The protection of linguistic diversity through Article 22 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights

This chapter offers a preliminary legal assessment of the conditions and limitations under which linguistic diversity is protected by Article 22 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. It is argued that Article 22 is a minority protection clause, since it addresses the most basic protection needs of minorities. It is further argued that Article 22 provides cultural, religious and linguistic minorities with an enforceable right to non-interference on the part of the European Union in order to preserve their minority characteristics. This minimum form of protection is consistent with the weak formulation of Article 22.