities described in the sixth periodical report refer to initiatives by the speakers, which are at least partly funded by the authorities and belong within the realm of informal learning of the minority languages. However, the formal education of Finnish outside the territories in which it is traditionally used and partly even within these areas, remains patchy and unsatisfactory. A considerable number of Finnish-speakers live in municipalities outside the administrative area for Finnish. The Committee of Experts has not been informed about the extent to which teaching in and of Finnish is offered in those municipalities.

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262. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled and urges the Swedish authorities to take proactive measures to strengthen the education offer in Finnish in municipalities which do not belong to the administrative area for Finnish.

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Paragraph 1



iv to produce, on request, documents connected with legal proceedings in the relevant regional or minority language,


263. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that this undertaking remained partly fulfilled.

264. According to the sixth periodical report, the right to use minority languages in contact with the judicial authorities remains a work in progress “as it is vital to maintain the linguistic quality of processes within the judicial system”. In October 2013, more stringent rules were introduced on interpretation and translation in criminal cases. A person found guilty of a crime does not have to repay the costs paid by the state for public defence counsel expenses for the interpretation of deliberations with the accused. A person who has a private defence counsel and is found guilty of a crime must also be able to have their own costs for the interpretation of deliberations with the defence counsel repaid by the State. The rules also cover the minority languages and apply to all courts in Sweden.







267. The periodical report notes that there is a great need for interpreters in the Swedish courts and the availability of interpreters is limited. In 2015, the Swedish Agency for Public Management was commissioned by the government to produce a number of proposed measures to enable the courts to make more effective use of existing translation and interpretation resources. The proposals are currently being prepared within the government offices of Sweden.

268. However, the shadow report submitted by the speakers points out that the authorities interpret the terms used in the relevant provision of the Minority Act in a restrictive way, claiming that the provision refers to the sentence to be translated but not to the appeal.

269. During the on-the-spot visit, officials of the Swedish National Court Administration noted that interpreting for Finnish is requested quite frequently at court. There is a lack of court interpreters in Sweden, especially for minority languages. The National Courts Administration has recently obtained a mandate for the training of court interpreters. A newly launched “fast track” training of five months for interpreters and translators was also mentioned, however, this course does not provide specialisation, for example in legal subjects. Neither does this education foresee authorisation of interpreters, which is a requirement for some court cases. Another reason for the lack of interpreters is the retirement of the older generation, and the fact that much less new professional interpreters are being trained and recruited.

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270. According to information received during the sixth monitoring circle, the need for interpreters in Finnish is again rising, due to the retirement of qualified interpreters, but no educational strategy to meet this change is foreseen.

271. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking fulfilled at present. However, it considers the future fulfilment of this undertaking clearly at risk, due to the retirement of specialised interpreters and translators.

Paragraph 3


272. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertaking remained partly fulfilled and asked the Swedish authorities to provide the requested information in the next periodical report.


274. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled and again asks the Swedish authorities to provide information, in the next periodical report, on the progress made with respect to planned and accomplished translations of statutory or legal texts into Finnish.


Paragraph 1




275. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered the undertaking remained partly fulfilled and asked the Swedish authorities to provide additional information in the next periodical report.

276. According to the sixth periodical report, Södermanland County Administrative Board is promoting the recruitment of Finnish speaking staff. Another good example mentioned in the sixth periodical report is Norrbotten County, since part of their web content is available in Sami, Meänkieli and Finnish. Where necessary, translation or interpreting services are used. In addition, the switchboard has information on which people know languages other than Swedish, including minority languages. In the animal protection and veterinary unit, documents and decisions are translated into minority languages where relevant. To facilitate communication and enable owners to look after their livestock according to regulations, some brochures and information sheets have been translated into the minority languages of Finnish and Sami.

277. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of public administration and of the speakers indicated to the Committee of Experts that Finnish is frequently used in contact with public administration and county level public institutions such as health care, etc.

278. However, representatives of the speakers pointed out that the possibility of using Finnish in contact with public administration and county level public institutions is limited, mainly due to the language capacity among staff, which is unevenly distributed, in health care for example. Although there might be a small number of interpreters, there is no demand. On the one hand, there are not enough Finnish speaking staff in the public administration, and on the other hand it is difficult to identify staff members who have minority language skills. The representatives of public administration and of the speakers noted that an important initiative would be to run a survey identifying staff with a knowledge of Finnish. They should also offer appropriate training for staff in Finnish. According to the interlocutors of the Committee of Experts, all this depends ultimately on the county councils.

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279. During the sixth monitoring cycle, it was reported by the ISOF that the Finnish section of the Language Council provides adapted language courses for staff in health care.

280. Due to the conflicting information, compared to earlier reports, in which the use of Finnish was recurrent, the Committee of Experts again asks the Swedish authorities to provide information on how the language competence in Finnish has been mapped, in order to place the staff competent in Finnish in posts that are able to serve in Finnish, when needed.

281. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled. It again encourages the Swedish authorities to ensure that users of regional or minority languages may submit oral or written applications and receive a reply in these languages as well as to allow the administrative authorities to draft documents in a regional or minority language.

Paragraph 2


...



282. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts maintained its previous evaluation that Article 10(2)c remained not fulfilled and Article 10(2)d remained partly fulfilled. It asked the Swedish authorities to provide additional information in the next periodical report on these undertakings.


284. The Committee of Experts maintains its previous conclusion. It again asks the Swedish authorities to provide the relevant information in the next periodical report.

g. the use or adoption, if necessary in conjunction with the name in the official language(s), of traditional and correct forms of place-names in regional or minority languages.

285. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered this undertaking fulfilled and asked the Swedish authorities for information on the ongoing process of implementation of the bilingual signage policy.

286. In the sixth periodical report, the Swedish authorities point out a positive trend in this area. As of February 2016, there were 8,632 place names in Finnish on the place name register. There are 938,400 place names in Swedish on the register. When marking place names, the Historic Environment Act applies and this entered into force in its current wording on 1 January 2014. The work also means that many of the place names that require signage need to be submitted to the ISOF and representatives of minorities for consultation.

287. Adding names in minority languages only applies to place name signs, i.e. only such signs that label a geographical place such as a community, watercourse, etc. When it comes to road signs, i.e. signs showing the direction of a location, there is no double signage in both Swedish and the minority language. To cement the current use of place names in each respective area, the ISOF works with a far-reaching network of contacts at local level comprising, e.g. study circle leaders, members of villages and local place name projects as well as municipal minority language coordinators. The ISOF also runs training for organisations and government agencies to improve language skills and awareness of the importance of place names.

288. According to the sixth periodical report, in total 8 sites for road signs with place names in Finnish have been set up.

289. The Committee of Experts is not aware of the extent to which Forest Finnish place names are being set up in its core areas in Central and Western Sweden.

290. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the speakers also noted that some progress has been made with regard to place name signs in municipalities, on public buildings as well as on road

CM(2017)… 46

signs. However, this development has not been general, since a number of municipalities lack funds to finance the setting up of signs.

291. The Committee of Experts still considers the undertaking fulfilled.


Paragraph 1


a. to the extent that radio and television carry out a public service mission:

...

iii to make adequate provision so that broadcasters offer programmes in the regional or minority languages

292. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertakings remain fulfilled. However, the Committee of Experts had received differing information on the number of hours broadcast by SVT in Finnish. It therefore asked the Swedish authorities to clarify this in the next periodical report.

293. According to the sixth periodical report, the broadcasting licences of public broadcasters do not specify the lowest number of hours that the programme companies should devote to broadcasting programmes in the minority languages. On the other hand, it is stated that the range of programming overall must increase each year compared with the level in 2013 and that the increase must be significant. The requirements governing the programme companies’ range of programming in minority languages have thus been tightened up compared to the rules that applied during the 2010–2013 licence period. Furthermore, requirements are now set in the broadcasting licences that all the programme production companies must provide programming in the national minority languages and that particular attention must be paid to the linguistic needs of children and young people who belong to linguistic or ethnic minority groups.

294. SVT broadcasts news, community programmes, children’s programmes, documentaries, etc. in Finnish. In 2015, the total number of hours of Finnish language programmes broadcast on SVT was 325 hours and on SR there were 7,390 hours in Finnish. UR broadcast programmes in Finnish on television and radio in 2015. In the same year, SR Sisuradio broadcast programmes in Finnish on the terrestrial network (FM and DAB) for 7,390 hours and on its own Sisuradio web channel. SR has sought to reach the listeners who do not find their way to the Finnish language content on FM by having a presence on other platforms. In 2013 and 2014, initiatives were carried out on social media, partly through the projects #vågafinska, #finskapåjobbet, #kärienfinne and #språkband. Programmes in Finnish were also available on the websites of the respective programme companies’ online services SVT Play, SR Play and UR Play. In 2015, a total of 7 hours of programmes in Finnish were made available on SVT’s Open Archive.

295. TV Finland is available as a free television channel in Stockholm, Uppsala and Västerås. There is also a paid cable TV channel in parts of the country. News and some of Finnish YLE’s other programmes are also available via the online service YLE Areena.

296. The shadow report submitted by the Sweden Finnish Delegation and the National Association of Swedish Tornedalians notes that for some of the minority languages there is a dire need for more reporters who speak the minority language. There is also a need to increase reporting on local minority news, not only Stockholm based news reporting. In the late 1990s there were as many as 50-60 personnel, mostly reporters engaged in this work. Today the number of reporters has decreased drastically and some positions are not even refilled when a staff member retires. At the moment, there are no institutions that have the responsibility of providing bilingual training to journalists, in Finnish and Swedish.

297. In the shadow report, a number of issues of concern and negative trends are expanded upon. In the autumn of 2015, a number of major changes took place in the Finnish language SR Sisuradio. The changes consisted of changing broadcasts from the more popular regional P4 channel to the less popular P2 channel (national channel for classical music and foreign languages). P2 has in general very few listeners and is perceived as a more marginal channel by listeners in general. Finnish prime time

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broadcasts were moved to an afternoon time slot and at midnight. Finnish language broadcasts have no remaining prime time slots. The popular regional broadcasts have disappeared, since they were moved away from P4 that has regional broadcasting. The daily news-oriented broadcasts (“Studio Sisu”, Monday-Friday 4-5pm) were replaced with a talk-show (1-3pm). The Swedish language is taking over the use of Finnish language in the content in some of the broadcasts. According to SR Sisuradio, the purpose is to provide so-called bilingual programmes, in order to attract a younger Sweden Finnish audience that is presumed to have lost most of its Finnish language. Following this logic, Swedish and Finnish ought to be mixed in the programmes, but Swedish dominates. Sometimes there are only some phrases in Finnish, and the rest is in Swedish. The local section of the Swedish Union of Journalists filed a written complaint to the executives dated 28 November 2014 protesting against the planned changes. The management did not change its decisions and followed through on the plans. In order to answer the viewers’ concerns, an in-show call was held on 28 May 2015 at 6.10-7pm and a so-called FAQ was made available on the internet.

298. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the speakers added that negative trends in media presence and accessibility of programmes in Finnish continue, and representatives of the minorities do not get information about the reasons for the changes nor about the further plans of the public broadcasters with regard to these programmes. It is not clear to the Committee of Experts whether the planned increase in broadcasting time for radio is covered by the increase of Swedish-medium broadcasts by Finnish-speaking journalists. Therefore, the Committee of Experts asks the Swedish authorities to clarify this in the next periodical report.

299. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking still fulfilled. However, it invites the Swedish authorities to address concerns raised by the speakers.

d. to encourage and/or facilitate the production and distribution of audio and audiovisual works in the regional or minority languages;

300. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered the undertaking partly fulfilled.

301. During the sixth monitoring cycle, the Committee of Experts did not receive any new information regarding this undertaking.

302. The Committee of Experts maintains its conclusion that the undertaking is partly fulfilled. It asks the Swedish authorities to provide information on the extent to which the authorities support the production of audiovisual products in Finnish.


303. In the previous evaluation reports, starting from the second monitoring cycle, the Committee of Experts considered the undertaking fulfilled.

304. However, in the sixth monitoring cycle, the Committee of Experts received new relevant information from the representatives of the speakers, in the light of which it considers it necessary to re-evaluate the situation with regard to this undertaking.

305. Academic staff as well as representatives of the speakers informed the Committee of Experts about the critical situation of publications and magazines in Finnish in Sweden. Any activity in this area has to be carried out exclusively on a volunteer basis, as absolutely no funding has been available from the public budget for a number of years. The few journalists, reporters and editors who remain – as training and recruitment are not available either – work on the newspapers and magazines in their spare time, parallel to their paid activities, which makes the production and the publishing of the papers extremely difficult and unstable.

306. The weekly newspaper Ruotsin Suomalainen continues to be published. It is not known to the Committee of Experts the extent to which this receives funding from public sources.

307. The Committee of Experts is not in a position to conclude on this undertaking. It asks the Swedish authorities to report on the measures taken to encourage the maintenance of at least one newspaper in Finnish.

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f. ii to apply existing measures for financial assistance also to audiovisual productions in the regional or minority languages;


309. According to the sixth periodical report, the Swedish Film Institute granted funding to the Finnish Institute for its work in distributing films in Sweden which have been produced in Finland and granted funding to local cinemas which showed new films produced in Finland, in partnership with the Finnish Institute. During the period concerned, a film with Finland as the main production country was granted funding. Two festivals of Finnish films received funding via the Swedish Arts Council’s funding for national minority cultural activities.

310. In December 2015, the government commissioned the Swedish Film Institute to support access to children's films in the national minority languages. The Swedish Film Institute has SEK 814,000 (€82 700) available to spend on adapting the language of films aimed at children, primarily for those aged 4 to 8, mainly through dubbing. The commission also involves working to ensure that such adapted films are widely distributed.

311. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking fulfilled.

Article 12 – Cultural activities and facilities

Paragraph 1

With regard to cultural activities and facilities – especially libraries, video libraries, cultural centres, museums, archives, academies, theatres and cinemas, as well as literary work and film production, vernacular forms of cultural expression, festivals and the culture industries, including inter alia the use of new technologies – the Parties undertake, within the territory in which such languages are used and to the extent that the public authorities are competent, have power or play a role in this field:

...

g. to encourage and/or facilitate the creation of a body or bodies responsible for collecting, keeping a copy of and presenting or publishing works produced in the regional or minority languages;

312. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertaking remained partly fulfilled. The Committee requested targeted and detailed information about the ISOF’s decision in the next periodical report. Furthermore, it recommended the Swedish authorities to create a long-term support scheme for the Sweden Finnish Archives.

313. Neither the sixth periodical report nor the shadow report by SFD/STR-T provide any relevant information with regard to this undertaking.

314. During the sixth monitoring cycle, the Committee of Experts has been informed that a lump sum has been given to the Sweden Finnish archives, based on an annual application procedure. A similar small sum has been received from the Finnish State. These sums do not suffice to cover a full position’s employment and other costs. Additional projects have been able to sustain the archives for the last three year period. However, the upcoming retirement of the Director and the lack of regular funding now threatens the existence of the archives.

315. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled. Therefore, it urges the Swedish authorities to create a long-term support scheme for the Sweden Finnish Archives. It also asks the Swedish authorities to provide the relevant information in the next periodical report.

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3.2.4. Meänkieli


Paragraph 1

With regard to education, the Parties undertake, within the territory in which such languages are used, according to the situation of each of these languages, and without prejudice to the teaching of the official language(s) of the State:

Pr e-sc hool




316. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertaking remained partly fulfilled. The Committee of Experts again “strongly urged the Swedish authorities to improve the offering of pre-school education in Meänkieli throughout the area where the language is traditionally spoken”. It also asked the Swedish authorities to provide information on the extent to which pre-school services in Meänkieli are provided within its administrative area.

317. The shadow report submitted by the Sweden Finnish Delegation (SFD) and the National Association of Swedish Tornedalians (STR-T) notes that pre-schools and schools lack the tools, knowledge, clearly defined goals and working methods for revitalising Meänkieli. The staff is often not formally qualified and is often unaware of minority rights legislation. They are not up-to-date with the situation of the minorities. Frequent changes in staff makes it harder for children to learn and develop Meänkieli language and identity. There is also a lot of problems with lack of awareness of these rights among the national minorities as well. As long as there is no functioning teacher training in place for Meänkieli and a lack of trained teachers, revitalisation of Meänkieli has to be promoted through other means. Schools need support in providing a national minority perspective in their work. There are a lot of invisible barriers to deal with: unwillingness to change, negative attitudes, lack of teaching materials etc.

318. During the on-the-spot visit, the representatives of the speakers stressed the importance of a Meänkieli language centre to be set up, following the successful model of the Sami language centres. Such an institution could efficiently accumulate and convey methodology, human know-how, human resources and knowledge to pre-school and school teachers.

319. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled. It asks the authorities to provide information, in the next periodical report, about how many children receive Meänkieli support or can use it “partly or completely” in pre-schools.

Primary school





320. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered the undertaking not fulfilled. The Committee of Experts again strongly urged the Swedish authorities to take the necessary proactive steps to provide an adequate model for the teaching of Meänkieli as an integral part of the curriculum. The Committee of Experts asked the Swedish authorities to provide information in the next periodical report. In the fifth monitoring cycle, the Committee of Ministers adopted its reiterated recommendation addressed to the Swedish authorities to "... establish bilingual education in Meänkieli”.

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321. According to the sixth periodical report, current legislation makes possible minority language learning for children of 1st to 6th grade who already have this language as their mother tongue.

322. The sixth periodical report also notes that there have been two separate sets of syllabi for compulsory (i.e. primary and lower secondary) school in the national minority languages, including Meänkieli since July 2015. These respective sets of syllabi are aimed at first and second language speakers. In other words, the steering documents are in place and are to be used for teaching in Meänkieli. The content of the syllabi for the national minority languages is similar, although they differ in terms of the parts dealing with the culture of the respective minority language.

323. In the periodical report, distance teaching is presented as a new form of tuition and a solution to mother tongue education, especially for Meänkieli.

324. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the speakers pointed out that no progress has been made in education in and of Meänkieli since the previous monitoring visit of the Committee of Experts. No proactive measures have been taken by the Swedish authorities to establish the offer of bilingual education. Although the legal provisions should work as obligations, the speakers have to step up and fight for their right to mother tongue education in order to have it applied and implemented. As no sanctions are included in the law, nor a systematic follow-up in place, public administration and its staff is not always ready to comply with the provisions. Teaching in Meänkieli is currently offered in only a few of the municipalities within the administrative area, amounting to about one hour per week. The teaching also often takes place outside the regular curriculum and is voluntary. In total 90 children attended mother tongue instruction in Meänkieli in the last school year. Currently, in total 140 students attend courses in or of Meänkieli. Eight teachers give lessons in the language, most of whom are part-time. Since there is no teacher education for bilingual teaching methodology, the lack of formally qualified teachers is used by municipalities as an excuse not to offer bilingual education.

325. See also points 221-224 and 317 above, referring to the shadow report submitted by SFD/STR-T, as information relevant also for primary education in Meänkieli.

326. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled. It again strongly urges the Swedish authorities to take proactive measures to provide an offer of bilingual education in Meänkieli along with an adequate model for the teaching of Meänkieli. The Committee of Experts also asks the authorities to provide information, in the next periodical report, about how the teaching for the groups of first and second language pupils is arranged in practice. It also asks for information on the number of pupils participating in the two streams separately.

Sec on dar y school





327. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered the undertaking not fulfilled and encouraged the Swedish authorities to pursue their efforts in order to increase the offer of Meänkieli at secondary level and to provide for adequate teacher training. The Committee of Experts asked the Swedish authorities to provide additional information on the number of students currently learning Meänkieli at secondary level and invited the authorities to encourage students in their efforts to study Meänkieli.

328. According to the information provided during the sixth monitoring cycle, there is still no secondary school in place in which the teaching of Meänkieli is an integral part of the curriculum.

329. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking not fulfilled. Therefore, it urges the Swedish authorities to pursue their efforts in order to increase the offer of Meänkieli at secondary level and to provide for adequate teacher training. The Committee of Experts also asks the Swedish authorities to provide additional information on the number of students currently learning Meänkieli at secondary level.


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330. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered the undertaking not fulfilled and “urged the Swedish authorities to investigate, in co-operation with the speakers, the possibility of offering Meänkieli-medium vocational education.”


332. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking not fulfilled. It again urges the Swedish authorities to investigate, in co-operation with the speakers, the possibility of offering Meänkieli-medium instruction within vocational education. It also asks Swedish authorities to provide the relevant information in the next periodical report.





333. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts concluded that the undertaking was not fulfilled and asked the Swedish authorities to take measures to create a long-term strategy for the development of Meänkieli teaching and research at higher education level.

334. The Committee of Experts was informed, during the sixth monitoring cycle, about the creation of university level courses of Meänkieli in autumn 2014, assigned to Umeå University.

335. The shadow report submitted by the Sweden Finnish Delegation and the National Association of Swedish Tornedalians notes that the position of the language is not very strong in the designated university as shown by the developments of autumn 2014. An unexpectedly large number of students - 100 people – applied to study elementary Meänkieli. The announced course was cancelled with the explanation that having it would have cost the university too much. The decision caused a lot of resentment on the part of Met Nuoret, the Tornedalian youth organisation, who stated that Umeå was the only university in Sweden where Meänkieli could be studied, but that it was not even possible now that there is a clear demand. During the academic year of 2016-2017, a new part-time teaching position has made it possible to offer elementary courses again at Umeå University.

336. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the speakers pointed out that in total 140 students currently attend courses in or of Meänkieli, but that there were 200 applications made on the whole.

337. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled. However, it urges the Swedish authorities to set up a long-term strategy for the development of Meänkieli teaching and research at higher education level.

g. to make arrangements to ensure the teaching of the history and the culture which is reflected by the regional or minority language;

338. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertaking was formally fulfilled and asked the Swedish authorities to provide additional information about the extent to which such teaching for the majority of children (i.e. non-speaker) actually takes place, as well as the extent to which teacher education provides the necessary knowledge to implement the aims of the curriculum.

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339. In the sixth periodical report, the Swedish authorities state that knowledge on the culture, language, religion and history of the national minorities is an integrated part of the curriculum in compulsory schools. However, the knowledge required by teachers is not part of teacher training in general.

340. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled. It asks the Swedish authorities to provide information in the next periodical report on how the gap between the required compulsory curriculum content in schools and the lack of teacher training content concerning the national minorities is being closed.

Bas ic a nd f urther tr a in in g of teac her s


341. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered the undertaking partly fulfilled and urged the Swedish authorities to take pragmatic steps, in consultation with the speakers, to provide teaching in and of Meänkieli at all levels of education. The Committee of Experts also strongly urged the Swedish authorities to take measures to create long-term, coherent teacher education programmes and asked the authorities to provide more detailed information in the next periodical report. The Committee of Ministers recommended to the Swedish authorities that they “develop a dedicated and properly resourced system of teacher training for all regional or minority languages.”

342. According to the sixth periodical report, an additional SEK 1.5 million (€160 000) will be allocated to teacher training for Finnish, Meänkieli, Sami and Romani Chib from 2016 onwards, raising the annual funding per language to SEK 2 million (€210 000). Furthermore, the government has decided to transfer, from 2016, the task of building up and developing the subject “teacher training in Meänkieli” from Stockholm University to Umeå University, in the light of the Council of Europe’s recommendation and the desire of the national minorities that teaching in the language and teacher training in Meänkieli should be concentrated at one university in Sweden.

343. During the on-the-spot visit, academic staff of Umeå University highlighted that a junior lecturer of Meänkieli is working at their Department of Language Studies.

344. However, representatives of the speakers pointed out the critical lack of teachers at all levels of education. The lack of teachers is largely a result of the fact that there is no teacher training education. This also makes it possible for municipalities to avoid offering provisions that protect and promote the use of minority languages, including Meänkieli, in education.

345. The shadow report submitted by the speakers notes that a scholarship scheme is vital for the recruitment (and successful maintaining) of students in minority language teacher training, as well as providing them with some enticements for becoming teachers.


The Committee of Experts urges the Swedish authorities to create a structured policy for education in and of Meänkieli, including an adequate provision of mother tongue instruction in municipal schools, a long-term strategy for the development of Meänkieli teaching at higher education level, a coherent and properly resourced system of teacher education for all levels, as well as to create additional teaching materials for all levels. The Committee of Experts urges the Swedish authorities to set up a supervisory body or bodies responsible for monitoring the measures taken and progress achieved in establishing or developing the teaching of regional or minority languages and for drawing up periodic reports of their findings, which will be made public.



347. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered the undertaking fulfilled. However, it was unclear to the Committee of Experts if reports, i.e. monitoring and quality control

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surveys by the Swedish Schools Inspectorate, were published at regular intervals. It asked the Swedish authorities to provide such information in the next periodical report.


349. During the on-the-spot visit, the Swedish authorities mentioned that an inquiry is being conducted on the efficiency of the measures taken so far to strengthen of the minority language policy and of the minority education policy in municipalities.

350. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking not fulfilled at present. It asks the Swedish authorities to provide the relevant information in the next periodical report.

Paragraph 2


351. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts concluded that the undertaking remained partly fulfilled. It urged the Swedish authorities to monitor the implementation of the Education Act and Minority Act with respect to mother tongue instruction. It also urged the Swedish authorities to provide more information on the learning of Meänkieli outside the territories where it is traditionally used.

352. According to the sixth periodical report, the Institute for Languages and Folklore (ISOF) allocates funding for revitalising all the national minority languages, amounting to approximately SEK 3.5 million (€370 000) per year. The initiative seeks to enable individuals to acquire languages. When allocating grants, projects targeted to children and young people, literacy projects, projects focusing on the language as a bearer of culture, and language transfer between the generations are given priority. The number of applicants has fallen in recent years and the reason for this has not yet been explored in further detail. However, the ISOF stated that the projects, in the vast majority, have been successful.

353. According to an evaluation report on the Swedish national minority policy in the period 2010-2014, only a few of the 215 municipalities which do not belong to any administrative areas took efforts to fulfil their legal obligations concerning the “basic protection‟ of national minorities and minority languages.

354. The projects and activities described in the sixth periodical report refer to initiatives by the speakers, which are at least partly funded by the authorities and belong within the realm of informal learning of the minority languages. However, the formal education of Meänkieli outside the territories in which it is traditionally used and partly even within these areas, remains patchy and unsatisfactory.

355. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking only partly fulfilled and urges the Swedish authorities to take proactive measures to strengthen the education offer in Meänkieli in municipalities which do not belong to the administrative area for Meänkieli. It also asks the Swedish authorities to provide specific information on the education offer in Meänkieli outside the administrative area for Meänkieli.


Paragraph 1



ii to guarantee the accused the right to use his/her regional or minority language;


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356. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts concluded that the undertaking remained formally fulfilled. It encouraged the Swedish authorities to improve its practical implementation, in co-operation with the speakers, and to provide information about the possible extension to use Meänkieli in courts, in the next periodical report.

357. According to the sixth periodical report, the right to use minority languages in contact with the judicial authorities remains a work in progress, “as it is vital to maintain the linguistic quality of processes within the judicial system.” In October 2013, more stringent rules were introduced on interpretation and translation in criminal cases. A person found guilty of a crime does not have to repay the costs paid by the state for public defence counsel expenses for the interpretation of deliberations with the accused. A person who has a private defence counsel and is found guilty of a crime must also be able to have their own costs for the interpretation of deliberations with the defence counsel repaid by the State. The rules also cover the minority languages and apply to all courts in Sweden.







360. The periodical report notes that there is a great need for interpreters in the Swedish courts and that the availability of interpreters is limited. In 2015, the Swedish Agency for Public Management was commissioned by the government to produce a number of proposed measures to enable the courts to make more effective use of existing translation and interpretation resources. The proposals are currently being prepared within the government offices of Sweden.

361. During the on-the-spot visit, officials of the Swedish National Court Administration noted that interpreting for Meänkieli is requested in none or only a handful of the cases at court. There is a lack of court interpreters in Sweden, especially for minority languages. Only one single interpreter for Meänkieli is registered at courts for the whole country. The National Courts Administration has recently obtained a mandate for the training of court interpreters. A newly launched “fast track” training of five months for interpreters and translators was also mentioned, however, this course doesn’t provide specialisation, for example in legal subjects. Neither does this education foresee authorisation of interpreters, which is a requirement for some court cases. Another reason for the lack of interpreters is the retirement of the older generation, and the fact that much less new professional interpreters are being trained and recruited.

362. During the sixth monitoring cycle, no information was provided about the possible extension to use Meänkieli in courts.

363. According to information received during the sixth monitoring circle, no educational strategy to train interpreters in Meänkieli is foreseen.

364. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled. It encourages the Swedish authorities to develop a proactive approach to the support of using Meänkieli in court. The Committee of Experts also asks the Swedish authorities to provide information on the extent to which Meänkieli is concerned in any education of interpreters and translators.

a.iv to produce, on request, documents connected with legal proceedings in the relevant regional

or minority language,


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366. According to the sixth periodical report, the right to use minority languages in contact with the judicial authorities remains a work in progress, “as it is vital to maintain the linguistic quality of processes within the judicial system.”

367. The shadow report submitted by the speakers points out that the authorities interpret the terms used in the relevant provision of the Minority Act in a restrictive way.

368. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled. It again asks the Swedish authorities to provide the relevant specific information in the next periodical report.

b in civil proceedings:

...



c in proceedings before courts concerning administrative matters:

...



369. No additional information was provided in the fifth periodical report. Therefore, the Committee of Experts concluded that the undertaking still remained formally fulfilled. The Committee asked the Swedish authorities to provide specific information on the implementation of this undertaking.

370. During the sixth monitoring cycle, no relevant information was provided with regard to this undertaking.

371. The Committee of Experts considers that the undertaking is formally fulfilled. It urges the Swedish authorities to provide the relevant specific information in the next periodical report.

Paragraph 3


372. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertaking remained partly fulfilled. It asked the Swedish authorities to provide information on the progress made with respect to planned and accomplished translations of statutory or legal texts into Meänkieli in the next periodical report.


374. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled. It again asks the Swedish authorities to provide information on the progress made with respect to planned and accomplished translations of statutory or legal texts into Meänkieli in the next periodical report.


Paragraph 1

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375. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts concluded that Article 10(1)a.iii remained not fulfilled and that Article 10(1)c remained formally fulfilled. The Committee of Experts asked the Swedish authorities to provide additional information in the next periodical report.

376. According to the sixth periodical report, the government lacks specific and comprehensive information with respect to the extent to which administrative bodies and organisations as well as public services and providers have staff skilled in minority languages. Nevertheless, a good example mentioned in the sixth periodical report is Norrbotten County, since part of their web content is available in Sami, Meänkieli and Finnish. Where necessary, translation or interpreting services are used. In addition, the switchboard has information on which people know languages other than Swedish, including minority languages. In the animal protection and veterinary unit, documents and decisions are translated into minority languages where relevant.

377. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of public administration and of the speakers indicated to the Committee of Experts that Meänkieli is not or rarely used in contact with county level public administration. Although there is one official interpreter for Meänkieli in Sweden, there is no formal demand for this service. On the one hand, there are not enough Meänkieli speaking staff in the public administration and on the other hand it is difficult to identify staff members who have minority language skills. The representatives of public administration and of the speakers noted that an important initiative would be to explore staff with minority language skills and to give them and other volunteering non-speaker staff appropriate training in the minority languages. According to the contacts of the Committee of Experts, all of this depends ultimately on the county councils.

378. Representatives of the speakers also pointed out that the possibility of using Meänkieli in contact with public administration and county level public institutions is limited, mainly due to fact that the language capacity among staff is unevenly distributed, in health care for example.

379. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking formally fulfilled for Article 10(1)c and is not in a position to conclude with respect to Article 10(1)a.iii. The Committee of Experts again asks the Swedish authorities to provide the relevant specific information in the next periodical report.

Paragraph 2


...

b the possibility for users of regional or minority languages to submit oral or written applications in these languages;



380. In the fifth periodical report, no additional information was provided. Therefore, the Committee of Experts confirmed its previous conclusions and considered that Article 10(2)b. remained partly fulfilled, Article 10(2)c. was still not fulfilled and Article 10(2)d remained partly fulfilled.

381. According to the sixth periodical report, Section 8 of the Minority Act states that a person shall have the right to use the Finnish, Meänkieli or Sami language in oral and written dealings with an administrative authority whose geographical sphere of activity coincides completely or partly with the administrative area of the minority language. If a person uses Finnish, Meänkieli or Sami in such a matter, the authority is obliged to give an oral answer in the same language. Also, a person who lacks legal assistance shall have the right, on request, to receive a written translation into the Finnish,

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Meänkieli or Sami language of the decision and rationale for the decision in the matter. The authority shall otherwise also strive to use these languages when dealing with such a person.

382. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking formally fulfilled for 10(2)b, and partly fulfilled for 10(2)c and d. It again asks the Swedish authorities to provide the relevant information in the next periodical report.

g the use or adoption, if necessary in conjunction with the name in the official language(s), of traditional and correct forms of place-names in regional or minority languages.

383. In the fourth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered the undertaking fulfilled. The Committee of Experts asked the Swedish authorities to provide more information in the next periodical report.

384. In the sixth periodical report, the Swedish authorities point out a positive trend in this area. As of February 2016, there were 5,936 place names in Meänkieli on the place name register. There are 938,400 place names in Swedish on the register. The increased density of place names in the Tornedalian areas today is largely due to new lists of place names being reported to the mapping authority, either by private individuals or by representatives of the different villages. When marking place names, the Historic Environment Act applies and this entered into force in its current wording on 1 January 2014. The work also means that many of the place names that require signage need to be submitted to the ISOF and representatives of minorities, e.g. the Sami Parliament and Swedish Tornedalian Association (STR-T), for consultation.

385. Adding names in minority languages only applies to place name signs, i.e. only such signs that label a geographical place such as a community, watercourse, etc. When it comes to road signs, i.e. signs showing the direction of a location, there is no double signage in both Swedish and the minority language. To cement the current use of place names in each respective area, the ISOF works with a far-reaching network of contacts at local level comprising, e.g. Meänkieli study circle leaders, members of town councils as well as municipal minority language coordinators. The ISOF also runs training for organisations and government agencies to improve language skills and awareness of the importance of place names.

386. According to the sixth periodical report, in total 41 sites for road signs with place names in Meänkieli have been set up.

387. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the speakers also noted that some progress has been made with regard to place name signs in municipalities (on public buildings as well as on road signs). However, this development has not been general, since a number of municipalities lack funds to finance the setting up of signs.

388. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking fulfilled. It commends the Swedish authorities for progress in this field.


Paragraph 1


a to the extent that radio and television carry out a public service mission:

...

iii to make adequate provision so that broadcasters offer programmes in the regional or minority languages;

389. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertaking remains fulfilled for radio and partly fulfilled for TV. The Committee of Experts encouraged the Swedish authorities to take measures to increase the amount of TV broadcasting in Meänkieli and to provide additional information in the next periodical report.

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390. According to the sixth periodical report, the broadcasting licences of public broadcasters do not specify the lowest number of hours that the programme companies should devote to broadcasting programmes in the minority languages. On the other hand, it is stated that the range of programming overall must increase each year compared to the level in 2013 and that the increase must be significant. The requirements governing the programme companies’ range of programming in minority languages have thus been tightened up compared with the rules that applied during the 2010–2013 licence period. Furthermore, requirements are now set in the broadcasting licences that all the programme production companies must provide programming in the national minority languages and that particular attention must be paid to the linguistic needs of children and young people who belong to linguistic or ethnic minority groups.

391. According to the sixth periodical report, in 2015 SVT broadcast programmes in Meänkieli for a total of 19 hours. SR broadcast a total of 830 hours in Meänkieli on the terrestrial network in 2015. UR broadcast programmes in Meänkieli on television and radio in 2015. Programmes in Meänkieli were also available on the websites of the respective programme companies’ online services SVT Play, SR Play and UR Play. A total of 21 hours of programmes in Meänkieli were made available on SVT’s Open Archive.

392. However, during the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the speakers noted that the above-mentioned high figures might be due to repeats being taken into account, as only a five-minute news block is broadcast in Meänkieli on television daily, along with a one-hour radio programme. The speakers pointed out the small number of journalists with appropriate language skills in Meänkieli and training. Moreover, the provision for competent staff for the necessary translations has also proven to be problematic. A radio programme for children is aired once a week and only sporadically on television.

393. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking fulfilled for radio and partly fulfilled for television. It asks the Swedish authorities to provide information regarding the broadcasting hours on TV for Meänkieli.

d to encourage and/or facilitate the production and distribution of audio and audiovisual works in the regional or minority languages;

394. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts concluded that the undertaking remains fulfilled.

395. According to the sixth periodical report, regional production centres, particularly Filmpool Nord, have a main role in producing films in Meänkieli. In the period 2013–2015, Filmpool Nord produced six films which include one of the national minority languages entirely or partly, out of which one short film involved Meänkieli. The Swedish Film Institute which allocates production support does not have any particular forms of support for film production in minority languages. However, the Swedish Film Institute does have a number of initiatives for minority language projects in terms of distributing and showing films. Through this initiative the Umeå International Film Festival was granted support for its activities in 2013–2015. However, the Committee of Experts has not received sufficient information on the extent to which these activities include Meänkieli.

396. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking fulfilled. It encourages the Swedish authorities to further facilitate the production and distribution of audio and audiovisual works in Meänkieli. The Committee of Experts also asks the Swedish authorities to provide specific information, in the next periodical report, on the extent to which the above-mentioned activities include Meänkieli.


397. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts commended the Swedish authorities for the work done to facilitate the creation of a newspaper in Meänkieli and encouraged them to pursue their efforts in close dialogue and co-operation with the speakers.

398. According to the sixth periodical report, subsidy criteria have been relaxed regarding eligibility for funding since 1 January 2014 in order to make it easier to produce newspapers in Meänkieli.

399. A new ordinance on government grants for printed public newspapers to develop electronic publication services entered into force in 15 April 2016. According to the ordinance, initiatives of particular importance to national minorities can obtain grants for up to 75 per cent of the cost of the initiative or the pilot study. In other cases, the funding may cover a maximum of 40 per cent of the cost.

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400. All the proposals that the Press Subsidies Committee submitted in the interim report “Support for daily newspapers in Sami and Meänkieli” have been carried out. The circulation limit for public operational support has been lowered from 1,500 to 750 subscribers for daily newspapers which are mainly written in Sami or Meänkieli. At the same time, the requirement that 90 per cent of the circulation must be spread in Sweden has been removed for such newspapers but the subsidy is calculated, as it is for other newspapers, on the basis of the part of the circulation that is mainly distributed in Sweden.

401. The provision on limited operational support for a newspaper whose editorial content is at least 25 per cent Finnish has been expanded to also cover Meänkieli and Sami if at least 25 per cent of the editorial content is written in one or more of these languages and the place where the newspaper is published is a municipality included in the administrative area for one of the languages under the Minority Act. The changes entered into force on 1 January 2014 and seek to make it easier for newspapers entirely or partly written in Sami or Meänkieli to obtain operational support.

402. The Swedish Arts Council also allocates funding for publishing cultural periodicals in the national minority languages. In 2014, eight national minority cultural periodicals received funding amounting to a total of SEK 850,000 (€89 000) from the Swedish Arts Council, six of which were published entirely or partly in a national minority language. The Committee of Experts has not been informed about the extent to which this funding is being used for Meänkieli.

403. According to the sixth periodical report, up until now one weekly has been written partly in Meänkieli and has received funding under the provision.

404. During the on-the-spot visit, the Committee of Experts learned that the above-mentioned weekly edited partly in Meänkieli has been published in Haparanda. The website of the National Association of Swedish Tornedalians (STR-T) also publishes one or two articles on the homepage weekly.

405. The Committee of Experts commends the Swedish authorities for the measures taken and looks forward to receiving new information about the results.

f. ii to apply existing measures for financial assistance also to audiovisual productions in the regional or minority languages;

406. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered this undertaking partly fulfilled.

407. According to the sixth periodical report, in December 2015, the government commissioned the Swedish Film Institute to support access to children's films in the national minority languages. The Swedish Film Institute has SEK 814 000 (€82 700) available to spend on adapting the language of films aimed at children, primarily for those aged 4 to 8, mainly through dubbing. The commission also involves working to ensure that the such adapted films are widely distributed. However, the Committee of Experts has not received information about the extent to which this funding is being used for Meänkieli.

408. The Committee of Experts is not in a position to conclude with respect to this undertaking. It asks the Swedish authorities to provide information, in the next periodical report, on the extent to which the above-mentioned funding, as well as possible other funding, is being used for audiovisual productions in Meänkieli.

Article 12 – Cultural activities and facilities

Paragraph 1

With regard to cultural activities and facilities – especially libraries, video libraries, cultural centres, museums, archives, academies, theatres and cinemas, as well as literary work and film production, vernacular forms of cultural expression, festivals and the culture industries, including inter alia the use of new technologies – the Parties undertake, within the territory in which such languages are used and to the extent that the public authorities are competent, have power or play a role in this field:

...

b. to foster the different means of access in other languages to works produced in regional or minority languages by aiding and developing translation, dubbing, post-synchronisation and subtitling activities;

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409. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that the undertaking remained partly fulfilled and asked the Swedish authorities to provide additional information in the next periodical report.

410. During the on-the-spot visit, representatives of the speakers noted that the provision for competent staff for the necessary translations has proven to be problematic.

411. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled. It asks the Swedish authorities to provide information, in the next periodical report, on the extent to which the above-mentioned funding, as well as possible other funding, is being used for audiovisual productions in Meänkieli.

g. to encourage and/or facilitate the creation of a body or bodies responsible for collecting, keeping a copy of and presenting or publishing works produced in the regional or minority languages;

412. In the fifth evaluation report, the Committee of Experts considered that it was still not in a position to conclude on this undertaking. The Committee urged the Swedish authorities, in co-operation with the speakers, to clarify the issue of the ISOF Research Archives and to provide detailed information in the next periodical report.

413. In the sixth periodical report, the Swedish authorities explain their view regarding the move of the ISOF department in Umeå and the following relocation of its archives – including the Tornedal research archive (documenting Meänkieli) – to Uppsala. They state that the majority of the written collections and libraries formerly in the department in Umeå will continue to be located in Umeå as part of the Umeå city archives. The authorities claim that the ISOF consulted with representatives of all three national minorities involved before the decision was made to geographically locate the collections in Umeå. Furthermore, the sound material from Umeå is currently placed in a climate-controlled archive in Uppsala and the material is being digitalised. According to the report, in about four years, all sound recordings will be available in digital form, available for online researchers and the public. In addition to the digitalisation in progress, this is also carried out on request when required by the research community, among others. In the view of the authorities, the new organisation means that the institute is now better placed to recruit relevant competence, partly thanks to a balanced budget and a good research environment within the institute.

414. The Meänkieli representatives repeated that NGOs and universities had discussed how the presence of Meänkieli within the documentation and research area could be improved instead of or after the move of the archives. Unfortunately, this attempt was not successful. It was not possible to establish contacts with the ISOF or to have different views discussed or accepted. The Meänkieli speakers’ representatives consider the archive issue to be more than an internal organisational matter, as claimed by the Director General of the ISOF.

415. During the on-the-spot visit, the representatives of the speakers stressed the importance of a Meänkieli language centre to be set up, following the successful model of the Sami language centres. Such an institution could efficiently accumulate and convey methodology, human know-how, human resources and knowledge to pre-school and school teachers, other professional “end users” and the general public. It could possibly also fulfil some of the collection tasks of the moved archives regarding language variation in Meänkieli.

416. The Committee of Experts is still of the opinion that the transfer of the Sami and Meänkieli archives from Umeå to Uppsala made it more difficult to deliver new archival material to the archives and makes the access to the data stored at the archives difficult for researchers.

417. The Committee of Experts considers the undertaking partly fulfilled at present and asks the Swedish authorities to provide relevant information on the development in this respect in the next periodical report.

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Chapter 4 Findings and proposals for recommendations

4.1. Findings of the Committee of Experts in the sixth monitoring cycle

A. The Committee of Experts appreciated the excellent co-operation it enjoyed with the Swedish authorities, especially during the organisation of the on-the-spot visit. It also notes with satisfaction that the sixth periodical report was submitted timely, that it responds to many requests for information made by the Committee in its previous, fifth report and that it contains improvements in several fields of promotion and protection of the regional or minority languages of Sweden.

B. Improvements pertaining to the protection and promotion of regional or minority languages have taken place in Sweden since the previous monitoring round with regard to the legal framework. These reflect Sweden’s commitment to its regional or minority languages and its willingness to take additional measures to implement the Charter. The implementation of the new legal framework is, however, slow in its progress.

C. The regional or minority languages have experienced an increased awareness among the majority community and a growing interest and wish to use and revitalise the languages among the minority communities themselves. The number of municipalities that are now part of the administrative areas of Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli increased steadily until 2015. Many of them have created action plans for the regional or minority languages and employed bilingual coordinators to work on the implementation of the National Minority and Minority Language Act based on additional state funding for this purpose. Consultations with representatives of the speakers have become more structured.

D. A newly commissioned report on the Swedish minority and minority language policy has been initiated and is due in 2018. The intermediate halt in the extension of the administrative areas and other activities connected to the Minority Act is seen by the speakers as generally hindering the implementation of the Charter.

E. In general, the lack of the necessary statistical information regarding the number and geographical distribution of regional or minority language speakers continues to hamper the effective implementation of the Charter. Such information has repeatedly been requested by speakers of the Part III languages – Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli.

F. Some progress has been made with regard to teacher education, where training for mother tongue teachers for school years 7-9 is now in place for Finnish, Meänkieli, Romani Chib and Sami. Progress has also been made regarding syllabi for national minority languages and teaching materials at some levels of education, for all minority languages. Despite this, shortcomings still prevail, including within the field of education.

G. The Swedish authorities aim to revitalise the minority languages through education, by introducing them as “second languages”, which means that they are treated as languages for beginners and as “heritage languages”. However, since education in practice fully relies on the teaching of the languages, except for Sami, as mother tongues or second languages, frequently for only 20-45 minutes per week (one lesson), both streams are insufficient for the needs and demands of the speakers, for the development of a mature literacy and for the survival of the minority languages. There are no plans to remedy this structure, nor to increase the number of hours spent on teaching the languages. Despite some progress, there is a lack of teaching materials for all levels of education.

H. There is no teacher education for pre-school, primary school years 1-6, nor for bilingual education, for any of the minority languages.

I. With regard to the judiciary, online translations and information materials are published by the Swedish National Courts Administration, including partly in the minority languages. This material also informs the speakers of Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli of their right to use their languages in court. Earlier expansion of the municipalities of the administrative areas has not extended the right to use the minority languages in court to these municipalities or regional authorities. The use of the minority languages in court also remains limited.

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J. The Minority Act, especially the part that has a nationwide coverage, is not widely known, especially by municipalities outside the administrative areas. The specific protection within the administrative areas is also still poorly known by the local and regional authorities concerned. This makes it difficult, for example, to implement the right to receive pre-school and elderly care services partly or fully in minority languages.

K. Changes in the legislation have had a positive effect for the increased use of Meänkieli place names. Likewise for Sami and Finnish, the use and instalment of place names is progressing. Other types of signage in minority languages are still under development.

L. Radio and television broadcasting in Finnish is by and large satisfactory. The authorities have taken encouraging steps to support the publishing of newspapers in Sami and Meänkieli. Meänkieli is broadcast to a limited extent on television. Romani and Yiddish are largely invisible in the media, notably on television. The use of several Sami languages is also limited in the media.

M. The Sami Parliament is the body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Minority Act with regard to Sami. The Sami Parliament now determines the objectives of Sami language policy. Sami education is still in a problematic situation. There has been a decline in bilingual education, but interest and enrolment in Sami education, including distance education, is increasing. There is a shortage of teachers, which to some extent is connected to a lack of incentives for students to enrol in teacher education. The creation of the Sami language centres is still seen as the best practice and the system is required to be extended both for Sami and also for other minority languages.

N. As regards Finnish, the administrative area has increased to 59 municipalities and thus now covers about half of the speakers of Finnish in Sweden. The Minority Act has contributed to the promotion of Finnish in several aspects, not least the use of Finnish in public life, in pre-schools and elderly care, as well as in material published by public bodies and authorities. The situation in education is still not adequate for the development of mature literacy in Finnish. The shortage of teachers prevails and there is an urgent need for action in pre-schools and the first years of primary school.

O. Some positive development with regard to the cultural heritage and place names has taken place for Meänkieli, partly through new legislation. This positive development is partly connected to an increasing interest in such issues among the younger speakers. As for education, little progress has been made since the last monitoring cycle, except for the in-service training of teachers of Meänkieli. There is still a shortage of teachers and of teaching materials at all levels of education. The offer in higher education in and of Meänkieli is extremely limited.

P. Concerning Romani, there is insufficient acknowledgment of the traditional presence of the Kale and Traveller communities, and their respective Romani varieties, in public life. This concerns, for example, radio broadcasting, education (including the creation of teaching materials) and websites of the authorities. The marginalisation of all Romani communities in society hampers the promotion of Romani. Flexible and innovative measures are needed in education. A particular need exists in higher education in order to overcome the lack of trained teachers of and in Romani.

Q. As an indirect consequence of the Minority Act, Yiddish has experienced a slight revival with an increase of people declaring themselves speakers of the language. This has also resulted in an increase with regard to participants in the mother tongue instruction of Yiddish in Stockholm. A language cultivation post for Yiddish has been opened at the Swedish Language Council. However, during the current monitoring cycle, Yiddish speakers expressed the view that they have benefited least from the recent support to minority languages. They have had a less prominent position in the promotion in the educational field and in the media. The lack of teaching materials and teacher training remain problematic.

R. The authorities are invited to consider applying Part II of the Charter to Elfdalian.

S.

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4.2. Proposals for recommendations on the basis of the results of the sixth monitoring cycle

The Committee of Experts, while acknowledging the efforts the Swedish authorities have undertaken to protect the regional and minority languages spoken in their country, has in its evaluation chosen to concentrate on some of the most important deficiencies in the implementation of the Charter. The recommendations forwarded by the Committee of Experts to the Committee of Ministers should not, however, be interpreted as diminishing the relevance of the other, more detailed observations contained in the report, which remain valid in their own right. The recommendations proposed by the Committee of Experts are drafted accordingly.

The Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, in accordance with Article 16.4 of the Charter, proposes on the basis of the information contained in this report, that the Committee of Ministers makes the following recommendations to Sweden.

The Committee of Ministers,

In accordance with Article 16 of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages;

Having regard to the declaration made by Sweden on 9 February 2000;

Having taken note of the evaluation made by the Committee of Experts on the Charter with respect to the application of the Charter by Sweden;

Bearing in mind that this evaluation is based on information submitted by Sweden in its national report, supplementary information provided by the Swedish authorities, information submitted by bodies and associations legally established in Sweden and information obtained by the Committee of Experts during its on-the-spot visit;

[Having taken note of the comments made by the Swedish authorities on the contents of the Committee of Experts' report;]

Recommends that the authorities of Sweden take account of all the observations and recommendations of the Committee of Experts and, as a matter of priority:

1. strengthen education of or in all national minority languages by adopting a comprehensive and structured approach based on the needs of the speakers and according to the situation of each of the minority languages;

2. ensure that “mother tongue” education meets the requirements of the Charter and offers adequate language tuition, enabling pupils to achieve mature literacy in the languages concerned;

3. increase the amount of bilingual education available in Finnish and Sami, and establish bilingual education in Meänkieli;

4. develop a system of teacher training according to the needs of the speakers and to the situation of each of the minority languages;

5. consider extending the practice of the Sami language centres to other minority languages.

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Appendix I: Instrument of Ratification

Sweden

Declaration contained in the instrument of ratification deposited on 9 February 2000 - Or. Eng.

Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli (Tornedal Finnish) are regional or minority languages in Sweden. Sweden's undertakings pursuant to Article 2, paragraph 2 with respect to these languages are described in the appendix.

Romani Chib and Yiddish shall be regarded as non-territorial minority languages in Sweden when theCharter is applied

APP ENDI X

The extent of Sweden's undertakings according to Part III of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

The followings paragraphs and sub-paragraphs under Article 8 shall apply to Sami, Finnish andMeänkieli:8.1.a.iii8.1.b.iv8.1.c.iv8.1.d.iv8.1.e.iii8.1.f.iii8.1.g8.1.h8.1.i8.2.The following paragraphs and sub-paragraphs under Article 9 shall apply to Sami, Finnish andMeänkieli:9.1.a.ii9.1.a.iii9.1.a.iv9.1.b.ii9.1.b.iii9.1.c.ii9.1.c.iii9.1.d9.29.3The following paragraphs and sub-paragraphs under Article 10 shall apply to Sami, Finnish andMeänkieli:10.1.a.iii10.1.a.v10.1.c.10.2.b.10.2.c.10.2.d.10.2.g.10.4.a.10.5The following paragraphs and sub-paragraphs under Article 11 shall apply to Sami, Finnish andMeänkieli:11.1.a.iii11.1.d11.1.e.i11.1.f.ii11.2.

In addition, 11.1.c.i will apply with respect to Finnish.

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The following paragraphs under Article 12 shall apply to Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli:12.1.a12.1.b12.1.d12.1.f12.1.g12.2.

In addition, 12.1.e will apply to Sami, and 12.1.c and 12.1.h to Finnish and Sami.The following paragraphs under Article 13 shall apply to Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli:13.1.aThe following paragraphs under Article 14 shall apply to Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli:14.a14.b

This means that a total of 45 paragraphs or sub-paragraphs in part III of the Charter shall apply toSami and Finnish, and 42 paragraphs or sub-paragraphs to Meänkieli.Period covered: 1/6/2000 -The preceding statement concerns Article(s) : 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 2, 8, 9

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Appendix II: Comments from the Swedish authorities

The Ministry of Culture presents its compliments to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. Sweden has received the sixth report of the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and hereby takes the opportunity to submit comments according to Article 16 paragraph 3 of the Charter.

1.1 General CommentsThe efforts made by the Committee of Experts to receive, gather, evaluate and draw conclusions from information on the situation of the minority languages in Sweden is of considerable value in the continuous development of Sweden’s policy on national minorities. Sweden welcomes the report and appreciates the continued dialogue and exchange of information and views.

Observance of the rights of the national minorities in Sweden: Sami, Jews, Roma, Swedish Finns and Tornedalers must be safeguarded. The Swedish Government is committed to ensure that all the conditions are in place for Sweden to be able to achieve this aim.

1.1.1 Strengthening of Sweden’s Minority Policy

The efforts of the public sector in strengthening the protection of national minority rights have been successful in many respects and the Government is keen to ensure that these positive developments continue. Ms Alice Bah Kuhnke, Minister for Culture and Democracy, has appointed an Inquiry Chair (Mr Lennart Rohdin) tasked with presenting measures to strengthen and develop Sweden’s minority policy. The inquiry is currently ongoing and its findings are to be presented on 15 June 2017.

1.1.2 Educational measures

Mr Gustav Fridolin, Minister for Education, appointed an Inquiry Chair (Professor Jarmo Lainio) on 22 December 2016. The inquiry is tasked with mapping the need for measures based on both the goal of the Government to protect and revitalise the national minority languages as well as the recommendations of the Council of Europe regarding education in the national minority languages. Based on the findings of the mapping the inquiry is to present measures at the latest on 31 August 2017.

1.1.3 Enlargement of Administrative Areas

As a consequence of the Government’s commission of the Inquiry on a Strengthened Minority Policy and the commission of a report on the use of state funding in administrative areas a temporary moratorium on the addition of municipalities to the administrative areas was applied by the Government during 2015 and 2016. The view of the Government is that the administrative areas for Finnish, Meänkieli and Sami are crucial for the attainment of the human rights of national minorities in Sweden.

1.1.4 Elfdalian

The Government Offices notes the statements of the Committee of Experts on the issue of Elfdalian as a dialect or language. No new circumstances or facts have arisen that causes a change to the current assessment. However, the Government Offices notes the view of the Committee of Experts that the Government should once again revisit this position and consider applying Part II of the Charter.

1.2 Specific Comments

1.2.1 The Minority Act, Administrative Areas and Regional Issues

Page 7 & 55In paragraph 18 and in finding 4.1.D the report states that the Inquiry on a Strengthened Minority Policy is planned to produce a report in 2018. This is incorrect since the Inquiry is planned to present its findings on 15 June 2017.

The report states in paragraph 21 that the right to use Finnish, Meänkieli and Sami in communication with administrative authorities is restricted to the original administrative areas. This is incorrect since the Minority Act grants individuals the right to communicate with administrative authorities in these languages

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in all of the respective administrative area. Individuals also have the right to communicate in these languages outside the administrative areas in matters where the individual is a party. Furthermore individuals always have the right to use these languages in communications with certain administrative authorities, e.g. the Swedish Tax Agency and the Equality Ombudsman. In no circumstance is the right to communicate in Finnish, Meänkieli and Sami with administrative authorities limited to the original administrative areas.

Page 11In paragraph 51 the report touches on what is referred to as “super-districts”. It can here be noted that the Government has stated that it does not intend to pursue the creation of mandatory so called “large-regions”.

Page 32Paragraph 221 touches on the report resulting from the commission to investigate and report on how the state funding for administrative areas is used by local authorities. It is important to point out that this report is not decided on by the Government, and thus has no legal or binding status.

1.2.2 Education

Page 10 & 55In paragraph 45 and finding 4.1.F the report states that “teacher training for the school years 7 to 9 has been initiated for Finnish, Meänkieli, Romani and Sami”. This is partly correct as the actual situation is that permanent teacher training for school years 7 to 9 has been initiated for Finnish at Stockholm University and permanent teacher training for the upper secondary school is offered for Sami at Umeå University. There are yet no initiated permanent teacher trainings for Meänkieli and Romani Chib. However the Government has tasked Umeå University and Södertörn University with establishing permanent teacher trainings for Meänkieli and Romani Chib respectively.

The Government find that it is important to point out that a subject teacher, specialising in work in years 7-9 of compulsory school or upper-secondary school in Finnish or Sami as a mother tongue, is qualified to teach Finnish or Sami as a mother tongue from year 1 in compulsory school until the end of upper-secondary school.

The report correctly states that in-service teacher training has been provided for Meänkieli, Sami and Romani Chib. It can furthermore be added that the Government has tasked the Swedish National Agency for Education to examine how the temporary assignment to organise in-service training can be ensured through permanent structures.

Page 33The statement that independent schools are only part-funded by state funding in paragraph 233 is not correct. All schools in Sweden: state, municipal and independent schools are funded by the same streams. It is furthermore not allowed to fund schools with attendance fees in Sweden.

Page 34In paragraph 243 it is stated that there were 400 applications to study Finnish at Uppsala University in autumn 2016, with 110 admissions. According to official statistics from the Swedish Council for Higher Education there were 559 applicants out of which 113 were admitted.

Page 45In paragraph 336 the report states that there were 200 applications made on the whole to attend courses in or of Meänkieli. According to official statistics from the Swedish Council for Higher Education there were 252 applicants.

1.2.3 The Judiciary

The administrative authority “the National Courts Administration” is referred to in multiple ways. The official name is as quoted here.

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Page 26, 37 and 48The following comments apply to paragraph 168, 269 and 361 that sets out observations regarding interpretation in courts and measures regarding interpreters for Sami, Meänkieli and Finnish.

It is correct that the Government recently tasked the National Courts Administration with supporting a more efficient use of interpreters in courts. However, the National Courts Administration is neither tasked with nor responsible for the training of interpreters or translators.

The report states that authorisation of interpreters is a requirement in some court cases. However Chapter 5, Section 6 of the Swedish Code of Judicial Procedure (1942:740) provides that the court, if it is possible, should appoint an authorised interpreter. If this is not possible a suitable person should be appointed. As a consequence it is not a requirement for an interpreter or translator to be authorised in order to be appointed by the courts.

Regarding the stated reasons for the lack of interpreters another main reason behind the overall lack is the steep increase in demand for interpreting services in the courts. The professional training has not yet been able to scale up to meet the increased needs.

1.2.4 Health Services

Page 13In paragraph 57 the commission of the NBHW is in part misprinted. The following two sentences could replace the third and fourth sentences.

“In the light of these problems, the NBHW was commissioned to supplement its existing booklet “Your right to health and social care – guidelines for elderly people”, with information on the rights of the national minorities. NBHW also translated the publication into Sami, Meänkieli and Finnish in 2016, and has distributed them to all municipalities and to representatives of all the minority groups concerned.”

1.3 Concluding remarksThe Government Offices of Sweden appreciated the thorough and knowledgeable discussions with the Committee of Experts during the country visit. Systematic and ongoing work to safeguard compliance with the Charter demands continuous follow-up. The Government welcomes an open dialogue with the Council of Europe on the remaining challenges.

The Swedish authorities are committed to take on the challenges that remain before Sweden is entirely and fully able to live up to its undertakings on human rights in general and the Charter in specific.

The Ministry of Culture avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the assurances of its highest consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Helena Swenzén Director-General for Administrative and Legal Affairs