TRANSLATION OF EU CONSTITUTION INTO WELSH

Early day motion 1552, tabled 20 July 2004 by Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru). Signed by 7 members.

That this House notes the increasing number of people who speak Welsh, in particular the increasing number of young people under the age of 25 who speak the language; congratulates the Irish Government for its recent decision to seek approval for Irish as an official European language; notes the significant number of people in Wales whose first and preferred language is Welsh; calls on the United Kingdom Government to translate the draft European Constitution into Welsh; believes that this will make the EU more accessible to people who speak Welsh; urges the UK Government to apply for Welsh to become an official language for treaty purposes, a status currently held by the Irish language; further believes that Welsh-speakers should be able to communicate with EU institutions in their first language; therefore encourages the UK Government to go further and seek approval for the Welsh language to be awarded the status currently only held by Catalan, which would allow Welsh-speakers to communicate with and receive information from the European Commission in Welsh.

Signatures by party: Labour 2, Liberal Democrat 2, Plaid Cymru 2, Scottish National Party 1.