In the second round of proposed amendments to the French Constitution, deputies have voted in favour of including a small reference to marginalized languages with the clause "regional languages are part of France's heritage". This time, and now that regional languages - somewhat unusually - have become a hot topic of debate in France, the proposed amendment is to Article 75 of the Constitution, which concerns territorial administration.

Amending the Constitution has not been plain sailing: in May Breton deputy and Vice-President of the Assembly Marc Le Fur secured a special debate on minority languages in the lower chamber, during which several deputies defended the importance of linguistic diversity in the French state. The debate was poorly attended and the government hardly seemed enthusiastic about taking decisive steps to protect minority languages. It therefore came as a shock to almost everyone when, a matter of weeks later, Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) deputies proposed that Article 1 of the Constitution be amended to include a reference to regional languages.

The French Academy reacted angrily to the proposal, claiming that the inclusion of regional languages in the Constitution constituted an "attack on national identity". Within a week the Senate had voted against the amendment after it had been approved by the Assembly. But on Wednesday UMP deputy Jean-Luc Warsmann, who proposed the first amendment, proposed that the same clause be introduced in Article 75. Members of the French Academy had been particularly upset by the fact that "regional" languages were to be mentioned ahead of French (in Article 2), despite the fact that the reference to "regional" languages in no way compromised the supremacy of French as the language of the Republic.

Further information:

• Oui au breton: Les députés confirment l'introduction des langues régionales dans la Constitution
• Iparralde: Les langues régionales réapparaissent dans la Consitution
• AFP: L'Assemblée adopte la réforme des institutions en seconde lecture
• Nationalia: French state will not give legal recognition to marginalized languages and France to recognize minority languages in Constitution.