Canon van et Nedersaksisch

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Al hiel lange verwaacht en daor hi’j hi’j dan: de Canon van et Nedersaksisch. Wat zol de Nederlaander eigenlik weten moeten? Philomène Bloemhoff schreef een veurstel, naor et veurbeeld van de canon veur de Nederlaanse literetuur. De Canon Nedersaksisch is te kriegen via

https://www.boekenbestellen.nl/ePUB/canon-van-et-nedersaksisch/65189

De Canon verscheen ok in Jaorboek Nedersaksisch 2023 (4). Dat jaorboek is op pepier te kriegen en bestaot ok as e-boek. Ie kun d’r an kommen via

https://www.boekenbestellen.nl/boek/jaorboek-nedersaksisch-4-2023/9789464817591

Kommentaor SONT bi’j kommentaor van de Nederlaanse regering op et laeste visitaosierappot van de Raod van Europa.

Et visitaosierappot is hier te vienen:

https://rm.coe.int/netherlandsecrml7-en/1680aa8930

En et kommentaor van de NL-regering hiere: 

https://rm.coe.int/netherlands-iria7-en/1680ae9ef0

Oons kommentaor, dus van de orgenisaosie SONT, wodde vraogd deur de Raod van Europa en is dus opstuurd an de Raod van Europa, dat wil zeggen an Division of National Minorities and Minority Languages, Directorate of Anti-Discrimination, DGII Democracy, Council of Europe

Dit was oons kommentaor: 

I hereby send you the response from the umbrella organization SONT ‘Regional Language Organizations Low Saxon area [in the Netherlands]’. Our organization is not governmental. We apologize for our somewhat delayed response.

General remarks

First we will make some more general comments. The Dutch government excluded Low Saxon since 1995 from part III of the Charter. The Covenant Nedersaksisch / Low Saxon was made after that the government decided again and again to implement only part II to Low Saxon. The last time was after about seventeen years of discussion. The government has consistently failed to provide reliable arguments for this, arguments that are in line with the charter. That is why this position is in conflict with the Charter, which assumes that in normal cases a regional language should fall under both Part II and Part III, having regard also to paragraph 42 of the Explanatary Report, which states that the reasons for not applying Part III must be compatible with the spirit, purposes and principles. However, that is not the case. For that reason alone, Part III should immediately be applied.

The Covenant for the Low Saxon regional language was established october 2018. If it had been used effectively, there would have been an employment of good governance. But until now this has not been the case. On the contrary, no policy initiatives emerged. A certain outside initiative was even frustrated. The umbrella organisation SONT proposed to change the law called Algemene Wet Bestuursrecht ‘Law for general administration’ to make it possible that speakers of Low Saxon (and Limburgian) are allowed to speak their regional language in the domain of administration without any restrictive regulations. According to the Covenant the central government is obliged to help in the case provinces and municipalities don’t have the authority. Changing of the law is such a case. But the central government made no effort to do so itself and is asking now the regional and local authorities what to do, for the Covenant excludes the introduction of new laws. But in fact all that has been asked for is an amendment to a law, due to a passage that frustrates a free use of Low Saxon.

This and the fact that the Covenant does not work in a sufficient way makes that SONT no longer accepts the rejection of Part III for Low Saxon. We have started a new offensive to achieve ten concrete goals. 

The most important goals are: 

  • Part III should be applied to Low Saxon immediately
  • Design a continuous learning path of structural education in Low Saxon
  • Include the protection of Low Saxon in the constitution, like in some northern German states with respect to Low German 
  • Make the free use of Low Saxon possible in the domain of regional and local governments
  • Establish a law for the use of Low Saxon 
  • Concretize a bachelor’s degree for Low Saxon
  • Ensure that local en regional television and radio-broadcast is for at least 50% in the Low Saxon language

We recommend that all these points are set out in the context of the relevant paragraphs of part III of the Charter. Otherwise, the central government will reject proposals. They recently did so with respect to our proposal concerning a bachelor’s program. According to the minister, ‘Low Saxon is not recognized with respect to part III; Frisian does and therefore receives a bachelor’s degree.’  So Low Saxon will lack bachelor’s programs because of the exclusion of part III.

We now come to your special questions, with respect to: 

Recommendation 2a. Prepare a strategy to ensure the teaching and study of Low Saxon as a subject at all levels of education and promote its use in preschool education

Recommendation 2b. Set up a body responsible for representing the interests of Low Saxon speakers at national level

Recommendation 2a.

The advice of the Council of Europe has always been that the national government should introduce a national, broad strategy for Low Saxon, for all forms of education. The central government occasionally repeats that the law offers the possibility of education in Low Saxon. Our comments on this are as follows. Unfortunately the government does nothing to realize curricula and the legal option for structural education. The government says that provinces and municipalities can develop activities. However, provinces and municipalities do not have the option to oblige schools to do so. They only can offer material that can be used in a structural manner. But the central government is responsible for the actual use of the material, for continuity and quality assurance.

Recommendation 2b

Although we highly value the Covenant as a partnership between the Lower Saxon authorities, it cannot be considered either as a representative representation or as a body at national level. So, similar to the Limbörgse Academie  ‘Limburgian Academy’, we conclude ‘(…) that neither the collaboration in the Covenant nor the governments of the Low Saxon provinces and municipalities fulfill the criteria under the Charter to be a ‘body responsible for representing the interests of Low Saxon speakers at national level‘. 

We once again ask for a body at national level in which speakers in the regions are represented and which has a link with the ministries and the national parliament. An example is the Council of Low German / Bundesrat för Nedderdüütsch (Hamburg) at a sub-national level, which represents the speakers / organizations of Low German, and which is also connected to the Bundestag and the Federal Government of Germany.

Concluding remarks

We refer to the commentary of the Limburgian Academy regarding the legal objections to the way in which the Dutch government has applied the charter up to now. The method of application for Low Saxon is largely comparable to that of Limburgish. There is no need to repeat the same comment.

We would like to urge that the Dutch parliament will strictly monitor the loyal application of part III and the actual implementation of it by the Dutch central government. In our opinion, the Dutch representatives in the parliament of the Council of Europe should also play a strong role.

With the greatest respect,

Dr. Hans Gerritsen, chairman of SONT

Dr. Henk Bloemhoff, secretary of SONT