To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government have taken to implement their responsibilities under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages since signing the Charter. (162785)

The UK ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages on 27 March 2001 and the charter entered into force for the UK on 1 July 2001. The UK recognises Welsh, Irish, Scottish-Gaelic, Ulster Scots, Manx Gaelic, Cornish and Scots under the charter's definition of a regional or minority language.

The charter's monitoring mechanism requires member states party to the charter to produce, a year after entry into force of the charter for the state and thereafter every three years, a periodical report detailing the policy pursued under Part II of the charter and the measures taken in application of those provisions of Part III of the charter which they have accepted. Since ratification the UK has produced two such periodical reports, the first published on 1 July 2002 and the second on 1 July 2005. The UK's third periodical report is due for publication on 1 July 2008.

The UK's first and second periodical reports can be found on the Council of Europe website at:

http://www.coe.int/t/e/legal_affairs/local_and_ regional_democracy/regional_or_minority_languages/ 2_Monitoring/Monitoring_table.asp#TopOfPage