Minority languages have been recognized for the first time in the history of the constitution of the Republic of France. Deputies and senators meeting in congress in Versailles voted in favor of constitutional reforms urged by the government of the Union for a Popular Movement (UPM) party which recognize languages other than French. Article 75 of the principal legal text of France states that from now on "regional languages form a part of the heritage of France."

As predicted, the vote was very close due to opposition from the socialists to a reform that did not satisfy them because, among other reasons, they saw it as "presidentialist." The modification required support from three-fifths of the representatives. The final vote was 539 in favor and 357 against. The minimum number of votes in favor in order for the change to proceed was 538. Members of the UPM and its allies in the New Center voted in favor of the modification, as well as the Left Radical Party. The communists and socialists (except the ex-minister Jack Lang) voted against the measure, while there was mixed opinion among the centrists.

Significant step forward or too limited?

The measure's approval can be seen in several ways. On the one hand, the criticism leveled at it suggests that in practice there will not be any great advances for minority languages. This was made clear by the UPM senator Jean-Jacques Hyest a few days ago: "This article [75] does not offer any new right, and the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Council maintains that French must be used in the public sphere in conformity with Article 2 of the constitution." French will remain the only official language, so the more than 70 languages spoken in French territories (on the mainland and in the various dependent territories) will have to settle for other spheres.

On the other hand, however, this recognition shatters the historic taboo of the so-called regional languages. The official doctrine, until recently, held that there was only one language in France-the French language-because that is what was stated in the constitution. Now that has changed: deputies and senators have debated the matter of these languages in parliament. And that is not all: One deputy, the Northern Catalonian Daniel Mach, had the gumption to address the National Assembly in Catalan-an act without precedents. The debate made it all the way to the president of the republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, who declared himself in favor of preserving the linguistic diversity of France and denied that the use of diverse languages would "break" the unity of the state.

One of the most vocal defenders of minority languages was the vice president of the National Assembly, the Breton Marc Le Fur. Upon learning of the measure's passage, Le Fur said the change brought "great satisfaction," but added that "the struggle for regional languages is not over." In fact, the presence of Catalan, Breton, Occitan, Corsican or Basque in essential areas like the schools and the media is still sub-par, and the recognition of these languages as "heritage" will not turn this situation around on its own.

Law on development

The addition of minority languages in the constitution opens the door to what might be the fulfillment of one of the promises of Sarkozy and his culture minister Christine Albanel: pass a language law in 2009 that gives rights to speakers of these languages. This was the message of the Occitan Studies Institute, an institution that a few days ago called for the writing of this law and the creation of a public television channel in Occitan. The Cultural Council of Britanny also views the new situation as "opening the way for legislation that will allow for the real development of our languages."

Poll shows citizenry in favor of linguistic diversity

Several newspapers have carried out studies of public opinion. Such is the case with Ouest France, whose poll found that 68% of the French are in favor of the recognition of minority languages, a figure that reaches 80% among people under 30 years old. And for anyone who thinks the defense of so-called regional languages is a matter for peasants, the study by the French daily dispels that: Residents of Paris and its surroundings are more in favor of preserving linguistic diversity (69%) than those who live in municipalities of fewer than 2,000 inhabitants (65%).

Further information:

• The constitutional reform, in French newspapers: Le Monde, Le Figaro, Libération
• French state on-line minority media: Iparralde.eu (Basque Country), Oui au breton (Brittany), Radio Alta Frequenza (Corsica), VilaWeb (Catalan Countries)