EFNIL Press Release 21 March 2022

Welcome to Czech Republic and Ukraine as members of EFNIL

At the extraordinary General Assembly of the European Federation of National Institutions for Language (EFNIL) on 21 March 2022,  the Czech Language Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, represented by Director Dr. Martin Prošek, and the Office of The State Language Protection Commissioner of Ukraine, represented by The State Language Protection Commissioner Dr. Taras Kremin, were accepted as new members of EFNIL. 

This means that EFNIL now consists of 45 language institutions representing 32 European countries.

EFNIL and EFNIL members in practical and financial support of Ukraine 

EFNIL has decided to support Ukraine by facilitating communication to EFNIL member organisations and by waiving the fee for EFNIL membership until peace has been established again in Ukraine. 

EFNIL, furthermore, supports an initiative by the Polish Academy of Sciences, that has launched a programme supporting the Ukrainian researchers fleeing from war zones. The Polish Academy of Sciences has asked all scientific organisations of which they are a member to waive their fees for 2022, and EFNIL has decided to meet this request. The Polish Academy of Sciences will use these fees as part of the support programme. 

“As language institutions, there is not much we can do in a war, '' says the president of EFNIL, Sabine Kirchmeier. ” But we will support our Ukrainian colleagues in every possible way, and promote the fact that peaceful understanding is possible - even if we speak different languages. 

We do have many good examples of a peaceful coexistence of different language communities in our member countries, and we are maintaining databases with updated information about language practice and language legislation in Europe which are open for everyone to consult”.

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EFNIL, the European Federation of National Institutions for Language, is a non-profit organisation dedicated to bringing together language institutions in Europe whose role includes monitoring the official language or languages of their country, advising on language use, or developing language policy. 

Since 2001 EFNIL has provided a forum for these institutions to exchange information about their work and to gather and publish information about language use and language policy within Europe. In addition, the Federation encourages the study of the official European languages and a coordinated approach towards mother-tongue and foreign-language learning, as a means of promoting linguistic and cultural diversity within Europe.

We are a multilingual organisation serving 47 institutions from 32 European countries by arranging annual conferences and webinars and initiating projects that monitor various aspects of language policy and language practices across Europe. 

EFNIL maintains a close cooperation with the language-oriented directorates of the European Commission (DG Translation, DG Interpretation and DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology), who also participate actively in our conferences, and EFNIL is a partner in  the European Language Equality Project (ELE), an EU project aiming at developing a roadmap for achieving language equality for all European languages by 2023. 

EFNIL is financed exclusively through member contributions. The membership fee covers the participation of our members in our annual conference, the costs for running EFNIL’s projects and an annual publication. The annual membership fee is 3000 Euros for EU-countries and 1500 Euros for associated members, i.e. non-EU countries. 

Current EFNIL projects are:

• EFNIL’s annual conference - this year's conference will take place in Vilnius and the topic is Language and Migration

• EFNIL’s annual publication - conference proceedings available in print and online

• European Language Monitor – a database about language legislation and language planning in Europe updated by EFNIL members in 4 year intervals since 2008. 

• European Languages and their Intelligibility in the Public Sphere - a database about European languages as instruments of communication for government, legislation and public administration.

• European Master’s Thesis Award - promoting the best master’s theses in Europe within the area of language use, language policy and multilingualism.

• European Mobility Scheme – EFNIL mobility grants to support the exchange of best practices, information, and ideas between EFNIL member institutions.

Please consult our website: http://efnil.org/ for further information.

Contacts regarding this press release: 

Sabine Kirchmeier, president (sabine@kirchmeier.dk)

Tamás Varadi, general secretary (efnil@nyud.hu)