"Inherent to EUD’s work is the belief that the right to sign language is a basic Human Right."

"The European Parliament, (..) 1.  Stresses the need for qualified and professional sign language interpreters, which can only be met on the basis of the following approach:

 (a) official recognition of national and regional sign language(s) in Member States and within EU institutions, "

"In summary, it is necessary to take measures to protect, promote and support the fields of research, use, teaching and learning of the national sign language/s of every country."

"The European Parliament, (..)

33.  Urges Eurostat to ensure that statistics on deaf, deafblind and hard-of-hearing sign language users are supplied to the EU institutions so they can better define, implement and analyse their disability and language policies;"

"The European Parliament (..)

2. Calls on the Commission to make a proposal to the Council concerning official recognition of the sign language used by deaf people in each Member State; "

"The European Parliament (..)

3. Calls upon the Member States to abolish any remaining obstacles to the use of sign language; "

"The European Parliament, (..)

23.  Underlines that measures must be taken to recognise and promote the linguistic identity of deaf communities;"

ARTICLE 30: PARTICIPATION IN CULTURAL LIFE, RECREATION, LEISURE AND SPORTS

"Persons with disabilities shall be entitled, on an equal basis with others, to recognition and support of their specific cultural and linguistic identity, including sign languages and deaf culture."

"The European Parliament (..)

10. Calls upon Member States, in cooperation with the Commission, to support pilot projects aimed at teaching sign language to hearing children and adults, using deaf people trained for the purpose and to back research in this area; "

"For the above reasons, and in the knowledge that only action at European level will afford a solution to this problem, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers devise a specific legal instrument on the rights of sign language users, and accordingly:

9.2.         define clear goals to be achieved, exact deadlines to be met, and resources and methods to be used, founded on a full study of requirements with the mandatory participation of associations representing the users of these languages;"

"The European Parliament, (..)

24.  Calls on the Member States to encourage the learning of sign language in the same way as foreign languages;"

"EUD therefore advocates the right to sign language as an essential prerequisite to ensure full and equal citizenship for all deaf people."

"For the above reasons, and in the knowledge that only action at European level will afford a solution to this problem, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers devise a specific legal instrument on the rights of sign language users, and accordingly:

9.1.         instruct the relevant bodies of the Council of Europe to undertake a preparatory study in consultation with national experts and representatives of the deaf community in order to clarify outstanding issues in regard to the protection of the use of sign languages;"

 

 "The Assembly recognises sign languages as the expression of Europe’s cultural wealth. They are a feature of Europe’s linguistic and cultural heritage."

"For the above reasons, and in the knowledge that only action at European level will afford a solution to this problem, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers devise a specific legal instrument on the rights of sign language users, and accordingly:

9.3.         consider drafting an additional protocol to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages incorporating sign languages into the charter, among the non-territorial minority languages."

ARTICLE 21: Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information

"States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities can exercise the right to freedom of expression and opinion, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis with others and through all forms of communication of their choice, as defined in article 2 of the present Convention, including by: (..)

e) Recognizing and promoting the use of sign languages."