> REPUBLIKA SLOVENIJA STATISTIČNI URAD REPUBLIKE SLOVENIJE STATISTICAL OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA www.stat.sl Intercultural Dialogue in Slovenia Ljubljana, January 2009 FOREWORD INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE IS THE FUNDAMENTAL VALUE OF THE EU In the European Union 2008 was declared the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue with the purpose to strengthen the awareness of common identity among the Europeans. The idea was first introduced by Jan Figel', the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, in the European Parliament in September 2004 and had been realised by many people even before 2008; but 2008 enriched EU citizens with a number of results of special and various projects, implemented in the framework of programmes and other Community actions with this very purpose. Main attention in the mentioned activities was paid to the following fields: culture, education, youth, religions, minorities, migrations, multilingual-ism, the media, and working environment. In 2008, the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, which creates the awareness of common identity, the importance and role of culture in the European integration process were therefore the starting points that cannot be overlooked. For this reason the activities in the cultural and the related fields were that more intensive. Cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue, and economic and somewhat less spiritual influence of culture were namely at the very top of the agenda of activities in the EU. It could be said that the European Union's decision to declare 2008 the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue was most probably the last step in the long-term plan to establish as close a connection as possible between the European nations. This presented an opportunity for all EU citizens to actively participate in the intercultural dialogue and strengthen the co-existence of different cultures and beliefs of which they are members. This will not only increase the value of their common heritage, their roots, but will also receive or will be given their appropriate place and at the same time recognised respect of all differences, which individuals as well as local communities have acquired and built in this field so far. Intercultural dialogue is a broad and complex concept, which basically means as good as possible (open and respectful exchange of views between individuals and groups with different ethic, cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds and heritage1) communication among people who originate from different living environments (religious, social, national, cultural, generational). In addition, intercultural dialogue is also thinking, reflection and acceptance of diversity with the purpose of cooperation and constructive dialogue. On the one hand, intercultural dialogue presents a great individual and social challenge of modern times, and on the other hand, a possible solution for global challenges with which we are faced more and more frequently. According to the definition stated in the European Union White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue2, "intercultural dialogue is understood as an open and respectful exchange of views between individuals and groups with different ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds and heritage". This is not a one-way process; the willingness to accept arguments is essential for its success and mutual understanding of all who participate in it is required. In addition, it can be implemented only with complete freedom and responsibility of the media and all public figures. The European Union declared 2008 the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue not only in Europe but also between the European cultures and other world cultures. The purposes of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue was to show the cooperation between different cultures and national identities, majority population and minorities, to promote even closer intercultural dialogue, and to present unity in diversity as the basis of modern European ' EU White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue 2 http://www.dz-rs.si/index.php?id=96&cs=4&o=50&unid=MDT%7C49CB8972B4FF0B51C1257394003C4AB6&showdoc=1 identity. Slovenia understood intercultural dialogue as a process that promotes open and complex cultural environment, whereby not only cultural communication or dialogue between the cultures is understood but also and above all dialogue between the differences that people "introduce" in such cultural communication. In December 2007 the European Commission began the campaign for the 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue with the slogan "Together in Diversity". The President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, and the Slovenian Prime Minister, Janez Janša, opened the 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue on 8 January in Ljubljana. Before that, on 7 January 2008, the conference entitled "Intercultural Dialogue as the Fundamental Value of the EU" was held in Ljubljana in the presence of the Commissioners Jan Figel' and Janez Potočnik, which was only the beginning of numerous activities held across all the EU during 2008 and with the emphasis on mutual influences among the cultures, strengthening of relations between nations and religions, and promoting strengthening of understanding, tolerance, solidarity, and the sense of common future among EU citizens of all backgrounds with the help of dialogue. Namely, during preparations to the media beginning of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, Jan Figel' said: "Europe is facing a new challenge in the 21st century, namely, how to become an intercultural society based on respectful and equal exchange of views between individuals and groups with different cultural backgrounds. We want to exceed multicultural societies, in which cultures and cultural groups simply co-exist with one another. Just tolerance is not enough anymore. We have to give the initiative for a real transformation in our societies, so that we can form an intercultural Europe, in which cultures will constructively cooperate and influence one another and in which human dignity will be respected in general."3 European diversity connects The Eurobarometer survey (on the topic of dialogue with other cultures)4, which was conducted in November 2007 and its results were published by the European Commission in December 2007, showed that two thirds of EU citizens were in everyday contact with at least one person of another religious, ethnic or national background, which showed that intercultural integration was an everyday phenomenon in the EU. 72% of the respondents, EU citizens, believed that these relations were positive and that they enriched them, and therefore they welcomed the dialogue with other cultures. Namely, this many people believed that people with different ethnic, religious or national background enrich the cultural life in their country, and 23% of the respondents did not agree with this statement. Intercultural dialogue and the European Union In recent years Europe has undergone significant changes that were the result of the Union's enlargement, increased mobility of people (in particular due to EU's single market), old and new migration flows, increasingly more important exchanges with the other world through trade, education, spending of leisure time, and general globalisation. One of these significant changes is also the increased mutual influence of different cultures, linguistic and ethnic groups, and religions in its area. In the global "melting pot" of different cultures, traditions, systems, where cooperation between cultures is of key importance, it is important to provide for as large as possible inclusion and understanding and respect of cultural, linguistic and religious diversity of all people. 3 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/10&format=HTML&aged=0&language=SL&guiLanguage=en 4 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1846&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en The cultural environment, part of which we are, is becoming more and more diverse. Cultural diversity represents an economic, social and political advantage; however, it is not permanent but needs to be continuously developed. At the same time, the increased cultural diversity also brings social and political challenges. Stereotypes, racism, intolerance, discrimination and violence could threaten local as well as individual national communities. Dialogue between cultures has become more and more an indispensable means to bring closer the European nations among themselves as well as between the cultures the part of which they are5, and all this starts and ends for us first in the domestic environment, because the EU consists of individual regions and their own wealth, i.e. their characteristic particularities. Dialogue between cultures is the oldest and fundamental form of democratic communication, and represents today to a large extent a "cure" for alienation of some cultural groups, possible clash of opinions regarding certain political and social affairs, and lack of understanding of mutual differences in cultural traditions, which can, not so rarely, lead also to tense relations and origin of intolerant and discriminatory actions. Intercultural dialogue is not and cannot exist as a one-way process. Willingness to accept arguments is essential for its success, and mutual understanding of all who take part in it is required. The aim of continuous and dynamic intercultural dialogue is to enable a peaceful and constructive coexistence of different cultures in our multicultural world, for them to develop a sense of community and belonging, and to foster mutual respect and understanding. The 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue was based on the knowledge that cultural diversity of Europe is its unique advantage. In order to accept and understand this advantage, we need to talk about it, learn and educate, because only in this manner we will be able to feel good in the company of one another, accept diversity as an opportunity and interculturality as a value, and know and want to share this knowledge: for the well-being of ourselves and future generations. In the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, the European Parliament (House of Representatives from 27 EU Member States) wanted to contribute to building and strengthening of bridges between different cultures, because it is aware of the significance of a good mutual understanding for peace in Europe and the world. Its President, Hans-Gert Pottering, pointed out in a talk about the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue that "understanding between cultures is crucial for world peace... in particular the relations between the Western world and the Arab and Islamic world will be decisive for world peace in the 21st century. We have the responsibility to establish a dialogue between different cultures and religions, a dialogue that has to be based on mutual tolerance and truth; this cannot be a one-way street." The President of the Council of the European Union Janez Janša (during the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union) pointed out that, when the European Union declared 2008 the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, it had before its eyes not only the situation and events in Europe but also the dialogue between the European cultures and other world cultures. He pointed out that "modern Europe is striving for intercultural and interreligious dialogue, because it is aware that the human spiritual area is one of the constituent elements of every society"6. According to the words of Director-General of the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission, Odile Quintin, inter-cultural dialogue is not created spontaneously, but is the result of the effort invested in it7, 5 http://evropa.gov.si/medkulturni-dialog/ 6 Taken from the speech of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia and the President of the Council of Europe on the event of symbolic placement of the foundation stone for the construction of a cultural-pastoral centre of Serbian Orthodox Church in Ljubljana , 22 June 2008. 7 http://www.triera.net/novica.php?id=A137462 which can be seen in the signed statement on the importance of public services in the field of intercultural dialogue and the Declaration on Intercultural Dialogue. Namely, the intercul-tural dialogue can be established only with complete freedom and responsibility of the media and all public figures, because the precondition for dialogue is equal position of all discussion partners. New publication of SORS A small part of such desire is also this brochure, which offers to the readers the opportunity to look through the "statistical window" on what is happening in the everyday life, especially in eight fields that are treated as significant in the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue: culture, education, migrations, minorities, religions, multilingualism, jobs, and youth. Co-existence of people with different culture, religion, language and world-view (still) is not simple and can be quite difficult. We are actually living in a world that is often in disagreement with the generally valid, recognised: on the one hand, we consider the importance of cultural differences, and on the other hand, we have to, not so rarely, if we want to live together, deny them at least partly. Nevertheless, it is constantly required that the political, educational and public discussion is not directed towards the division into "us and them", "on our and their side", that the forced thinking of homogenous groups does not prevail, because then it is impossible to think about intercultural dialogue and coexistence since it does not allow the division of people into homogenous groups and categories. Today when we are often so tired and under stress due to rapidly changing situations around us, so that we practically already adopted and declared the thesis on the upcoming clash of civilisations and urgent irreconcilable conflicts between people as the only given thing of the present time, thinking about the possibilities of intercultural dialogue is actually a desire and need of co-existence and understanding. The wish to search for where we are one and the same, or at least similar, and to constantly determine that precisely this "similar" is stronger than that other, which divides us and without doubt determines us: what we people are, what determines us and how, how we see and describe ourselves, and, lastly, how we understand each other. Even though the data presented today, when we want to speak of the European Union as the space of a new intercultural dialogue, meetings and creation, will in certain places point to the gap between wishful thinking and facts which do not support the thesis of (already) successful intercultural dialogue and success of the European Union (including Slovenia) in establishing a true intercultural dialogue, do not let this disturb you but enrich you. After all, pointing out the "white spots" in this field of our joint efforts is also one of the objectives of statistical data. Irena Križman, M. Sc. Director-General CONTENTS LIVING IN A MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY IS FOR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE AL- READY AN EVERYDAY LIFE...................................................................................................9 OPINIONS ON INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE IN EUROPE When you hear the expression "intercultural dialogue in Europe" what first comes to your mind, EU-27 and Slovenia, 2007................................................. 11 Influence of ethnic, religious and national background of people on cultural life in their country, EU-27, 2007......................................................................... 15 Attitude of EU citizens towards intercultural dialogue, EU-27, 2007 ................................ 17 CULTURE................................................................................................................................ 18 What comes to your mind when you think about the word culture, EU-27, 2007............ 18 Non-participation in any artistic activity, EU-27, 2007........................................................ 20 Government expenditure on culture, by sectors, EU-27 and Norway and Switzerland, 2005 .......................................................................... 21 Government expenditure on culture - for libraries and for museums and archives, EU-27 and Norway and Switzerland, 2005 ................................................. 22 Government expenditure on culture by sectors, Slovenia, 2003, 2005, and 2006 .......... 23 Share of people who in the past twelve months read at least one book or more than 5 books, EU-27, 2007........................................................................................ 24 THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES.....................26 Share of young people, EU-27, 2006 and 2050.................................................................... 26 Some basic data on young people in the EU-27 and Slovenia, 2006 and projection for 2050 .................................................................................................. 26 Young citizens (15-24 years), EU-27, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, 1997 and 2007........................................................................................................................... 27 The meaning of the term European Union for young people, EU-27, 2002 ..................... 29 Young people (15-29 years), Slovenia, 1989-2007............................................................... 31 Young men and young women, Slovenia, 1989-2007......................................................... 33 Differences between the "growth" of the number of young men and the "growth" of the number of young women, Slovenia, 1990-2007................................. 34 Young people who finish schooling without qualifications, EU-27 and Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, 2002 and 2007.......................................... 35 Internationally comparable youth unemployment rates, Slovenia and selected countries, March 2008 ..................................................................... 37 Youth unemployment (15-24 years), EU-27, 2007 ................................................................ 38 Alcohol consumption and smoking in the EU.............................................................39 Pure alcohol consumption per capita, EU-27, 1997 and 2003 ........................................... 39 Alcohol consumption (in litres of pure alcohol) per person aged 15+, EU-27 and Slovenia, 1981-2003.......................................................................... 40 Young people who were drunk three times or more during the past month, EU-27, 2003 ............................................................................................................................... 41 Increase in alcohol consumption by 16-year-olds, Slovenia, 1995, 1999, 2003.............. 43 Age at first use of alcoholic beverages by gender, Slovenia, 2003.................................. 44 Non-smokers, occasional and daily smokers among people aged 15-24 years, EU-27, 1993-2003 ..................................................................................... 46 Daily smokers, share of people aged 15-24 years, EU-27, 1993-2003.............................. 48 MULTILINGUALISM..............................................................................................................50 Official languages of the European Union by year when they received the status of official language of the EU, 1957-2007 .......................................................... 53 Languages and speakers of these languages, world, 2005.............................................. 54 Most frequently spoken languages in the world.................................................................54 Mother tongue, % of spontaneous mentions (multiple answers possible), EU-27, 2005 ............................................................................................................................... 56 Multilingualism in Slovenia........................................................................................57 People in Slovenia whose mother tongue is Slovenian, 1921-2002 population censuses.............................................................................................57 Population of Slovenia by mother tongue at population censuses, 1921-2002 .............. 58 Population of Slovenia by mother tongue: Slovenian, Italian, Hungarian, 1921-2002 population censuses.............................................................................................59 Average number of foreign language learning hours per pupil in elementary school, EU-27, 2000 and 2005 ....................................................................... 61 Average number of foreign language learning hours per pupil in secondary school, EU-27, 2000 and 2005......................................................................... 62 The Slovenian sentence "Konec koncev je jezik naša domovina" and its translation into 23 languages...................................................................................63 MULTINATIONALS AND MIGRATIONS OF PEOPLE....................................................64 Population (EU-27=100), EU-27, 2008................................................................................... 64 Foreigners in EU-27 Member States (in 000), 2006 and 2007............................................ 65 Foreigners in EU-27 Member States (in 000), 2006 and 2007............................................ 65 Foreigners (citizens of other EU-27 Member States) in Slovenia, 2006 ........................... 66 Changes in population numbers due to natural and migration movements of people as %o of the total population, EU-27, 2007.................. 67 Immigrants and emigrants as % of the total population, EU-27, Croatia, 2007........... 68 Population of the Republic of Slovenia by groups and gender, 2007 and 2008............. 69 Migration of the population, Slovenia, 2007........................................................................ 71 Average number of immigrants and emigrants by age, Slovenia, 1996-2007................ 72 Population by religion and gender, Slovenia, 1931-2002 censuses.................................73 RELIGIOUS STRUCTURE OF THE POPULATION.............................................................74 Population by religion and gender, Slovenia, 2002 census...............................................75 Catholic believers by gender (M=100, W=100), Slovenia, 1931,1953, 1991 and 2002 censuses......................................................................................76 NATIONAL MINORITIES......................................................................................................77 National minorities in Europe....................................................................................77 Minority members, EU-15 in 2003, EU-25 in 2004, and EU-27 in 2007.............................. 77 Minority members as percent of the total population, EU-27, 2007.................................. 78 Minorities in Europe, 2003, 2004 and 2007........................................................................... 79 Populations of EU Member States and members of minorities in these countries, prior to 2004 and after the EU enlargement until 2007 ..................... 80 National minorities in Slovenia..................................................................................81 Italian national minority.........................................................................................................82 Hungarian national minority..................................................................................................82 Roma ethnic community..........................................................................................................83 Slovenian minorities in Austria, Italy, and Hungary - now also in Croatia....................84 DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS OF SOME BASIC TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS.................................................................................................................85 LIST OF COUNTRIES: NAMES AND ABBREVIATIONS (ISO 3166)......................................86 HOW TO OBTAIN STATISTICAL DATA AND INFORMATION?..............................................87 Issued and published by the Statistical Office of Republic of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Vožarski pot 12 - Use and publication of data is allowed provided the source is acknowledged - Director-General Irena Križman, M.Sc. - Author Petronela Vertot - Editor of the Brochure collection Marina Urbas - Translated by PSD d. o. o. -Language editor Boris Panic - Designed by Dušan Weiss and Ada Poklač - 400 copies printed - Printed by printing office Januš CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Ljubljana 316.7(497.4) VERTOT, Nelka Intercultural dialogue in Slovenia / [author Petronela Vertot ; translated by PSD]. - Ljubljana : Statistični urad Republike Slovenije = Statistical Office of Republic of Slovenia, 2009 ISBN 978-961-239-176-8 1. Gl. stv. nasl. 244246528 LIVING IN A MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY IS FOR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ALREADY AN EVERYDAY LIFE Being constantly faced with cultural diversity has become a fact as well as a big challenge for most of the people in an increasingly globalised multicultural society. Because of the European Union's enlargement and the related more intensive and numerous migration flows, the nations and their cultures in Europe actually meet and intertwine all the time and constantly exchange their material and spiritual goods. 2008 was also the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue or the year of "conversation" of different cultures, better understanding of ideals of others, and successful coexistence of individuals and nations despite their differences, because its purpose was to increase integration of European citizens in today's difficult world. The globalisation process, which nowadays affects the increasingly tighter integration of individual nations, also represents a great danger of losing the primary elements of especially smaller cultures and cultural and historical heritage thereof. That is why the efforts for as great intercultural dialogue as possible, which with their objective to establish a civil-social dialogue based on tolerance and respect of the other - the different - include all fields of civil society (e.g. education, employment, migrations, etc.), are not only understandable and urgent but in particular very sensible. We have to think about the intercultural dialogue, which is an extensive transverse priority of the European Union and at least "touches" all fields of human life, as broadly as possible because it does not include only the idea of bringing the European nations closer together but all people. It concerns the dialogue between different positions, world-views and beliefs, values and many other things. Intercultural exchange and forwarding of "information" is not just an issue with which policies or political institutions should deal, but it is also the result of life of every individual and all people simultaneously because we are all doing it every day. Since intercultural dialogue is part of everyday life of most people, general efforts are directed towards the objective that it would become more and more the lifestyle of all people. Therefore, we do not only talk about interculturality but are living it more and more, and with this knowledge we also enrich our contemporaries and successors. The present social reality in Europe with its ethnic, cultural and religious diversity is unique in the European history. Because the last two (V. and VI.) EU enlargements in the framework of the single market enabled and accelerated new contacts between different cultures, religions, ethnic groups and languages, and thus increased interculturality in the EU, it can function in these changed circumstances of an enlarged Europe according to special philosophy of common European identity based on cultural diversity of its members. Intercultural dialogue is closely connected to the basic objective of building a common Europe, i.e. bringing the European nations closer together. Article 151 of the Treaty on the EU determines the cooperation of Member States in the fields of promotion of European nations' cultures and preservation of cultural heritage significant for Europe. Precisely this Union's calling demands that the dialogue be a voluntarily chosen priority, which invites European citizens and all who live in the European Union to fully LIVING IN A MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY IS FOR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ALREADY AN EVERYDAY LIFE participate in the management of their common diversity. The aim of such cooperation is to create a common cultural heritage while respecting national and regional diversity, which is especially important for some new Member States, which based their political demands of state independence also on their cultural particularities. Thus, one of the intercultural dialogue tasks is to contribute to the realisation of the Lisbon Strategy objective that the EU would become the most competitive society in the field of knowledge and, consequently, to the fulfilment of the basic reason why the European Union was established, i.e. to eliminate obstacles for free movement of people, goods, services and capital, and thus strengthen the European single market. The European Parliament as well set itself the task to contribute to the building and strengthening of bridges between different cultures. The European Parliament and Council proposal to declare 2008 the "European Year of Intercultural Dialogue" (EYID 2008) was adopted by the European Commission on 5 October 2005. The idea was originally proposed by the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism Jan Figel', who in September 2004 before the European Parliament during the proposal's presentation said: "Over the past few years, Europe has seen major changes resulting from successive enlargements of the Union, greater mobility in the Single Market, and increased travel to and trade with the rest of the world. This has resulted in interaction between Europeans and the different cultures, languages, ethnic groups and religions on the continent and elsewhere. Dialogue between cultures would therefore appear to be an essential tool in forging closer links both between European peoples themselves and between their respective cultures." On the event of symbolic placement of the foundation stone for the construction of a cultural-pastoral centre of Serbian Orthodox Church in Ljubljana, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia and then President of the Council of the EU Janez Janša pointed out the fact that "the path of intercultural dialogue is the path of strengthening the most solid foundation for peace and prosperity of nations" and emphasised "that modern Europe is striving to achieve an intercultural and interreligious dialogue because it is aware that the human spiritual area is one of the essential (significant) elements of every society8". The European Year of Intercultural Dialogue is based on the richness and diversity of a set of special projects that are being implemented in 2008 in the framework of programmes and other forms of activities of the Community and include the following five fields: culture, education, youth, sport and citizenship9. The EU (the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on the basis of the Decision No 1983/2006/EC of 18 December 2006) declared 2008 the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue with the purpose to stimulate as much as possible mutual understanding of people with different backgrounds and to ensure respect and progress 8 http://www.kpv.gov.si/nc/si/splosno/cns/novica/article//3009/ and the speech of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia and the President of the Council of the European Union Janez Janša on the event of placement of the foundation stone for the construction of a cultural-pastoral centre of Serbian orthodox church, Ljubljana, 22 June 2008; http://www.kpv.gov.si/fileadmin/kpv.gov.si/pageuploads/datoteke_dinamika/2008-06/drugo/22jun08_govor_ pv_temeljni_kamen.pdf 9 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/05/1226&format=HTML&aged=1&language=SL&guiLanguage=en LIVING IN A MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY IS FOR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ALREADY AN EVERYDAY LIFE on the social standing scale of cultural diversity. With regard to the Decision provisions that regulate the participation of Member States, each Member State appointed a national coordination body, or an equivalent administrative body, responsible for organising that Member State's participation in the contents of the Year. In Slovenia the holder and the coordinator of activities related to the Year of Intercultural Dialogue was the Ministry of Culture, and for this purpose the competent minister appointed a trans-sectoral working group or the National Coordination Body for the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. The National Coordination Body with the representatives of the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Sport, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, the Office for Youth, the Government Office for European Affairs, and the Government Communication Office prepared a National Strategy for the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, a strategic document for the implementation of the Decision in Slovenia, in accordance with national policies. Within its competencies, the National Coordination Body actively monitored the implementation of the National Strategy and all actions of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue in Slovenia. It also defined general objectives of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue: ■ Promoting intercultural dialogue as a process in which all those living in the EU can improve their ability to deal with a more open, but also more complex, cultural environment, where in different Member States as well as within each Member State, different cultural identities and beliefs coexist; ■ Highlighting intercultural dialogue as an opportunity to contribute to and benefit from a diverse and dynamic society, not only in Europe but also in the world; ■ Raising awareness of all those living in the EU, in particular young people, of the importance of developing an active European citizenship which is open to the world, respects cultural diversity and is based on common values in the EU as laid down in Article 6 of the EU Treaty and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU; ■ Highlighting the contribution of different cultures and expressions of cultural diversity to heritage and ways of life of the Member States. The activities envisaged to achieve the objectives of the programme included: ■ Events and initiatives on a European scale aimed at promoting intercultural dialogue, through involving directly or otherwise reaching as many people as possible, and highlighting achievements and experiences on the theme of the European Year of Intercul-tural Dialogue; ■ Events and initiatives at national level and regional level with a strong European dimension aimed at promoting the objectives of the Year, with particular attention being given to actions relating to civic education and learning to appreciate other people and their differences; ■ Information and promotion campaigns, particularly in cooperation with the media and civil society organisations as Community and national level to disseminate the key messages concerning the objectives of the Year and the recognition of best practices, especially among young people and children; LIVING IN A MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY IS FOR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ALREADY AN EVERYDAY LIFE ■ Surveys and studies on a Community or national scale and consultation with transnational networks and civil society stakeholders. The programme planned to be implemented in 2008 should contribute to the creation of expression and importance of the sustainable process of intercultural dialogue, which shall continue in the following years. For a concrete illustration of what may belong in the framework of EYID 2008 the persons responsible selected the following fields: culture and media, education/science, immigration, minorities, multilingualism, religion, jobs and youth. For the presentation of the mentioned fields in the brochure, we also used some of the structural indicators, with which the European Commission monitors the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy or measures the progress of individual Member States in various areas of life. Where the data show people's public opinion, we summarised them according to the European public opinion survey Eurobarometer (the European Commission's website)10. For the most part, we used the data of the following surveys: ■ Flash Eurobarometer 217, Intercultural dialogue in Europe ■ Flash Eurobarometer 202, Survey among young people aged between 15-30 in the European Union ■ Special Eurobarometer 243, Europeans and their languages ■ Special Eurobarometer 263, Discrimination in the EU ■ Special Eurobarometer 278, European cultural values. The Treaty establishing the European Community contains the provisions that its task is to establish a closer connection between the European nations and contribute to the blooming of the cultures of the Member States while respecting national and regional diversities and with the emphasis on common cultural heritage. In the middle of the year, in June 2008, the Council of Europe published the White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue, addressed to policy-makers and politicians at national, regional and local levels, which shall provide the guidelines and analytical and methodological tools for the promotion of intercultural dialogue in 2008 and in successive years. http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm C OPINIONS ON INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE IN EUROPE When you hear the expression "intercultural dialogue in Europe" what first comes to your mind, EU-27 and Slovenia, 200711 "verbatim answers" Communication among different communities Cooperation, exchange, international mobility Living together, knowing and understanding different cultures Cultural events and access to culture Coexistence and cultural diversity Shared European culture Dealing with linguistic diversity Tolerance, equal rights Education, exchange of information and ideas Dialogue in the sphere of politics and economics Preserving tradition Immigration/minorities Other 10 =t= 15 =L= 20 =t= 25 % 30 I I EU-27 □ SI Source: Flash Eurobarometer 217, page 10 ■ Before the beginning of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, the European Union prepared the Flash Eurobarometer 217 survey12, with which it wanted to determine to what extent EU citizens were familiar with the notion of intercultural dialogue, what was the interaction between people of different national, ethnic and religious groups, and what was the awareness of people of the events that shall take place in the framework of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. ■ To the question "What does intercultural dialogue in Europe mean to you" Slovenia had the smallest share of non-responses among all EU-27 Member States. As much as 81% of the respondents replied (65% was the EU-27 average). In Slovenia most people (26% of the respondents) chose the answer "Cooperation, exchange, transnational mobility". In Slovenia, the answer "Tolerance, equal rights" also received a high share (14%). Only the respondents from Slovenia, among all EU-27 Member States, placed this answer in the upper third of the most frequent answers, while in EU-27 on average only 4% of the respondents selected this answer. ■ First associations of the EU-27 respondents for this expression were different by states. 23% of all EU citizens thought about "Communication among different communities", 13% of "Cooperation, exchange, transnational mobility", 11% of "Living together, knowing and understanding different cultures" and 10% of "Cultural events and access to culture". Other answers received lower shares, namely: "Coexistence and cultural 11 Flash Eurobarometer 217, http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_217_sum_en.pdf, stran 10 12 http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_217_sum_en.pdf OPINIONS ON INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE IN EUROPE diversity" 9%, "Shared European culture" 8% and "Dealing with linguistic diversity" 5%. Other answers - e.g. "Education, exchange of information and ideas", "Shared European culture"... - were chosen more rarely (4% or less). In fact, the mentioned answers compose a practical "universal definition of intercultural dialogue", and on the basis thereof we can say that EU citizens are familiar with the notion of intercultural dialogue. Namely, in Eurobarometer 217 the EU-27 respondents attributed a number of meanings to the term "Intercultural dialogue in Europe". Most were close to the basic concept of intercultural dialogue and were positive in their connotation. Among more frequently expressed were: conversation, cooperation, exchange, and mutual understanding of all nations and nationalities, religions and cultures. ■ 36% of the respondents could not associate the expression "Intercultural dialogue in Europe" with any special meaning - therefore, citizens of certain countries had some difficulties in explaining this notion (they had to think about it or they didn't find any association at all for the term intercultural dialogue): in Hungary there were 54% of such respondents, in Estonia 52%, in Romania 50%, and in Malta and Cyprus 47%. Slovenia was "leading" here as well, because the fewest citizens who had a problem answering this question were Slovenians, only 19%, followed by Luxembourg (20%), and Portugal and Spain (21%)13. 13 http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_217_sum_en.pdf, page 9 OPINIONS ON INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE IN EUROPE Influence of ethnic, religious and national background of people on cultural life in their country, EU-27, 2007 60-- 40------------------------------ 20.-"---------"__-_-_-_____----------- olU-1 II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II _ EU-27 LU IE SE NL ES DE DK IT UK FT FR AT LT LV BE CZ SI RO GR MT HU SK CY Fl PL BG EE □ I-1 countries enriched very much |_| rather not enriched ^ rather enriched not enriched at all I I not available Source: Flash Eurobarometer 217, page 6 ■ In 2008, the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, in which numerous events that promote mutual understanding and socialising of members of different cultural, ethnic or religious communities have taken place all across Europe, the results of the Eurobarometer 217 survey showed that almost 60% of EU citizens were interested in such events, and only 20% expressed major interest. ■ The Eurobarometer 217 survey also showed that almost three quarters of EU citizens believed that people with a different ethnic, religious or national background enrich the cultural life in all countries. 49% respondents believed that representatives of minority cultures rather enriched their own country, and 23% indicated that such cultural diversity highly enriched the cultural life in EU Member States. The Irish and the Luxem-bourgers agreed most with the thesis that the presence of people from various backgrounds enriched the cultural life of their nation, followed by the French, the Germans and the Finns. The highest levels of disagreement with this assumption were found in Malta, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania. However, even in those countries more than half of the citizens (from 52% to 57%) thought that people with different cultural backgrounds do bring benefits to everyday life. ■ In Europe everyday participation of the members of different cultures is a reality. Two thirds (65%) of the respondents in EU Member States remembered interaction with at least one person of different religious, ethnic or national background (the EU or other) in the week prior to the survey. In only four of 27 EU Member States (Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and Estonia) such interaction with the members of different cultures was confirmed by less than half of the respondents. OPINIONS ON INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE IN EUROPE ■ The respondents most often encountered members of other ethnic communities (48%); 44% of respondents mentioned that they had contact with members of other religions, almost as many (42%) had contact with the citizens of other EU Member States, while around one third of EU citizens (36%) had contacts with the citizens of the countries outside the EU. ■ In the EU the prevailing opinion is that intercultural dialogue benefits building of relationships between people, and for most of the people preservation of cultural traditions is equally important. A remarkably high number (83%) of EU citizens agreed about the benefits of intercultural contacts, and two thirds were of the opinion that younger generations should continue such family (cultural) traditions. 55% of the respondents expressed an attitude that suggests a preference towards cultural diversity but preserving their own as well, while 25% of the respondents (in particular young people) had an attitude where cultural openness does not go hand-in-hand with the need of consciously maintaining one's own traditions. Other respondents believed that intercultural contacts were not beneficial or did not have an opinion thereof. OPINIONS ON INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE IN EUROPE Attitude of EU citizens towards intercultural dialogue, EU-27, 2007 80-- 60-- 40-- 20-- LU IE SE NL ES DE DK IT UK PT FR AT LT LV BE CZ SI RO GR MT HU SK CY Fl PL BG EE countries ^ cosmopolitan I I pro and keep roots I I not In favour of diversity Source: Flash Eurobarometer 217, page 9 ■ The survey showed that almost three quarters (72%) of EU citizens welcomed dialogue with other cultures, because they believed that people with different ethnic, religious or national background enriched the cultural life in their own country, while 23% of the respondents did not agree with this opinion. 49% of the respondents believed that representatives of minority cultures rather enriched their own country, and 23% indicated that such cultural diversity very much enriched the cultural life in the countries. ■ Most of the people who agreed that the presence of different cultures enriched the cultural life were interviewed in Ireland and Luxembourg (both 84%), followed by France (82%), and Germany and Finland (both 77%). The highest values of disagreement with this statement were characteristic of Malta, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania. But even in these countries between 52% and 57% of people believed that members with different ethnic, religious and national backgrounds enriched the European culture of their own country. ■ In 2008, the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, numerous events that promote mutual understanding and socialising of members of different cultural, ethnic or religious communities took place all across Europe. The mentioned survey, carried out in the second half of 2007, that is just prior to the year of intercultural cooperation, showed that almost two thirds of EU citizens were interested in such events and only one fifth (20%) expressed great interest. CULTURE What comes to your mind when you think about the word culture, EU-27, 2007 Associations with the word "culture" Arts (performance arts and visuall arts - architecture, painting, art galleries etc.) Traditions, languages, customs and social or cultural communities Literature, poetry, playwriting, authors Education and family (upbringing) Knowledge and science (research) Lifestyle and manners Civilization (Western, Asian, African, Arab, etc.) History Museums Leisure, sport, travels, fun Values and beliefs (including philosophy and religion) Not interested, not for me Too elite, snobbish, posh, boring (negative things) Other DK 10 20 30 % 40 Source: Eurobarometer 278, Cultural Values ■ Culture is often defined as a system of beliefs and values that influence habits, customs, rules and social institutions. Already in 1871, Edward Tylor defined culture as a "complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." ■ Etymology of the term culture points to the tightest connection between education and work. Originally, the term culture (from Latin cultura, derived from colere, which means "to cultivate") denoted land cultivation, but now it generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance. Various definitions of "culture" reflect different theoretical bases for understanding or criteria for valuation of human activity. In the widest sense, the expression culture refers to all achievements and values of an individual, group or society of intelligent beings, especially artistic creation. It includes technology, art, science, as well as moral systems and the characteristic behaviours and habits of selected intelligent entities. The expression has more detailed meanings in different areas of human activity. Different human societies have different cultures, however personal culture of an individual may differ from the culture of other people. ■ For many EU citizens culture plays an important part in their lives (it is very important for 31% of EU citizens, fairly important for 46%, not very important for 17%, and not at all important for 5%). 1% of the respondents did not answer this question. ■ EU citizens most frequently define culture in terms of the arts. At the European level, "culture" is very much associated with creative arts (performance and visual arts), CULTURE whether that be in the form of fine arts or literature or authors, as can be seen according to almost four tenths of all surveyed. With 24%, literature, poetry and playwriting occupy the second place by the frequency of the answers, the same as education and family upbringing. ■ According to the frequency of particular answers by countries, the highest placed were the following: knowledge and science research in Spain and Italy (both 35%); education and family upbringing in Italy (39%) and Spain (36%); lifestyle and manners in Cyprus (48% - EU average only 18%); and civilisations (EU average only 13%) in Greece (38%). CULTURE Non-participation in any artistic activity, EU-27, 2007 % © SURS EU-27 BG FT PL GR RO LT ES HU IT MT CY LV IE AT SI CZ UK DE BE NL DK FR Fl SK LU EE SE countries Source: Eurobarometer 278, Cultural Values ■ Based on the data on the share of those in a country who do not participate in any such activity (low percentage value indicates high general participation), we can determine the differences between the countries from the viewpoint of artistic (non-)partici-pation. Very high artistic participation of people in Europe was recorded in Sweden and Estonia and especially low in Bulgaria and Portugal (79% and 73%, respectively). ■ More than one third (36%) of the respondents selected decorating, handicrafts or gardening as the most popular activities in the field of cultural activities. 27% of the respondents selected photography/film and 9% dancing as participation in artistic activity. Only 3% of the respondents selected the answer acting/performing. CULTURE Government expenditure on culture, by sectors, EU-27 and Norway and Switzerland, 2005 Country Libraries Museums Performance Radio/TV Visual Film/Vi and archives arts arts (music + theatre) AT 3.7 14.6 26.3 0.04 1.5 0.0 BE 2.2 7.6 30.8 0.5 2.4 BG 1.0 3.5 27.7 34.3 2.2 DK 22.7 10.9 15.9 24.3 1.0 2.7 EE 7.2 8.8 25.0 17.0 0.4 3.0 FI 30.5 16.9 30.0 5.5 2.0 FR 8.3 17.3 22.9 2.8 0.9 DE 15.7 16.1 37.9 GR 4.7 59.1 14.3 2.4 2.7 HU 15.6 19.9 22.3 0.3 1.9 0.7 IE 5.2 6.0 IT 5.2 5.6 13.2 2.8 0.1 2.8 LV 7.5 14.8 16.5 14.3 1.0 3.5 LT 16.0 14.1 35.0 0.4 1.6 MT 8.7 17.9 16.1 1.2 2.3 NL 15.1 14.2 17.1 27.2 3.5 PL 13.5 34.3 26.1 RO 11.5 21.3 1.9 SK 11.9 15.2 25.5 1.9 5.6 SI 6.6 15.6 31.3 3.6 4.5 3.5 ES 6.9 30.6 15.7 0.4 5.9 SE 3.0 19.0 19.0 1.0 3.0 CH 9.7 13.9 22.1 NO 7.9 13.7 26.1 5.5 14.7 Note: for some countries the data provided are for the following years: FI - 2001, FR - 2007, DE - 2003, GR -2006, IT - 2000, NL and ES - 2004, CH 2002; for PT and UK data are not available. Source: Council of Europe/ERICarts, Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, 9th edition, 2008 ■ In the past 30 years statisticians and other experts strived to determine a common framework and definitions for collecting and comparing data on public expenses for culture by individual countries. In this field, particularly important are the common efforts of UNESCO and the Council of Europe within the framework of the LEG Working Group (European Union Leadership Groups) and EUROSTAT. ■ The table does not show data on actual expenditure, but provides some comparative data on the shares of expenses for particular culture sectors with respect to the others by individual countries. ■ In 2005 Slovenia allocated the most funds for performance arts (music and theatre), namely 31.3%; it allocated 6.6% of funds for libraries and 15.6% for museums and archives. % CULTURE Government expenditure on culture - for libraries and for museums and archives, EU-27 and Norway and Switzerland, 2005 % 60-, n esuRS 45 30 15- AT BE BG DK EE Fl FR DE GR HU IE IT LV LT MT NL PL RO 5K SI ES SE CH NO □ countries libraries I I museums and archives Note: Data are not available for CZ, CY, LU, PT in UK. Source: Council of Europe/ERICarts, Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, 9th edition, 2008 ■ Based on SORS's data on the general government sector expenditure according to purpose for the 2000-2006 period (by ESA 1995 methodology - European System of Accounts 1995) and according to purpose of expenditure (by classification of the functions of the government - COFOG classification), the following funds were allocated in 2006: - 17.1% of GDP for social protection (expenditures related to various risks and needs, such as sickness, disability, old age, children, unemployment, and other forms of social exclusion); - 6.4% of GDP for education; - 6.2% of GDP for public services; - 6.2% of GDP for health; - 9.4% of GDP for all other purposes, of which 4.1% of GDP for economic affairs, 1.7% of GDP for public order and safety (police services, fire-protection services, law courts, prisons), 1.4% of GDP for defence (military defence, civil defence), and 2.2% of GDP for other purposes (recreation, culture and religion, environmental protection, and housing and community development). ■ Due to rapid and increasing introduction of new media and technology in the field of publishing, one would expect the "decline of the book". However, the data do not confirm this: In 1995, 3,194 book titles were published in Slovenia, and ten years later 37% more were published, namely 4,394 book titles; in 2006, among 4,684 of "new titles" of published books, 3,306 were original works and 1,378 were translations, 1,036 new titles of literary books and brochures, 44.2% of which were novels, followed by short stories (23.3%), poems (19.7%), plays (2.0%) and other (10.8%). ■ In 2000, there were 406 companies in Slovenia with publishing as their registered activity, 119 of which published books. By 2006 the number of publishing houses increased by more than 20% to 492 and 167 of these published books. CULTURE Government expenditure on culture by sectors, Slovenia, 2003, 2005, and 2006 % 40. 30 20. 10- 1 Q libraries museums performance arts radio/TV and archives (music+theatre) visual arts film/video sectors of culture I | 2003 □ 2005 □ 2006 Source: Council of Europe/ERICarts, Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, 9th edition, 2008 ■ According to the Household Budget Survey data, household expenditure on books in the structure of total household expenditure persistently decreased in the last six years: in 2000 a household member spent on average 0.42% of funds, in 2001-2003 a little less, 0.39%, in 2004 0.37%, and in 2005 0.32%. ■ In 1999 the EU households spent on average 0.5% of funds on books; the households in Greece spent the most on books, namely the share of the total expenditure amounted to 0.7%, and the households in France, Luxembourg, Portugal, Finland and United Kingdom spent the least, 0.4%. Even though the households in Portugal and Luxembourg allocated the same share of expenditure on books, the households in Luxembourg spent on books 2.5-times as much as the households in Portugal. ■ The libraries in Slovenia are placed increasingly more frequently among those cultural institutions that play a very important role on the path that a book makes from the author to the reader. In 2006, 61 general libraries in Slovenia had 539,000 members, among whom almost 165,000 were young people aged 15 years or less. Each member borrowed on average 46 books in the mentioned year and all members together borrowed almost 25 million units of library material. ■ In general libraries, which have an extensive book collection, 8.1 million book units were available to the visitors in 2006. Together with serial publications and non-book material this means 4 units per citizen of Slovenia, which means that these libraries exceed the minimum standard of 3.7 units per citizen (the condition to perform library activity as a public service). CULTURE Share of people who in the past twelve months read at least one book or more than 5 books, EU-27, 2007 % I-1 countries I_I at least 1 book □ more than 5 books Source: Eurobarometer 278, Cultural Values ■ Watching and listening to cultural broadcasts and reading books are the most popular cultural activities among EU citizens. 78% of the respondents watched a cultural programme on television or listened to such a broadcast over the radio over the 12 months before their interview, which was conducted in November 2007. 46% of the respondents did that more than five times. ■ According to the survey data, in the 12 months prior to the interview 71% of EU citizens read at least one book in the last 12 months before the interview. and 37% of the respondents read more than five books. Citizens of Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark most often read books (over 80% at least one book a year), and citizens of Malta and Portugal the least. According to this indicator, Slovenia is barely above the EU average (71%). In the last year prior to the interview 48% of the EU respondents aged 15 years or younger and 28% of the respondents aged between 16 and 19 years never read a book. ■ School libraries intensively encourage the reading culture in children and the youth. In 2006 in Slovenia there were 896 school libraries, 721 of which were in elementary schools (which means that almost 82% of elementary schools had their own library) and 118 in secondary schools. The readers borrowed 6.1 million units of book material, the most of which was literature (60.4%). CULTURE ■ By establishing new universities and higher education institutions the number of higher education libraries has been also increasing. In 2006 in Slovenia there were already 62 libraries in the universities of Ljubljana, Maribor, Nova Gorica and the University of Primorska, and in independent higher education institutions. The total book collection of higher education libraries counted more than 3 million units of books and brochures, used by almost 177,000 active members. ■ In 2006, Slovenian companies, institutes and institutions had 131 special libraries with 2.7 million units of book material and almost 47,000 members. ■ The National and University Library is especially important for Slovenia, because it contributes to the possibilities to raise the culture of citizens with its wealth of books (collection of 1.2 million units). THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES Share of young people, EU-27, 2006 and 2050 % 40-, 30- 20-- 10-- EU-27 LU DK NL SE FR IE Fl BE MT UK EE LT HU LV CY PL PT SK SI AT CZ RO GR DE BG ES IT ,-, countries I I 2006 I I 2050 Source: Eurostat Some basic data on young people in the EU-27 and Slovenia, 2006 and projection for 2050 Slovenia EU-27 Youth (15-241, 2006 13.1% 12.7% Youth (15-24 years) in 2050 according to Eurostat's projection 9.1% 9.7% Youth (20-24 years) with achieved at least secondary school education, 2006 90.5% 77.4% Unemployed youth (20-24 years), 2006 10.2% 16.8% Youth (16-24 years) who at least once a week use Internet, 2006 81.0% 73.0% Tertiary education graduates by fields, 2006: Education 9.8% 10.8% Humanities and arts 5.9% 11.2% Social sciences, journalism, information 8.3% 9.6% Business and administration 35.4% 20.1% Law 3.6% 5.8% Science, mathematics and computing 3.8% 10.2% Agriculture and veterinary 2.3% 1.6% Health and welfare 9.1% 13.5% Services 6.8% 3.8% Source: Eurostat THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES Young citizens (15-24 years), EU-27, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, 1997 and 2007 % I I 2007 Source: Eurostat ■ According to UN estimates there are more than one billion young people in the world and they represent a significant human resource for development and positive social changes. Young people represent, for example, one quarter of the world's labour force but also half of the unemployed across the world; young people without an appropriate employment are particularly vulnerable, because this way they are actually condemned to poverty, and without the means of living they have more problems getting an education and basic health, which are - as in a vicious circle - the basic conditions for appropriate employability. ■ Awareness of belonging to a community (for example the EU) cannot be artificially created. It can originate only from common cultural awareness; therefore Europe has to direct the attention not just to economy, but also to education, citizenship, and culture. Part of such direction are the EU education and training programmes, which encourage the exchange programmes, enable the students to study abroad, participate in common school activities, learn foreign languages, etc. Organisation of schools and education and precise curricula are still being determined at a national or local level of the EU Member State itself. Even though all EU citizens are learning "all life", most of these efforts are nonetheless directed towards education and training of the youth. ■ The youth has been defined differently in various expert discussions: not that rarely it is mistaken for or even equated with children, students or pupils, excluding the most vulnerable youth groups - the unemployed persons, those without the status of a student or pupil, and those employed young people whose employment cannot help them become independent. Even though it is not appropriate to define the youth in a global THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES sense with numbers (years), but as a social category, at least by data analyses the "definition" by age is required: The United Nations usually observe the definition of the "youth" created in 1985 in the International Year of the Youth, and consider all people aged 15 to 24 as young people. The only legal act in Slovenia that in a way defines youth is the Youth Councils Act, which refers to the age definition of 15-29 years. The Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, as some other European countries, defines youth as young people aged between 15 and 29 years. Thus, we belong among the youth 15 years of our lives. (Age definitions of youth in other countries are different - most European countries set the upper limit around 30 years, however the lower limits differ.) ■ The youth is a special group of people who are not children anymore, but are becoming independent and increasingly active members of the society and already have great capabilities. During the independence process they gradually assume responsibility for younger and older members of the society. The youth are the near future of every society and country, and increasingly more is expected from them nowadays. Lately there has been much more talk about the youth than a few years ago, in a positive as well as negative light. We often talk and write about youth in relation to delinquency, staying up late, etc., but also increasingly more about the particularly positive aspects of their activity and role in the society: volunteering, activities in the field of informal and formal education, work performance, family creation, and other fields which are of exceptional significance for the society in general. THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES The meaning of the term European Union for young people, EU-27, 2002 meaning freedom to travel, study and work anywhere in the EU 20 40 60 80 % 100 a way to protect the rights of citizens means of improving the economic situation European government a lot of bureaucracy, waste of time and money the risk of losing our cultural identity and diversity Source: Flash Eurobarometer, No 202, Survey among young people aged 15-30 in the European Union ■ Young people represent that part of the population to which the society has to pay special attention because they are the medium-term "basis" of social development. Since the long-term development of the society largely depends on the improvement of the position and development of youth, it is necessary to enable them to use their skills and abilities as appropriately as possible under the balanced conditions of intergenerational solidarity; to create conditions for realisation of such circumstances in the society that would enable and support the creation of a well brought-up, educated, motivated, professional, qualified, and responsible young generation. ■ Study of youth is becoming more and more important, because the youth nowadays is simply "different". Study of generations from the beginning of the 20th century shows that the faster the social changes occurred the shorter were the generational boundaries of the generations living at that time. ■ The youth has its own characteristic behaviour and lifestyle, incomplete social status and ideal notions of youthfulness in the sense of vitality, mental freshness and liveliness. On the one hand it concerns prolonged living in economic dependence on parents, and on the other hand it concerns increasingly faster gaining of experience and knowledge that are characteristic of adults, great expectations, desires and demands that are already present in the society are placed on the young generation and which the youth with their wittiness, originality and intelligence also challenge and expect from themselves. ■ In traditional societies young people were the object of supervision and education, but today they become early psychosocially independent and experience their adulthood as a negotiation process on their own identity and the identity of the society. THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES ■ If asked what the EU means to them, young Europeans in the 21st century mostly (90%) reply that for them personally it means freedom to travel, study and work anywhere in the European Union. They also point out the fact (72%) that its existence represents a way to protect the rights of citizens and a means of improving the economic situation (71%). ■ More than half of the interviewed young EU citizens (56%) believed that the EU was equal to the European government. For 40% of the young adults a lot of bureaucracy and waste of time and money represent potential negative characteristics of the EU, and 35% of the respondents see the EU as a risk to losing cultural identity and diversity. THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES Young people (15-29 years), Slovenia, 1989-2007 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 □ year number of young people — in% Source: SORS ■ Young people are the priority target public of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, because they want to be included in the efforts to achieve the millennium development goals, even though today they are still more frequently "perceived" as a problem and not as a potential part of solutions to the existing social issues. If such current trends continue, the millennium development goals will not be achieved, and just the opposite if young people are properly included in the global development efforts for the future (and their energy, creativity and vision are used). ■ In the last decade three processes were strengthened, which influence the position of young people in the society: prolongation of life and decrease in population growth caused slower decrease in the share of young people in the entire population; longer education for increasingly more young people and difficulty to become employed, which makes permanent employment for young people harder, prolonged youth into the thirties; discrimination of young people in their inclusion into the social processes and difficult access to material goods resulted in a slower integration into the social environment. ■ On the one hand, the period of youth is becoming longer, and on the other hand it has started to disintegrate due to the pressures of new modernization (end of bloc division, informatics, and neoliberalism), namely it has become subjected to the "competitive and profitable" logic of adults. Therefore, the life of young people is becoming highly individualised, uncertain, exposed to possible losses, it is becoming riskier and brings with it a certain degree of social vulnerability. This accompanies a complex process of "termination" of the youth and exceeding youthfulness, which used to be an intermediate or transitory period in human life. THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES ■ Social vulnerability of young people coincides with the new forms of poverty which appears among them and does not originate from difficult economic conditions, but from broken family environment, psychological distress, and increasingly more frequently from lack of spiritual direction. In particular children and young people who are members of families where parents, also without their fault and will, have found themselves in long-term unemployment are often pushed to the edge of society, into poverty and social exclusion, and mostly do not receive sufficient initiatives and support of the society. Because they do not finish school, do not have the required self-esteem and are often socially less equipped, have fewer opportunities for personal development and have more difficulty gaining an appropriate education, they are less included in the society and, consequently, have fewer employment possibilities. THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES Young men and young women, Slovenia, 1989-2007 number (000) 230 -, 215- 200- 185- 170- 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 I-1 yMr I_| women I I men Source: SORS ■ Young people (15-29 years) have to be considered as soon as possible not only as beneficiaries but also as development programme providers, and they have to be immediately included in long-term economic sustainability programmes (in particular pension systems), because in the next generation they will be the ones who will have to carry the burden of worries for the younger as well as the older generation in their society. ■ Young people most often participate in the discussion on current topics such as cooperation and information, youth volunteer activities, employment, entrepreneurship, social inclusion and well-being; education; youth rights, equality and fight against discrimination. ■ Demographic trends in Slovenia also show14 that there are increasingly fewer young people and increasingly more elderly people. The future of Slovenia and most of the European countries will be characterised by accelerated ageing of the population, because the number and share of young people are decreasing, even though the Slovenian population is slightly increasing. Between 1989 and 2006 the number of young people dropped by almost 43,000: more precisely by 15,584 men (36.6%) and by 26,946 women (63.4%). In 2006 young people in Slovenia represented just over a fifth of the population. According to the population projection we can expect already in two years that young people will represent less than a fifth of the population, and in the next twenty years their share is expected to drop to 14%. The share of young people in Slovenia in the last 50 years in relation to other age groups was the highest during the 1981 census, namely there was almost 448,000 young people or almost a quarter (24.4%) of the population. 14 The demographic changes, which are faced by both Slovenia and the whole Europe, are the changes in the balance between the generations - ageing of the population. THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES Differences between the "growth" of the number of young men and the "growth" of the number of young women, Slovenia, 1990-2007 number 4000 2000- -2000. -4000. -6000 T III Ml III III 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 year □ women □ men Source: SORS ■ In 2006 the number of young people in Slovenia aged 15-29 years reduced significantly: by 6,592 (from 415,044 to 408,452). From 1990 to 2007 the number of young people in Slovenia dropped by more than 42,000. In the subsequent years an even greater drop is expected; however, it shall be probably somewhat mitigated by immigration. ■ In recent years natural increase in Slovenia was positive; however, the long-term forecast of Slovenia's demographic development raises concerns. Even though the population number is slowly increasing, the number and share of youth are decreasing. Forecasts show that in the next twenty years the share of young people shall drop from over 20% in 2007 to 14%. ■ In Slovenia, young people aged 15-29 years, who represent 20% of the total population, have different needs, as do persons of the same age elsewhere in Europe: in the early years they are mostly interested in ensuring the conditions to acquire an appropriate education, later the need to get a job is of key importance, and then to provide the conditions to begin an independent life and create a family. THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES Young people who finish schooling without qualifications, EU-27 and Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, 2002 and 2007 % 60-i © SURS 50- 40- 30- 20. 10- EU-27 MT FT ES IT RO BG LV LU GR EE UK DE FR CY DK BE NL SE IE HU AT LT Fl SK CZ PL SI IS NO CH countries I I 2002 I I 2007 Source: Eurostat ■ Young people who finish schooling without qualifications are those persons aged 18 to 24 years who in the last 4 weeks before the interview did not receive any certificate of acquired education or training (the highest education or training level achieved by ISCED 0, 1, or 2). The data are from the European Union Labour Force Survey. ■ Slovenia also participates in the project about young people leaving schooling without qualifications, led by the Belgian organisation Qec-Eran, with the basic purpose to create conditions for learning and exchange of experience among experts dealing with the target group of underprivileged youth in the European and domestic environment, and to establish an integrated approach for social inclusion of young people. At their work they are focused on integrating the education and training system and the economy in order to develop new ways of entry of young people into the labour market and to develop different approaches with which young people without education could acquire additional skills and improve their employment prospects. ■ Youth unemployment is a serious issue, and not only in Slovenia, because the entire Europe is aware of it and is solving it, which is why special attention is paid to this target group in the field of decreasing unemployment. In the last year the number of unemployed youth in Slovenia (up to 26 years of age) decreased: between December 2007 and June 2008 the share of unemployed youth decreased from 16.4% to 13.2%. In addition, the average waiting period of unemployed youth for work (those who registered with the Employment Service of Slovenia), which is 9.7 months, was lower than for other unemployed persons (27.8 months). THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES ■ Uncertainty in the labour market is one of the most distinctive characteristics of the situation of young people in Europe; consequently, young people are exposed to greater risk of social exclusion and social inequality in other areas of life as well. The number of unemployed persons in Slovenia in 2006, compared to the previous year, decreased by more than 5,000 (in particular on account of employment of men, because the number of unemployed women did not change significantly compared to the previous year); the survey-based unemployment rate in Slovenia in 2006 (calculated by the Eurostat methodology) was 6.0% and in the European Union 7.9%. The unemployment rate was the highest among young people aged between 15 and 24 years, and reached the value of 13.9%, namely 11.6% for men and 17.0% for women. THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES Internationally comparable youth unemployment rates, Slovenia and selected countries, March 2008 Country Youth unemployment rate (%) Slovenia 8.9 Hungary 19.5 Austria 8.0 France 18.2 Spain 21.4 Germany 9.8 Source: http://www.ess.gov.si/slo/predstavitev/Dogodki/2008/03-09-08Gradivo.doc ■ The survey among 15,000 young people in fourteen countries of the Central and Eastern European region showed that in general most of the young people wanted to work in their own country in the future15. According to the survey data, the youth in Central and Eastern Europe have positive expectations for the future, express a high level of flexibility regarding their career, and are prepared to move. In the growing internationalisation, young people recognise increasingly more opportunities and want to work abroad for some time. ■ The unemployment rate among young people aged 15-24 years was 13.9% in 2006 and exceeded by more than two times the general unemployment rate, which was 6%. Economic policy agents have to think about the measures to reduce youth unemployment and to provide and encourage earlier entry of youth into the labour market. Therefore it is necessary to think about the measures that would increase efficiency and quality of the study and shorten its duration16. Higher integration of educational institutions with companies and greater influence of companies on the content of educational programmes, which would reduce the discrepancies on the labour market, would also help to an earlier entry of young people into employment. Within the framework of the active employment policy, measures for the repayment of social security contributions to employers who employ a young unemployed person or a first-time job seeker have already been planned, and it would be wise to think about creating and encouraging opportunities for young people to gain work experience with the help of volunteer work. Different arrangement of student work, which could be based on Germany's model in the form of "small works" for which reduced social security contributions are paid, would also encourage faster entry into employment. 15 http://www.siol.net/gospodarstvo/2008/07/mladi.aspx 16 Shortening of the study period is one of the objectives of the higher education system renewal and implementation of the Bologna Declaration. THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES Youth unemployment (15-24 years), EU-27, 2007 % 251 20-15-10-5-- ol NL DK LT AU IE EE SI CY LV CZ DE MT UK BG | LU Fl FT HU ES BE SE FR RO SK IT PL GR EU-27 countries Source: Eurostat ■ According to calculations by the EU method the total unemployment rate in Slovenia in 2007 was 4.9%, which was among the lowest in the EU-27. Lower values were recorded in the Netherlands (3.2%), Denmark (3.8%), Cyprus (3.9%), Luxembourg (4.1%), Lithuania (4.3%), Austria (4.4%), Ireland (4.6%), and Estonia (4.7%). The unemployment rate in the EU-27 in 2007 was 7.1% on average, which was much higher than Slovenia's value. ■ According to the youth unemployment rate (people aged between 15 and 24 years), Slovenia was eighth (10.1%) in 2007 and clearly below the EU-27 average of 15.3%. The Netherlands (5.9%), Denmark (7.9%), Lithuania (8.2%), Austria (8.7%), Ireland (9.1%), Cyprus and Estonia (both 10.0%) were the only countries with lower youth unemployment rate at that time. ■ The European Commission states for the Employment Sector that there were 17.4% of unemployed young people in the EU in the beginning of 2008 despite the creation of a number of new jobs (6.5 million). Where all these jobs were supposed to be the Commission did not mention, however it did point out that new opportunities were in the service sector and less in the production sector. Additional employment in the public sector was not planned. ■ In general, the unemployment in the EU decreased below 7%, however, according to the Commission's data, there is a long way to reach the goal of 70% employment rate. ■ The European Commission, which encourages full opening of the labour market, advised Slovenia to encourage active ageing with the emphasis on employment of older workers, but for a more flexible labour market it should also provide for good employment of young people. © SURS Ws ' s THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES Alcohol consumption and smoking in the EU Pure alcohol consumption per capita, EU-27, 1997 and 2003 I of alcohol per capita 20-, 16- 12. 8-. 4- EU-27 LU CZ HU IE DE AT FR DK ES EE SI SK UK CY FT BE IT LV LT NL Fl GR RO PL SE MT BG .-. countries I I 1997 I I 2003 Source: WHO ■ Various factors, among them social and environmental, affect the health of young people. Because the EU wants to ensure that policies and programmes in the EU observe the actual needs of the youth, it in particular supports health promotion and disease prevention and treats various health factors of different age groups. In particular by young people, it pays a lot of attention to the fields significant for health of an individual and the society, where a lot can be gained with preventive behaviour especially in relation to smoking, nutrition and physical activity, sexual health, alcohol and drug abuse, and mental health. ■ The EU is aware that alcoholic beverages are important economic goods, which also have a cultural value in many European regions. Production, trade and sale of alcohol contribute to economic growth in the EU, and each country can solve the problems due to alcohol consumption only with an efficient policy supported and harmonised at the EU level. To improve communication with young people, encourage their interest and include them in the development of programmes to increase awareness of important issues concerning their life and health, the EU strengthens the cooperation with state authorities of particular countries as well as with non-governmental organisations. ■ Alcohol is the largest health and social problem of the EU. Europe has the highest percentage of drinkers in the world and the largest consumption of alcohol per person, in addition to high social damage caused by alcohol. The consequences of alcohol consumption are a large number of deaths on European roads, harmful social phenomena such as violence, hooliganism, crime, family problems and social exclusion, and low labour productivity. Alcohol is responsible for premature death and disability by 12% of men and 2% of women in the EU. ■ Alcohol is the most widely spread drug among adults and, unfortunately, also among young people. Alcohol is the sixth most important cause of premature mortality and prevalence in the world: in Europe it is the third and the first among young people. ■ The EU has the highest consumption of pure alcohol per year per adult in the world, namely 11 litres. THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES Alcohol consumption (in litres of pure alcohol) per person aged 15+, EU-27 and Slovenia, 1981-2003 I per person aged 15+ 20-, 1fi. 1981 82 83 84 85 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 01 02 2003 year □ EU-27 □ Slovenia Source: WHO-HFA, 2007 ■ The surveys (e.g. Anderson and Baumnerg, 200617) show that in general there are obvious differences between the countries according to the levels of and patterns in drinking alcohol. However, they are significantly smaller than 40 years ago and, therefore, the countries are more and more alike at a certain level. ■ The World Health Organisation estimates that 4% of the burden of diseases in the world can be attributed to alcohol and in Europe as much as 8%. Incurred treatment costs and the loss of income due to premature deaths in some countries amount to between 2% and 5% of the GDP; in Europe to approximately 125 billion euros per year or 1.3% of the GDP. In the developed world 3% to 10% of all deaths, which are mostly premature deaths, are attributed to excessive consumption of alcohol. In the EU approximately every third death caused by traffic accidents is the result of alcohol consumption (around 17,000 deaths per year). ■ Alcohol consumption in EU Member States decreased by about 12% in the last twenty years, but it is still high (10.3 litres per adult in 2005). ■ The results of an international survey show that between 1995 and 1999 the percentage of frequent drinkers among fifteen-year-olds (those who drink 40-times or more per year) increased from 14.1% to 23.1%. The percentage of those who regularly drink and get intoxicated increased from 9.7% to 15.3% in the same period. Almost one quarter of first-year secondary school pupils drank alcohol 40-times or more in their lives, and as much as two thirds of the interviewed had already been intoxicated. According to the data of the Slovenian survey on the frequency of drinking alcoholic beverages and on drinking habits of elementary school pupils, they begin to consume alcoholic beverages very early. By age 7 as many as 20.7% of children had drank a glass of an alcoholic beverage and as many as 34.5% by age 10. Already ten-year-olds are getting intoxicated. Excessive alcohol consumption and drinking became an integral part of some modern societies, and it seems that they are a synonym for today's youth culture. Anderson P, Baumberg B., 2006, Alcohol in Europe: a public health perspective. London: Institute of Alcohol Studies 7 THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES Young people who were drunk three times or more during the past month, EU-27, 2003 % 30-, ______ 25-- - 20-- 15- 10- 5- 1 rmniin DK IE UK AT EE Fl CZ LV SI SK BG ES DE PL HU SE BE LT IT NL MT FR GR FT RO CY countries Note: Data for Luxembourg are not available Source: YOUNG PEOPLE AND ALCOHOL IN SLOVENIA; Final report of the target research project, September 2008 ■ Every 4 years an international (European) survey is conducted within the framework of the ESPAD project on consumption of alcohol and other drugs among pupils in different European countries (the first survey was conducted in 1995). In most countries which participated in the survey a high share of the interviewed pupils had at least once in their life already tried alcoholic beverages (90%); however, the differences in the drinking frequency among young people in different countries are still quite significant. ■ According to 2003 data we can conclude that young people in Denmark, Austria, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom most often drink alcoholic beverages: the share of young people who drank alcohol more than 40-times in their life (which means that they are almost regular drinkers of alcoholic beverages) was between 43% and 50%. The lowest share of young people who consume alcohol was recorded in Turkey (7%), Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Portugal (between 13% and 15%). In Slovenia the share of young people who drank alcoholic beverages 40-times or more in their life was 25%. This is usually practised by more boys than girls; in Finland and Norway the gender distribution was approximately the same. ■ Among young people drinking of beer (also due to relatively low prices) is quite frequent as well. Most often the interviewed young people drank beer at least three times in the last month in Denmark, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, and Poland (40% - 44%) and the least frequently in Norway and Turkey (10% and 14%); in Slovenia the share was 21%. Countries where less than 20% of the interviewed young people drank beer so often were Finland, Hungary, Iceland, and Portugal. In most countries boys drank beer more often than girls, except in Greenland and Iceland where the shares of girls and boys were similar. THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES ■ On average young people drink wine less often than beer and the drinking frequency of wine of three times or more in the last month was usually lower than 20%. In Slovenia, compared to other countries, this share was slightly above average (21%), similarly to Austria, Greece, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Malta (where the share was especially high: 35%). Young people drank wine least often in Finland and Iceland where the share of wine drinking was lower than 5%. ■ The countries in which the interviewed young people were drunk most often were Denmark, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Estonia, and Finland (26%-36%); in Turkey only 1% of the interviewed said that they had been drunk 20-times or more in their life, and in Cyprus, France, Greece, and Portugal this share was around 3%. In Slovenia the share of those who were drunk 20-times or more in their life was 15% in 2003. THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES Increase in alcohol consumption by 16-year-olds, Slovenia, 1995, 1999, 2003 1995 1999 2003 Young people who have already consu med alcoholic beverages 86.9 91.3 91.7 Alcohol was consumed more than 40- times in their life 14 23 25 Drunk for the first time at the age of 1 3 or under 16 17 23 Source: International project ESPAD ■ The high alcohol consumption ranks Slovenia at the very top of European countries. In 2000 the registered consumption of pure alcohol per person aged 15 and older in Slovenia was 10.9 litres. Calculated for the entire population, in which children were included also, the consumption of pure alcohol per capita amounted to 8.6 litres of alcohol. These numbers rank Slovenia among the countries with a high alcohol consumption, whereby the data do not even contain unregistered alcohol consumption, which is supposed to amount to additional 7 to 8 litres per person compared to the average between 0.5 litres to 2 litres in European countries. ■ According to the study conducted by the British Institute of Alcohol Studies18, in which it was determined that adults in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovakia drink more than 18.5 litres of alcohol per capita per year (the EU average is 15 litres), the biggest alcohol lovers in Europe live in the six new European Union Member States. The study also showed that in more than 25% of the cases alcohol was the cause of death among young men aged between 15 to 29 years in the EU. ■ As the habit of drinking alcoholic beverages spreads among the youth across all Europe, young people in Slovenia also get intoxicated increasingly more frequently (ESPAD). The number of people drinking alcoholic beverages is increasing, whereby the age structure of alcohol consumers is decreasing. In 1995 alcohol was consumed by 87% of the interviewed 15-year-olds, and in 2003 already by 91.7%. The habit of regular drinking of these beverages spread even more in the period of eight years, namely from 14% to 25% of young people. As in other countries, risky forms of alcohol consumption are increasing. The reasons that attract young people to drinking these beverages are mostly: alcohol consumption as a manner of relaxation, easier communication, experiencing of happiness, adulthood, etc., to e.g. "binge drinking" or deliberate intoxication in a short time. ■ The registered consumption of pure alcohol in Slovenia is slowly decreasing, and even though we were below the average of EU Member States in 2005 with the consumption of 8.8 litres per capita, some data still raise concern. The registered consumption of pure alcohol per adult aged 15 and older in Slovenia is 10.3 litres. The registered consumption of pure alcohol is slowly decreasing; the consumption of alcohol in the form of spirits, however, is increasing. 18 http://www.ias.org.uk/resources/factsheets/factsheets.html/ 28. November 2008 THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES Age at first use of alcoholic beverages by gender, Slovenia, 2003 % 100-, 80- 60 40 20. women men drunk women men spirits I I 11 years and under I I 13 years I I 12 years 14 years women men wine women men beer I I 15-16 years Source: ESPAD ■ The age when people in Slovenia drink alcohol for the first time is decreasing and is around 13 years for boys and girls alike. In 2005 (HBSC) the average age of the first time alcohol consumption in Slovenia was 12.8 years for boys and 13.3 years for girls. On average two thirds of pupils drank for the first time a glass of beer or wine at the age of twelve or sooner. ■ In 2003, 27.3% of male pupils and 18.5% of female pupils were already drunk at the age of 13 or under; 32.2% of male pupils and 18.1% of female pupils aged 15 or 16 years drank alcohol 40-times or more in their lives. There are increasingly fewer young people who have never drunk alcoholic beverages. In 2003 only 7.3% of male pupils and 9.3% of female pupils have never drunk alcohol in their lives. Around one quarter of all deaths among young people aged between 15 and 29 years were alcohol-related (traffic accidents, suicides, etc.). ■ Young people in Europe have no difficulties to access alcoholic beverages, because almost all of them (97%) said that it was fairly easy for them to acquire alcoholic beverages. Most of young Europeans (around 80%) even said that they had an easy access to alcoholic beverages and only 3% said that access was difficult. In Slovenia the share of young people who said that they had easy access to alcohol was 84%, and only 1% of them said that it was difficult. (Young people and drugs among 15-24 year-olds, 2008). ■ Young people are quite aware of the damage caused by alcohol (conflicts, crime, traffic accidents with all consequences, worsening of health condition, etc.). THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES ■ Premature deaths due to accidents and suicides also demand urgent preventive measures of the whole society. It is also necessary to deal with the challenges associated with social and regional inequality in health of young people, which are the result of economic, social and cultural factors. ■ Around one quarter of all deaths among young people aged between 15 and 29 years in Slovenia are alcohol-related (traffic accidents, suicides, etc.). ■ In 2004, 327 persons died prematurely and directly due to alcohol (7.0% of all premature deaths). ■ As many as 3,542 (11.2%) of all traffic accidents were caused by drunk drivers, more than one third of the drivers who caused traffic accidents with the worst consequences (death) were under the influence of alcohol, and the average blood alcohol level in 2005 and 2006 was 1.5 g/kg (3-times more than allowed). THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES Non-smokers, occasional and daily smokers among people aged 15-24 years, EU-27, 1993-2003 80--- 60 40 20- 0 I II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II FT IT PL RO CY FR SK Fl BE CZ MT UK DK GR EE IE SE NL ES LT BG SI HU LV DE AT □ countries non-smokers n occasional smokers n daily smokers Note: Data for Luxembourg are not available. Source: Eurostat ■ Smoking is one of the most known risk factors for the occurrence of numerous disorders and diseases. Prevalence and mortality due to diseases caused by tobacco smoking are highly increased among regular smokers compared to non-smokers. Since almost all regular smokers start to smoke at an early age, this represents a long-term exposure to tobacco ingredients harmful to health. Diseases related to smoking cause long-term prevalence and early disability, which is associated with high health care expenses, and at the same time they also cause more frequent absence from work. ■ Even though scientific evidence confirms that nicotine in tobacco is a drug that causes addiction, smoking is first among factors that can be completely eliminated. ■ There are 1.3 billion tobacco smokers in the world, which is seven times more than there are consumers of illegal drugs. The World Health Organisation estimates that in 2000 around 200,000 people died because of drug abuse, which is 0.4% of all deaths in the world. However, 25-times more people died because of tobacco or 4.9 million, which is 8.8% of all deaths. If shortening of life due to disease was used as a criterion, drug abuse would cause the loss of 11.2 million healthy life years, while tobacco would cause the loss of five times greater number of healthy life years (59.1 million). ■ The consequences of "tobacco smoking" are still among the leading causes of death and disease in Europe. This is an important risk factor of coronary artery disease, chronic bronchitis and emphysema, lung cancer and other diseases. The indicator is defined as a percentage of the number of current tobacco smokers among the population, calculated on the basis of National Health Interview Surveys (HIS) data collected by the countries between 1996 and 2003. THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES ■ Due to greater awareness of people of the harmful effects of smoking, the EU strives to reduce the number of new smokers, help smokers stop smoking, protect non-smokers against tobacco smoke, and limit the advertising and marketing of tobacco products. ■ Despite the progress achieved there are still many smokers in most countries, since almost one third of EU citizens smoke and the consequences of smoking upon health speak for themselves as around 650,000 people per year die because of smoking in the EU. Almost half of them are between 35 and 69 years old, which is well below the life expectancy. ■ Nevertheless, the share of people who are aware of the dangerous consequences of tobacco smoking is increasing, and so more vulnerable groups are more and more loudly demanding protection against exposure to tobacco smoke and the consequences such as diseases, disability and death. Thus the ban on smoking - which is the most common cause of death and which could be avoided in the European Union - is extremely important for the health, social, economic, and environmental policies. ■ According to the number of smokers, Slovenia is ranked among the countries which successfully limit smoking with its policies. Slovenia achieved great progress in the field of limiting the use of tobacco products and reducing the exposure to passive smoking in August 2007, when the ban on smoking in all indoor public and work places, including catering establishments, and the prohibition of purchase and sale of tobacco products to persons under 18 years of age entered into force. Quick assistance in trying to quit smoking and introduction to stop-smoking programmes are available to the smokers who want to stop smoking, since various methods to stop smoking are available, from individual counselling to group meetings that are free of charge. THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES Daily smokers, share of people aged 15-24 years, EU-27, 1993-2003 % 40-----n_- 30---- —.---r---n—-TI—ru ]—n—n—=- 20---------------- - - ------r-- 10-- — — — — —p — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —i-—p — —---y o llll Ill III III III III III III III III III III III III III III III III III III III III III III III II - EE HU AT LT DE CY LV ES SI GR DK BG CZ UK FR NL IE MT IT BE FT PL Fl SK RO SE I-1 countries I_I women I I men Note: Data for Luxembourg are not available Source: Eurostat ■ Even though the majority of EU citizens support the ban on smoking in all indoor places, one third does not want to stop smoking. ■ According to the Eurobarometer survey in 2006, then 88% of EU citizens were in favour of the ban on smoking in all public places, 77% expressed their support for the ban on smoking in restaurants, and only 62% also for the ban on smoking in bars. ■ The Eurobarometer survey also showed that 32% of Europeans smoked; most of them lit a cigarette because of the everyday stress, and the majority of them also supported the anti-smoking campaign (93% of Slovenians supported it). ■ Greece and Cyprus had the highest share of smokers (42% and 39%). 23% of people in Slovenia smoked and the same percentage of them quit smoking. In Europe every third smoker tried to quit smoking, however more than 70% could not hold out without a cigarette and started smoking again. ■ Eurostat data on smoking and smokers were collected in various years of the 19962003 period depending on the country, because there was no specific periodicity for these types of health surveys. Very few countries conduct an annual survey on smoking. All national surveys are not conducted in the same period and thus the results are also not available at the same time. ■ Almost half of young people in Slovenia are smokers. According to the Health Interview Survey conducted in 2004, 65% of young people, i.e. persons aged 15-24 years, in EU-25 were smokers and only 56% in Slovenia (54% men and 60% women of this age THE YOUTH, EUROPE'S FUTURE - CREATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGES group). 27% of young people smoked daily in EU-25 and only 29% of young people in Slovenia (34% of them were young men and 23% young women). ■ Lung cancer is the most frequent oncological disease among European men, which is at the same time also responsible for the highest number of deaths among all oncological patients in EU countries. However, the male lung cancer incidence is the highest in Southern (Italy, Greece) and Central-Eastern Europe (Hungary, Czech Republic), which is the consequence of smoking habits and the number of smokers around 20 years ago. The male lung cancer epidemic in Slovenia is comparable with that in the majority of European countries, the best situation being by men in Northern (Sweden, Finland) and Western Europe (France, the Netherlands) where a decrease in the number of male lung cancer patients has been recorded. ■ The female lung cancer incidence is increasing in the majority of European countries; the situation raises the most concern in Northern and Western Europe (Denmark, United Kingdom). Contrary to the disease incidence in men there is much less lung cancer in women in the countries of Southern Europe (Malta, Cyprus, Portugal), where the share of female smokers is the lowest. However, in relation to the fact that smoking is increasing particularly among young women, it is expected that the female lung cancer incidence will keep increasing. The data in Slovenia cause concern in particular among young women, where according to the share of female smokers Slovenia is placed at the very top of European countries. MULTILINGUALISM Despite the great importance of intercultural dialogue and despite the fact that it covers all areas and aspects of human activities, it is necessary to think of it first and foremost from the viewpoint of an individual and the challenges that it brings into our lives. For the most successful participation in intercultural dialogue it is good that one can master as many different skills and as much knowledge as possible. Knowledge of the mother tongue is of key importance (whether it concerns Slovenian, Italian, Spanish, English, Slovak, etc.). Young people who were once the central "target public" for learning in this area are nowadays joined also by those who are entering the third stage of life. Therefore, this type of formal education is performed also at different levels and in new forms of informal acquisition of knowledge and skills (e.g. in study circles, centres for self-directed learning, and Learning Exchanges). It more and more depends on individuals how they will equip themselves with various knowledge and skills on their path of life to be able to more appropriately respect the home environment and at the same time be more open for values, customs, beliefs, linguistic diversities and many other things with which other cultures could enrich them. Language is an integral part of our identity and the most direct cultural expression. Multilingualism plays an increasingly more important role also in the enlarged European Union (EU), where knowledge of languages is becoming increasingly more important. The EU is a multicultural and multilingual community19 based on unity and diversity, the latter referring to co-existence of different cultures, customs, beliefs and languages20. Today, linguistic diversity in the EU is a fact of life, and cooperation with people speaking other languages is becoming our everyday life. The ability to communicate in several languages in the European Union, which is based on "unity in diversity", is therefore essential for individuals as well as for organisations and companies. On 1 January 2007, "multilingualism" became a special field of work of the EU and reflects its political dimension in the EU with regard to its importance for elementary education, lifelong learning, economic competitiveness, employment, rights, freedom, and security. "The European guidelines of the linguistic policy (in particular those that are formed by the Council of Europe) are significantly directed into respecting the linguistic rights of individuals and communities, while simultaneously following the goal to ensure European multilingualism at a level of linguistic ability of individuals as well as at a level of political life of communities on different administrative or political levels"21. The European Commission emphasises the importance of multilingualism, has developed a 19 Multilingual access to the European cultural heritage: multilingual websites and thesauri. 2006, p. 15. [Roma]: Minerva Plus Project. 20 Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: a new framework strategy for multilingualism: COM(2005) 596 final. 2005. [online]. Brussels: Commission of the European Communities, p. 2. Available at URL: http://europa.eu/languages/servlets/Doc?id=913. [accessed 3 July 2008]. 21 Summarised according to: Marko STABEJ Who are you, who speaks Slovenian? Slovenian language and its users in the light of European integration, Annales, Koper, 2005, p. 13 http://www.zrs-kp.si/SL/zaloznistvo/annales%20majora/Slovenscina_in_njeni_uporabniki Slovenscina_in_njeni_uporabniki.pdf MULTILINGUALISM special multilingualism policy22 and has set up a website dedicated to European languages23 (in all official EU languages) entitled "Languages and Europe": linguistic diversity, language learning and teaching, translation, interpretation, and linguistic technology. The EU strives to encourage greater knowledge and use of all its official languages in the whole Union also in order to raise the culture and improve the quality of life. In 2003, the European Commission adopted the action plan for the 2004-2006 period entitled "Promotion of language learning and linguistic diversity", which had three main objectives: promotion of life-long learning in the field of languages, improvement of language teaching, and promotion of language-friendly environment. The report on implementation of the mentioned action plan states that, particularly for younger citizens, almost all EU Member States in this period improved language teaching. Learning of two foreign languages also became available to a larger number of pupils at a secondary school level, however this trend was not observed in all EU Member States. "Languages are what makes us human, and Europe's linguistic diversity is at the core of its identity"24, believes Jan Figel', the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism in the EU. To emphasize the importance of multilingualism and clearly show its commitment to promote languages and linguistic diversity in the Union, the EU appointed a commissioner for promotion of foreign language learning among citizens and for the primary objective of a multilinguistic EU at the threshold of the third millennium determined mastering of the "mother tongue + 2". It strives to establish a new strategy for multilingualism, which would pay most attention to lifelong learning of languages for everyone, even for those less fortunate. Foreign language learning is always an opportunity for better understanding of the culture of that language and openness for the wealth of cultural diversity, and is thus a key factor that enables intercultural dialogue in the first place. Therefore, promotion of multilingualism among people means working for multiculturality. However, "multilinguistic Europe is not Europe of people who can excellently speak several languages, but Europe of people who communicate by speaking in their own language and understand other people even though they cannot speak their language. And when one understands another language, even with great effort, one has to understand its spirit as well - a cultural universe that opens when someone speaks in the language of their ancestors and tradition"25 (Umberto Eco). "Multilingualism and knowledge of languages play an intercultural role, giving the European economy a real competitive advantage in the global market"26, said at the conference 'Promoting Multilingualism: a Shared Commitment' the then Minister of Education and Sport Mr Milan Zver, Ph. D. 22 See Communication, 2005 23 http://europa.eu/languages/sl/home. 24 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/05/1451&format=HTML&aged= 1&language=SL&guiLanguage=en 25 Umberto Eco, La Recherche de la langue parfaite dans la culture europeenne, Seuil, coll "Points", Paris, 1997 (quoted from Bernard Cassen, Romance speakers, unite, 2005-http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:NElOKqj ZNRAJ:mondediplo.com/2005/03/15language+Cassen+2005+Umberto+Eco&hl=sl&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=si) 26 http://www.eu2008.si/si/News_and_Documents/Press_Releases/February/0215CONFMSS.html MULTILINGUALISM Linguistic diversity is one of the democratic foundations of the European Union. At the accession to this association every Member State determines the language (or languages) it wants to declare for its official language in the EU, and then the Member States' governments confirm the new list of official languages. Thus, every European Union enlargement is also linguistic and cultural, and it should definitely not be overlooked that the first regulation adopted by the European Union was the 1957 regulation which determines the official languages of the EU. Also the fact that multilingualism is firmly established in European agreements reflects the cultural and linguistic diversity of the European Union. Because of multilingualism, European institutions are more accessible and transparent for citizens, which ensures their democratic operation. Many citizens speak only one language, which is why the European Union has to make sure that they can follow the legislation, procedures and other information in their mother tongue and that they can turn to the institutions in any of the official languages. Multilingual Europe Since 1 January 2007 there have been 23 official languages27 in 27 European Union Member States. Languages chosen by national governments of the citizens are used in the European Union and not just a few languages which the European Union would choose itself and which many of its citizens would not even understand. The most widespread foreign language in EU countries is English, spoken by 51% of the citizens of EU Member States (38% as a foreign language), followed by French and German - as a foreign language they are spoken by 14% of the citizens; German as a mother tongue is spoken by 18% of EU citizens, and French by 12%. According to the opinion of EU citizens, knowledge of languages is very important when searching for an employment (Source: Special Eurobarometer 261). 83% of EU citizens believe that knowledge of foreign languages is or could be useful for them personally as well; this is the opinion of almost all citizens of Sweden (99%), Cyprus (98%), and Luxembourg (97%). More than half (53%) assess knowledge of foreign languages as very useful, and only 16% of the Eurobarometer interviewees do not see any advantages in multilingualism. On 1 January 2007, the number of official EU languages increased to 23. Irish became the 21st official language, even though its use in the initial period was limited, and with the entry of Bulgaria and Romania we got another two new official languages. The official languages of the EU are the following: Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, and Swedish. With 23 official languages, 506 linguistic combinations are possible, because speech or text of every language can be translated into the other 22. The European Parliament faces this challenge with the help of excellent services for interpretation, translation, and verification of legal texts. There are very strict rules to ensure the efficiency of these services and keep the budget expenses within reasonable limits. People in the EU also speak around 60 other autochthonous and non-autochthonous languages. 27 http://evropa.gov.si/predstavitev/ MULTILINGUALISM Official languages of the European Union by year when they received the status of official language of the EU, 1957-2007 OFFICIAL LANGUAGES OF THE EU Bulgarian Irish Romanian Czech Estonian Latvian Lithuanian Hungarian Maltese Polish Slovak Slovenian Finnish Swedish Portuguese Spanish Greek English Danish French Italian German Dutch 1 Irish: language of contracts since 1973. Catalan, Basque, and Galician: special status since 2006 Source: Jeziki in Evropa, http://europa.eu/languages/sl/homeLanguages and Europe, http://europa.eu/languages/sl/home ■ Knowledge of languages is the key condition for cooperation among the citizens of Europe. Languages represent the core of the European Union united in difference, however we also have to understand one another, our neighbours, our partners in the EU. Knowledge of languages also means higher competitiveness of companies and better mobility of individuals. ■ Today more than 450 million people with different ethnic, cultural and linguistic background live in the European Union, and the linguistic patterns of EU Member States are integrated, created on the basis of historical and geographic factors and people's mobility. The first Rules of Procedure, adopted by the European Communities in 1958, determined as the official languages of their institutions four languages - German, French, Italian, and Dutch - of its founding Member States: Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. ■ With every enlargement the languages of new Member States were added as the official languages. In 1973, the English, Danish, and Irish language were added - the latter only as the "language of contracts", which means that only the Act of Accession of Ireland and the fundamental texts that concern this country were translated into this language. Some time later the Community languages became Greek in 1981, Spanish and Portuguese in 1986, and Finnish and Swedish in 1995, and in 2004 Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Czech, Slovak, and Slovenian were added. Since 1 January 2007 with the accession of Romania and Bulgaria, the European Union has had 23 official languages, because Irish also became the official language. MULTILINGUALISM Languages and speakers of these languages, world, 2005 Zone Languages number % Speakers number (in millions) % Africa the Americas Asia Europe the Pacific Total 2,092 1,002 2,269 239 1,310 6,912 30.3 14.5 32.8 3.5 19.0 100.0 676 48 3,490 1,504 6.0 5,724 0.8 61.0 26.3 0.1 100.0 Source: Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. [ed.], 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/ ■ In most of the countries of the world more than one language is spoken. Linguistically most diverse is Papua New Guinea, since 820 languages are spoken there and all are autochthonous. More than 50 different languages are spoken today in 37 countries across the world. ■ 30 most frequently spoken languages are spoken by 5 billion people or 77% of the world population. Most frequently spoken languages in the world Language Speakers (in millions) 1st language 2nd language Total Mandarin 873 178 1,051 English 340 168 508 Hindi/Urdu 242 224 466 Arabic 206 246 452 Spanish 322 60 382 Russian 145 110 255 Bengali 171 34 211 Portuguese 177 15 192 Indonesian 23 140 163 German 95 28 123 Japanese 122 1 123 French 65 50 115 Source: Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. [ed.], 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/ ■ More than 7,000 languages spoken across the world are threatened to become extinct. Languages are an essential part of the human heritage, language is of fundamental importance for every people or nation, and it is a significant part of its culture. According to the data published on UNESCO website, more than 50% of these languages are threatened, 90% of them are not represented on the Internet, and every two weeks one of them "disappears". MULTILINGUALISM ■ Today less than a quarter of world languages are used for teaching in schools and in cyber space. Thousands of languages - even though the peoples for whom they represent the everyday manner of expression are fully fluent in them - cannot be detected anywhere in educational systems, media, publishing, and in the public in general. Most languages or 96% of almost 7,000 are spoken by - due to a small number of speakers of a particular language - only 4% of the world population. ■ The term multilingualism refers to the situation when people speak several languages in a certain geographic area, as well as to people's ability to be fluent in several languages. This kind of multilingualism is the key characteristic of Europe in both senses. ■ The main language families in the European Union are Germanic, Romance, Slavic, Baltic, and Celtic languages. The EU institutions are using 23 official languages, however, there are many more that are used less frequently. Language is one of the most recognisable elements of identity and culture. The EU supports the use of several languages in its strategic documents and programmes. Today the EU is multilingual in two ways: within its geographic area people speak several mother tongues, and many of its citizens are fluent in several languages. ■ The European Parliament differs from other EU institutions by its commitment to ensure complete multilingualism. All EU citizens have to have direct access to legislation that concerns them in the language of their country. Because every EU citizen has the right to be elected member of the European Parliament, we cannot expect that the European Parliament members fluently speak all widely used languages. The right of every Member of Parliament to read parliamentary documents, to listen to discussions, and to express oneself in one's own language has been explicitly specified in the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament. In addition, the European Parliament as the legislator has to ensure absolute quality of all adopted legal texts in all Community languages. Thus, every Community language is equally important in the European Parliament: all parliamentary documents are published in all official European Union languages and every Member of Parliament has the right to use any official language. This is the best way for the work of Members of Parliament to become transparent and accessible to all citizens. ■ Linguistic diversity remains an important issue for the EU. Also other languages from EU countries, such as Catalan, Basque, and Galician, became semi-official languages and may soon become fully official. ■ The Group of Intellectuals, established for counselling the Commission regarding the contribution of multilingualism to intercultural dialogue, submitted to the Commissioner Orban their report entitled "A rewarding challenge" (Complete report of the Group of Intellectuals for intercultural dialogue28). The Group, chaired by Amin Maalouf, prepared within the framework of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue proposals on how knowledge of languages could encourage intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding by establishing a clear connection between linguistic diversity and European integration. The Group focuses on the citizens with "the second mother tongue" or "the adopted language", with which they identify based on personal or professional reasons; its conclusions were discussed at the first Ministerial Conference on Multilingualism on 15 February 2008. 28 http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/lang/doc/maalouf/report_sl.pdf MULTILINGUALISM Mother tongue, % of spontaneous mentions (multiple answers possible), EU-27, 2005 Country State language(-s), official languages Other Other that have an official status in the country official languages languages BE Dutch 56.0%, French 38.0%, German 0.4% 5.0% 3.0% BG 90.0% 0.4% 11.0% CZ 98.0% 2.0% 0.7% DK 97.0% 2.0% 2.0% DE 90.0% 3.0% 8.0% EE 82.0% 1.0% 18.0% IE English 94.0%, Irish 11.0% 2.0% 0.2% GR 99.0% 0.2% 0.7% ES Spanish 89%, Catalan 9%, Galician 5%, Basque 1.0% 1.0% 2.0% FR 93.0% 6.0% 3.0% IT 95.0% 5.0% 1.0% CY 98.0% 2.0% 1.0% LT 73.0% 1.0% 27.0% LV 88.0% 5.0% 7.0% LU Luxembourgish 77.0%, French 6.0%, German 4.0% 14.0% 0.8% HU 100.0% 0.8% 0.6% MT Maltese 97.0%, English 2.0% 0.6% - NL 96.0% 3.0% 3.0% AT 96.0% 3.0% 2.0% PL 98.0% 1.0% 1.0% PT 100.0% 0.6% 0.1% RO 95.0% 6.0% 0.7% SI 95.0% 1.0% 5.0% SK 88.0% 12.0% 2.0% FI Finnish 94.0%, Swedish 5.0% 0.8% 0.4% SE 95.0% 5.0% 2.0% UK 92.0% 3.0% 5.0% Source: Special Eurobarometer 243, Europeans and their Languages (2005) ■ According to the public opinion poll, Eurobarometer, "Europeans and their Languages", 71% of Slovenians believe that in addition to the mother tongue they also speak at least two foreign languages, and less than half or 47% believe that all Europeans should speak at least two foreign languages. Slovenians believe that children should learn in particular English (96%) and German (69%) as foreign languages. ■ Other foreign languages are less popular among Slovenians. Only 6% of Slovenians believe that children should learn a second working language of the European Union, French, while 12% have the same opinion of Italian and 3% of Spanish. At the first place in the EU on average is English (77%), followed by French (33%), German (28%), Spanish (19%), Russian (3%), and Italian (2%). MULTILINGUALISM Multilingualism in Slovenia People in Slovenia whose mother tongue is Slovenian, 1921-2002 population censuses % 100- 92. 88 84-- - - - - - - — 80 J—-------------- 1921 1931 1953 1971 1981 1991 2002 census year Source: SORS, Population censuses ■ Mother tongue is the language that we learn to speak first and in which we think, feel, experience, and understand most easily. According to the findings of all censuses conducted on the territory of Slovenia after World War I, the mother tongue of most Slovenians is Slovenian. The number of citizens whose mother tongue is Slovenian keeps increasing, however slower than the total number of the Slovenian population. The share of population whose mother tongue is Slovenian has been decreasing in Slovenia already since 1953 (in the 2002 census, 87.9% of Slovenians stated that Slovenian was their mother tongue); the decrease was the lowest between the last two censuses. ■ Italian and Hungarian are mother tongues of national minorities in Slovenia. The share of population whose mother tongue is Hungarian has also been decreasing, and the share of population whose mother tongue is Italian has been slightly fluctuating around 0.2% since 1971. However, the share of people whose mother tongues are Romany or Albanian has been increasing. ■ The share of those whose mother tongue is Romany increased from 0.1% to 0.2% between the last two censuses in Slovenia, and the share of those whose mother tongue is Albanian increased from 0.2% to 0.37% between the 1991 and 2002 censuses. In the 1921 census most of the citizens whose mother tongue was not Slovenian were those whose mother tongue was German, namely 3.9%. Already by the 1931 census their share decreased to 2.5%, and by 1971 to 0.1%; exactly that many were counted in the 2002 census. MULTILINGUALISM Population of Slovenia by mother tongue at population censuses, 1921-2002 % Census year Mother tongue 1921 1931 1953 1971 1981 1991 2002 Slovenian 92.9 94.2 96.8 94.2 91.5 88.3 87.8 Italian 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 Hungarian 1.4 0.7 0.8 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4 Source: SORS, Population censuses ■ Individual "language groups" of Slovenian population distinctively differ according to their gender structure. Women, mostly autochthonous population, prevail in numbers in the population groups whose mother tongue is Slovenian, Italian, Hungarian, German, or Romany. In relation to the gender structure among Slovenian immigrants, those whose mother tongue is Albanian stand out particularly; namely, there are twice as many men as women among them. In the group of immigrants the difference between the number of men and women is the smallest by immigrants whose mother tongue is "Serbo-Croatian". MULTILINGUALISM Population of Slovenia by mother tongue: Slovenian, Italian, Hungarian, 1921-2002 population censuses % 100. 96- 94. 92. 90 1921 1931 1953 1971 1981 1991 2002 census year □ Slovenian □ Italian □ Hungarian Source: SORS, Censuses ■ The Slovenian language is also exceeding its traditional notions in the modern European dimension. The borders between the national, the state and the international are changing and partly disappearing, and partly also establishing anew. Due to social, economic and cultural changes, as well as ideological pressure, the social and geographic homogeneity of the monolingual situation, which was for a long time an idealized goal of the Slovenian national movement, is being more and more called into question29. ■ With regard to the fact that according to the population number Slovenia belongs among the smaller countries, one would conclude that Slovenian is one of the languages with a small number of speakers. However, Slovenian is not one of the "smallest languages" in the world. According to the number of speakers, only 5% of all languages in the world have more than two million speakers - and Slovenian is one of them. Therefore the Slovenian language, despite its proportional "smallness", belongs in the elite group of languages, namely it is in the 179th place of the 5% of the most widely used languages in the world. ■ Slovenian has around 50 dialects, which are special forms that are spoken in a particular geographic location; they are combined in the following seven dialect groups: Carinthian, Littoral, Rovte, Upper Carniolan, Lower Carniolan, Styrian, and Pannonian. 29 Summarised according to: Marko STABEJ, Who are you, who speaks Slovenian? Slovenian language and its users in the light of European integration, Annales, Koper, 2005, p. 13 http://www.zrs-kp.si/SL/zaloznistvo/annales%20majora/Slovenscina_in_njeni_uporabniki/ Slovenscina_in_njeni_uporabniki.pdf MULTILINGUALISM ■ However, the development tendencies in the present world are not particularly favourable for small languages, especially for minority languages. There is a ruthless competition among the languages and also the cultures in the integration and globalisation processes, the result of which shall largely depend on their speakers/members, because the European integration process accompanies the implementation of the regional development model and the simultaneous process of ethnic and/or regional awakening of minorities30. ■ In the 2007/08 academic year, Slovenian language lectureships were in operation in 24 countries across the world (Argentine, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Croatia, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Hungary, Macedonia, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States of America) or at universities in 49 cities (Belgrade, Bern, Bielsko Biata, Bratislava, Brno, Brussels, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Bucharest, Klagenfurt, Vienna, Gent, Gdansk, Goteborg, Graz, Hamburg, Katowice, Krakow, Lawrence, Leiden, Lisbon, Lodž, London, Louvain-La-Neuve, Moscow, Munich, Naples, Nitra, Nottingham, Novi Sad, Padova, Paris, Perm, Prague, Regensburg, Rome, Sankt Peterburg, Skopje, Sofia, Szombathely, Tokyo, Trieste, Tubingen, Warsaw, Udine, Vilnius, Wurzburg, Zadar, and Zagreb). 30 Summarised according to: Elizabeta Bernjak, Future challenges for the planning of development of minority languages in the cross-border region along the Slovenian-Hungarian-Austrian border, PF Maribor, Maribor 2004, p. 1. http://www.pazu.si/dokumenti/25/2/2004/predavanje_Bernjak_104.doc MULTILINGUALISM Average number of foreign language learning hours per pupil in elementary school, EU-27, 2000 and 2005 % 3-, 2.5- 2-- 1.5-- 1-- 0.5-- NL LU MT Fl DK EE GR CY PT RO LT SE LV FR ES IT BE BG SI DE AT PL SK CZ IE HU UK countries I I 2000 I I 2005 Source: Eurostat ■ Also in Slovenia, increasingly more young people and adults learn foreign languages. If we compare the data for academic years 1996/97 and 2005/06, we will notice that in elementary schools the share of pupils who learnt foreign languages according to the prescribed weekly schedule of subjects increased considerably (by 16.2%): the most noticeable increase was in the share of those who learnt English (by 10.7%) and German (by 7.4%), more pupils also learnt French and Italian (by 1.4% or 1.2%); however, the share of pupils who learnt other languages decreased (by 4.7%). There was a sharp decrease in the share of pupils in elementary schools who learnt other foreign languages as optional subjects (by 16.2%), namely in all languages: most noticeable English (by 7.1%) and German (by 6.4%), Italian by 1%, Latin by 0.3%, French by 0.2%, and other languages by 1.2%. MULTILINGUALISM Average number of foreign language learning hours per pupil in secondary school, EU-27, 2000 and 2005 % 3-, 2.5- 1.5- 1 -- 0.5. LU Fl NL EE BE DK SE CZ PL R0 SI SK AT BG LV CY LT DE HU ES GR IT MT IE PT UK FR countries I I 2000 I I 2005 Source: Eurostat ■ In secondary school, the changes in the mentioned period were smaller. The share of pupils who learnt foreign languages according to the prescribed weekly schedule of subjects remained unchanged - there were still 99.7% of them; the share of pupils who learnt foreign languages as optional subjects was 0.3%. The share of pupils who learnt English increased by 1.3% in this period, the share of those who learnt Spanish increased by 1.4%, the share of those who learnt French increased by 1%, and the share of those who learnt Hungarian or other languages increased each by 0.2%. On the other hand, the shares of pupils learning these languages decreased: Italian (by 2.4%), German (by 1.7%), and Latin (by 0.1%); the interest in the Russian language remained the same. ■ Attendance at language courses in Slovenia is increasing as well. In the 2005/06 academic year, continuing education providers carried out 4,011 language courses and recorded 27,438 participations, which is 6% more than in the previous academic year. The majority of participants learnt English. The second "most interesting" language was German, and the interest to learn French was higher than in the previous year. In addition to Italian, Spanish, and Russian, the participants also learnt Czech, Hungarian, Danish, Portuguese, and Swedish, as well as Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic. ■ Between 2001 and 2006, the shares of people attending English language courses decreased by 2.6%, German language courses by 6.0% and Italian language courses by 0.4%, while the shares of people attending other language courses increased: French by 3.9%, Spanish by 1.7%, and Russian by 1.3%. ■ Whatever knowledge of languages in a particular EU country may be, one thing is certain: "With every language that you speak, you are more human," says the Slovak saying, and the Slovenian writer Lojze Kovačič wrote that "the language is our homeland that we can always take with us." After all, as wrote Lojze Kovačič, the language is our homeland, irrespective of the language in which it is written or said31. http://www. logosdictionary.org/pls/dictionary/new_dictionary.gdic.st?phrase_code=6328474 31 MULTILINGUALISM The Slovenian sentence "Konec koncev je jezik naša domovina" and its translation into 23 languages Language Translation English after all, the language is our homeland Italian in conclusione, la patria e la lingua Spanish al final, la patria es la lengua - Camilo Jose Cela French finalement, la patrie c'est la langue German schlieBlich ist die Sprache unsere Heimat Croatian najzad, jezik nam je domovina Czech konec koncfi je naši vlasti jazyk Danish nžr alt kommer til alt, er sproget vort faedreland Dutch uiteindelijk, het vaderland is de taal Esperanto fine, la patrio estas la lingvo Estonian kokkuvottes osutub isamaa ju keeleks Greek aAAou, n yAiiiooa eivai n iraTpiSa pa; Hungarian v6giil is, a nyelv a hazdnk Icelandic begar ollu er i botninn hvolft, bd er bad tungumdlid sem er fodurland okkar Latin tandem patria sermo est Latvian galu gala, valoda ir musu dzimtene Poljsh na koniec, ojczyzna to j$zyk Portuguese afinal, a patria e a lingua Romanian la urma urmei, patria este limba Serbian KOHaiHO, AOMOBMHa je je3MK Slovak nakoniec, vlast'je jazyk Slovenian konec koncev je jezik naša domovina Swedish nar allt kommer omkring, sd ar det sprdket som ar veirt hemland Turkish sonug olarak, dilimiz vatanimizdir MULTINATIONALITY AND MIGRATIONS OF PEOPLE Population (EU-27=100), EU-27, 2008 % ©suns -- -1 |H nnnnnnnnnnnnnn...__ DE FR UK IT ES PL RO NL GR BE FT CZ HU SE AT BG DK SK Fl IE LT LV SI EE CY LU MT countries Note: Data for Germany, Ireland, Greece, France, Italy, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Portugal, and United Kingdom are preliminary; data for EU-27 are a preliminary estimate of Eurostat. Source: Eurostat ■ In the beginning of 2004, 457 million people lived in European Union Member States, and four years later 40 million more. ■ At the end of 2007, around 497 million people lived in EU-27 Member States, of which 51.2% were women and 49.8% were men. EU-27 countries with the most citizens are Germany with 16.5% of the total EU-27 population, followed by the United Kingdom (12.3%), France (12.8%), and Italy (12%). With 0.4% of the total EU-27 population, Slovenia is one of the countries with the smallest number of EU-27 citizens along with Estonia and Luxembourg. MULTINATIONALITY AND MIGRATIONS OF PEOPLE Foreigners in EU-27 Member States (in 000), 2006 and 2007 % 50 40--I 30-- 20-- 10- rmnnnn n ■ n n n n LU LV EE CY ES AU DE BE GR IE UK FR SE DK IT NL MT SI FT CZ Fl HU LT SK BG PL RO countries Source: Eurostat Foreigners in EU-27 Member States (in 000), 2006 and 2007 Year 2006 2007 European Union (EU-27) 27,905.5 28,913.5 Belgium 900.5 932.2 Bulgaria 26.0 25.5 Czech Republic 258.4 296.2 Denmark 270.1 278.1 Germany 7,289.1 7,255.9 Estonia 242.0 236.4 Ireland 314.1 452.3 Greece 884.0 887.6 Spain 4,002.5 4,606.5 France 3,510.0 3,650.1 Italy 2,670.5 2,938.9 Cyprus 98.0 118.1 Latvia 456.8 433.0 Lithuania 32.9 39.7 Luxembourg 181.8 198.2 Hungary 156.2 167.9 Malta 12.0 13.9 The Netherlands 691.4 681.9 Austria 814.1 826.0 Poland 700.0 54.9 Portugal 276.0 434.9 Romania 26.0 26.1 Slovenia 49.0 53.6 Slovakia 25.6 32.1 Finland 113.9 121.7 Sweden 479.9 492.0 United Kingdom 3,425.0 3,659.9 Source: Eurostat MULTINATIONALITY AND MIGRATIONS OF PEOPLE Foreigners (citizens of other EU-27 Member States) in Slovenia, 2006 % ©SUBS - - n flrinnni-irn^---- DE IT AU SK FR UK PL RO HU CZ NL BG ES BE SE DK LT Fl IE LV EE GR PT CY LU MT countries Source: Eurostat, database, own calculation ■ According to last United Nations estimates, there were 3% migrants among the world population. ■ In the majority of EU Member States today, the number of citizens is increasing on account of positive net migration, while their natural growth is often negative. Also according to Eurostat population projections, the number of people in EU Member States will be increasing in the future, in particular on account of positive net migration, and therefore the share of foreign citizens in the population of countries will be increasing further. ■ The EU enlargement has significantly helped the fact that EU is increasingly becoming a multicultural environment, which is also promoted by the EU's favourable migration policy for migrations between EU countries as well as other countries of the world. In a special way, they support and encourage cooperation between particular cultures, as well as rapid increase in modern communication technologies (in practice it actually "erases" former borders), and increase in the importance of foreign trade and tourism. ■ Europe is called the old continent also due to its long-term and various experiences in managing the co-existence of different languages, cultures, religions, and human identities, because during its long history it has always been a space of diversity. People in Europe have had to live together more or less successfully in diversity and to control their differences from the very beginning. MULTINATIONALITY AND MIGRATIONS OF PEOPLE Changes in population numbers due to natural and migration movements of people as %o of the total population, EU-27, 2007 %0 25- 20 _ 15 10 inn -nfhT -10J EU-27 IE CY ES LU CZ IT BE SI SE MT UK DK FR Fl AU QR NL FT SK PL EE DE RO HU LV BG LT □ countries natural increase □ net migration Source: Eurostat; data for EU-27, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, and United Kingdom are provisional. ■ The increase in the population in EU-27 countries is not just the result of natural growth, but it is caused by increasingly more positive migration flows from abroad. ■ Migrations have been a normal integral part of human societies throughout the entire human history, because they are of key importance for the functioning of families and the labour market, and the primary decision concerning one's studies, profession, work, and life partner are often associated with emigration from the place of birth or residence. Migration of members of different cultures, namely people with different ethnic, religious or national background, enriches the European culture because it promotes and strengthens intercultural dialogue between the society of the host country and minority communities from other EU Member States or countries outside the EU. ■ Migrations are particularly important because the value of citizenship is being strengthened, and the efforts for greater solidarity and mutual attraction in the European society are being promoted. When we meet other people, get to know other cultures and strive to have a dialogue with them, we contribute to better understanding of the globalised world. MULTINATIONALITY AND MIGRATIONS OF PEOPLE Immigrants and emigrants as %o of the total population, EU-27, Croatia, 2007 %o of total population 40-, 30. 20-- 10-- fl rL m m „ ^ LU CY ES IE SI AU DK BE SE CZ MT IT DE GR NL Fl FT HR LT HU SK LV UK RO PL BG EE FR I---countries I_I immigrants □ emigrants Notes: There are no data for Estonia and France; data for Ireland, Hungary and Croatia are for 2006; data for United Kingdom are for 2005. Sources: SORS, Eurostat ■ In 2007, more than 28 million foreigners lived in the European Union, which is almost 6% of the total EU population. In Slovenia foreigners represented 2.7% of the population; most of them were citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2007, the highest number of foreigners lived in Luxembourg (41.6%; compared to 2006 this percentage increased by another 4.7%), followed by Latvia (19.0%) and Estonia (17.6%). In other EU Member States, the share of foreigners in the total population exceeded 10% in Cyprus (15.2%), Ireland (10.5%), and Spain (10.4% - the number of foreigners between 1994 and 2004 increased by 374%), and exactly 10% of foreigners lived in Austria. In twenty EU Member States, the share of foreigners was lower than 10%, and in eleven Member States even lower than 5% (the lowest number was recorded in Poland and Romania, namely 0.1%). ■ Despite the increase in the number of foreigners in the mentioned EU Member States, the highest number of foreigners in 2007 was still registered in Germany (around 7.3 million), followed by Spain (with around 4.6 million registered foreigners), and France and England (both with around 3.6 million registered foreigners). ■ The majority of foreigners in the EU come from third countries. However, in some EU Member States there are nevertheless more citizens from other EU Member States: the Portuguese in Luxembourg, the Italians in Belgium, the British in Ireland, and the Greeks in Cyprus. The share of foreigners has been increasing in almost all EU Member States. The highest growth after 1999 was recorded in Luxembourg, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Ireland, and Austria. The share of foreigners slightly decreased in Belgium and Latvia. There are more young people among foreigners than among the EU Member States citizens. The share of young people aged between 20 and 39 years was more than 40% among foreigners, and less than 30% among the EU Member States citizens. ■ Typically, less educated people immigrate to EU Member States. In Slovenia as well there are more less educated people among immigrants. MULTINATIONALITY AND MIGRATIONS OF PEOPLE Population of the Republic of Slovenia by groups and gender, 2007 and 2008 Number % Number % Population group 31 Dec. 2007 31 Dec. 2008 Total population Total 2,025,866 100.0 2,028,630 100.0 women 1,025,242 50.6 1,025,299 50.5 men 1,000,624 49.4 1,003,331 49.5 Citizens of the Republic of Slovenia without those with temporary residence abroad Total 1,957,245 100.0 1,956,498 100.0 women 1,008,105 51.5 1,007,464 51.5 men 949,140 48.5 949,034 48.5 Foreigners with permanent residence in Slovenia Total 32,043 100.0 32,399 100.0 women 10,357 32.3 10,490 32.4 men 21,686 67.7 21,909 67.6 Foreigners with temporary residence in Slovenia Total 36,578 100.0 39,733 100.0 women 6,780 18.5 7,345 18.5 men 29,798 81.5 32,388 81.5 Citizens of the Republic of Slovenia Total 1,988,723 100.0 1,989,656 100.0 women 1,023,401 51.5 1,023,685 51.5 men 965,322 48.5 965,971 48.5 Source: SORS ■ In 2007, 14,250 more people immigrated to Slovenia than emigrated from it, so the migration growth for thatear increased by 127.4% compared to 2006 (6,267 persons). According to first provisional data published by Eurostat, Slovenia was ranked at the very top of EU-27 countries with the highest percentage increase in net migrations in the observed year. According to Eurostat data, the countries with the highest percentage increase in net migrations in 2007, compared to 2006, were the Czech Republic (with an increase of 141.8%), Denmark (with an increase of 131.7%), and Slovenia. Over 100% increase in net migration, compared to 2006, was also observed in Italy and Germany. According to provisional data, from five EU Member States more people emigrated than immigrated to them in 2007, namely from Poland, Latvia, Bulgaria, Lithuania (these countries are from the group of those which joined the EU during the last two enlargements), and the Netherlands. MULTINATIONALITY AND MIGRATIONS OF PEOPLE ■ In 2007, 29,193 citizens immigrated to Slovenia (an increase of 45.8% compared to 2006), namely 27,504 foreigners and 1,689 citizens of Slovenia. The number of foreigners who immigrate to Slovenia has been continuously increasing since 2000, in particular after 2004; namely, after 2004 their number has been increasing by around 50% annually. The highest number of foreigners in 2007 immigrated to Slovenia between March and the end of October (74.7%). ■ In 2007 as well, among foreigners who immigrated to Slovenia, the majority were citizens of countries established on the territory of former Yugoslavia (85.4%); immigration of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia to Slovenia has been continuously increasing since 2000. In 2007, the majority of 27,504 foreign citizens who immigrated to Slovenia were citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina (12,479), Serbia (6,368), and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (3,163). The citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina represented 45.4% of all foreigners who immigrated to Slovenia in 2007. ■ In 2007, there were 38,581 changes of residence by the citizens of the Republic of Slovenia on the Slovenian territory. Then too, migrations to another municipality were most common (70.5% of such migrations), and all others were migrations to another place within the same municipality (29.5% of such migrations). MULTINATIONALITY AND MIGRATIONS OF PEOPLE Migration of the population, Slovenia, 2007 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 Immigrants 5,879 6,185 15,041 20,016 29,193 Citizens of RS 2,191 935 1,747 1,765 1,689 Fo reigners 3,688 5,250 13,294 18,251 27,504 Emigrants 3,372 3,570 8,605 13,749 14,943 Citizens of RS 776 1,559 2,077 2,703 3,178 Fo reigners 2,596 2,011 6,528 11,046 11,765 Migration growth 2,507 2,615 6,436 6,267 14,250 Citizens of RS 1,415 -624 -330 -938 -1,489 Fo reigners 1,092 3,239 6,766 7,205 15,739 Total growth 2,519 2,207 5,768 7,019 15,489 Per 1,000 citizens Immigrants 3.0 3.1 7.5 10.0 14.5 Emigrants 1.7 1.8 4.3 6.8 7.4 Migration growth 1.3 1.3 3.2 3.1 7.1 Total growth 1.3 1.1 2.9 3.5 7.7 Internal migrations 25,736 29,781 32,204 38,501 38,581 Source: SORS32 ■ 2,646 foreigners who immigrated to Slovenia in 2007 were also citizens of EU-27 Member States (905 persons more than in 2006). Most of them were citizens of Bulgaria (790); there were considerably fewer (451) immigrants from Slovakia in that year, who have been the most numerous immigrants of all citizens of other EU Member States since 2005. Thus, among the immigrant citizens from other EU Member States to Slovenia in 2007, every third was Bulgarian and almost every fifth was Slovak. ■ Of the foreign citizens who have immigrated to Slovenia since 1995 the majority were men. There were 82.7% men and 17.3% women among the foreigners who immigrated to Slovenia in 2007. ■ In mid-1990s, the majority of people who immigrated to Slovenia were aged 20-29 years. ■ In 1986, almost half (47.7%) of the immigrants to Slovenia were aged between 20 and 29 years. In 2006, the majority of people who immigrated to Slovenia were also in this age group, but their share of all immigrants was only 35.5%, followed by immigrants aged 30-44 years (33.4%). In 1986, only 15.0% of all immigrants to Slovenia were aged 30-44 years. ■ In 2006, the mean age of people who immigrated from abroad was 32 years (the mean age of citizens of Slovenia was 30.1 years and of foreigners 32.1 years). The mean age of people who emigrated abroad was 33.9 years (the mean age of citizens of Slovenia was 35.6 years and of foreigners 33.5 years). 32 http://www.stat.si/novica_prikazi.aspx?id=1823 MULTINATIONALITY AND MIGRATIONS OF PEOPLE Average number of immigrants and emigrants by age, Slovenia, 1996-2007 number 2000 1600- 1200. 800 - - - -1 ill fH Hi m m ^ ? ? ? ? ? aye yiuups I I average number of immigrants 1996-2007 □ average numhfer of emigrants 1996-2007 Source: SORS ■ More than three quarters (77.6%) of foreign immigrants to Slovenia in 2007 migrated because of work and employment and seasonal work; in order to be unified with one's family, 4,794 foreigners immigrated to Slovenia in 2007. ■ Because of studies, 706 foreigners immigrated to Slovenia in 2007 (68.6% of these people came from the countries established on the territory of former Yugoslavia). Compared to 2005 and 2006, the number of foreigners who migrated because of studies increased by 46.8% in 2007. ■ 14,943 Slovenians emigrated abroad in 2007, 11,765 of whom were foreigners and 3,178 of whom were Slovenian citizens. The total number of citizens who emigrated increased by 8.7% compared to the previous year (there were 17.6% more citizens of Slovenia than in the previous year). ■ The negative net migration of Slovenian citizens in 2007 was the highest in the last eight years; namely, 1,489 Slovenians more emigrated than immigrated to Slovenia. The positive net migration in Slovenia was recorded only in foreigners: it amounted to 15,739 people. Since 2000, the majority of Slovenians who immigrate to Slovenia or return from abroad have been those who lived until then in Germany. The same happened in 2007, namely, 374 returned from Germany, which is 22.1% of all Slovenian citizens who immigrated to Slovenia in the observed year. ■ In addition, the majority of Slovenians who emigrated from Slovenia in 2007 were those who emigrated to Germany (22.3%), followed by those who emigrated to Austria (in 2007, 15.4% of all emigrants from Slovenia emigrated to Austria). RELIGIOUS STRUCTURE OF THE POPULATION Population by religion and gender, Slovenia, 1931-2002 censuses % Religion 1931 census 1953 1991 2002 men women men women men women men women Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Catholic 96.3 97.2 79.7 85.8 69.9 73.2 54.4 61.1 Protestant 2.3 2.2 1.5 1.5 0.9 1.0 0.8 0.9 Orthodox 0.9 0.3 0.3 0.2 2.6 2.3 2.5 2.1 Islam 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.0 1.7 1.4 2.9 2.0 Other religions 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 Believers who belong to no religion 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 3.2 3.8 Not believers, atheists - - 13.0 7.9 4.8 4.1 11.2 9.2 Did not want to answer... 4.5 4.0 16.2 15.2 Unknown 0.3 0.3 5.3 4.4 15.4 13.8 8.7 5.6 Source: SORS, Special Publications, No. 2, 2003, p. 68 ■ The population of Europe is very diverse according to its nationality structure, and the members of nations speak their own languages and practise their own national customs and habits. That is why there are differences in nationality structure as well as religious structure of the population. Belonging to a religion is very important when studying population, because this greatly affects the life of people in numerous countries. In Europe, a large majority of people are Christians, and for most nations Christianity represented a higher level of cultural development and the beginning of their literacy. Protestants live mostly in Northern Europe, and most members of the Orthodox religion live on the Balkan Peninsula and in Eastern Europe. ■ When we refer to a religious structure of the population, we most often state statistical data from population censuses. The religions structure belongs among demographic or cultural and school characteristics of the population, and is important for an easier understanding of numerous social phenomena and events (it affects the culture of a nation, the values, people's way of life), and it is also one of the foundations of a nation's identity. Severe conflicts and wars did not occur only in the past but are happening also today, in particular because of religious separation. ■ At the beginning of the European Conference on the Religious Dimension of Intercultural Dialogue held in April 2008 in San Marino, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Terry Davis pointed out in his speech the significance of intercultural dialogue, which had a religious dimension, brought people and cultures together, and decreased lack of understanding, tensions, and conflicts, and emphasized that religious communities have great power and, therefore, it was his belief that they could help heal the wounds and build bridges. They could even stop the extremists who highjack airplanes and exploit religion to propagate violence and hate. By emphasizing the fact that attack against RELIGIOUS STRUCTURE OF THE POPULATION one religion is attack against all religions, they could contribute a lot to peace and tolerance. In his opinion, the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue would be expressed fully, when priests, imams and rabbis connect at a local level and announce to everyone a common message of tolerance, respect, and understanding among people. Promotion of intercultural dialogue is a priority of the Council of Europe, and its goal is to develop a long-term policy that would include cultural diversities in a way in which they would become positive and cohesive forces of the present-day society. ■ In the past, religions in Europe greatly influenced European art, culture, philosophy, and law. The dominant religion in Europe is Christianity; Islam is focused primarily on the southwest (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Turkey, and Kosovo). Other religions, including Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, are minority religions. Today, Europe has the highest number and share of non-believers, agnostics, and atheists in the Western world; a particularly high number of those who identify themselves as non-believers are in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Sweden, and France. RELIGIOUS STRUCTURE OF THE POPULATION Population by religion and gender, Slovenia, 2002 census Religion Catholic Protestant Orthodox Islam Believers who belong to no religion Other religions Not religious, atheists Did not want to answer Unknown I I women I I men Source: SORS ■ In Slovenia, the data on individual people's religious belief during the 2002 census are based on the statement made out of their free will. They were not obligated to provide an answer, or they could identify themselves as atheist. Belonging to a religion characterizes only a person's individual attitude towards religion, and not officially registered belonging to a religion. ■ In 1991, 1,503,346 people or 76.5% of the population in Slovenia identified themselves according to religion. The majority were Catholics (1,403,014), followed by Orthodox (46,819), Muslims (29,719), and Protestants (19,000). 85,485 people were atheists, 82,837 of the interviewed people did not want to answer this question, and for 294,318 people the information remained unknown. There were also few believers of other religions, namely only 0.2% of Slovenian population. 10 20 30 40 50 60 % 70 RELIGIOUS STRUCTURE OF THE POPULATION Catholic believers by gender (M=100, W=100), Slovenia, 1931,1953, 1991 and 2002 censuses % 100 -, 80- 60- 40. 20. 1931 1953 1991 2002 □ women I I men Source: SORS ■ During the last census in 2002, most of the population (57.8%) said they were members of the Roman Catholic Church, and they dominated in all Slovenian regions. There were also 2.4% of members of the Islamic community, 2.3% of members of the Orthodox Church, 0.8% of Protestants (in particular in Gorieko and Prekmurje), and 10.1% of the population who identified themselves as atheist. ■ The share of members of the majority Catholic religion has been decreasing in Slovenia. The share of women was always higher than the share of men among those who identified themselves as Catholic during the 1931, 1953, 1991, and 2002 censuses. ■ In the 1953 census, almost 86% of women and almost 80% of men said they were Catholic, and in the 2002 census, 61% of women and almost 55% of men. ■ Major changes in otherwise uniform religious structure of the population in Slovenia were caused by the period after World War II. Immigrants of Serbian, Montenegrin, and Macedonian nationality were mostly members of Orthodox religion, and immigrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo were members of Islamic religion (Muslim). The share of other religions in Slovenia is quite small; however, in the last census, the share of those who did not want to answer this question and those who identified themselves as atheists was high. The majority of those who identified themselves as non-believers or did not want to answer the question on belonging to a religion lived in urban settlements. NATIONAL MINORITIES National minorities in Europe Minority members, EU-15 in 2003, EU-25 in 2004, and EU-27 in 2007 number (000) % n number of minority members in 000 — minority members as % of total population Source: Christoph Pan/Beate S. PfeiL [2003], National Minorities in Europe, Vienna, ETHNOS. Micro-countries were not considered: Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City. ■ Europe is not just a notion that encompasses borders from East to West, but a space of different cultures, religions, nations, and history. The European Union is based on unity in diversity, and with its 27 Member States it is a trulyith its 27 Member States, it is truly multicultural, truly diverse. multicultural and diverse community. ■ European identity and culture were formed on three foundations: Greek philosophy, Roman law, and Jewish and Catholic religion. These three foundations were already pointed out by Coudenhove-Kylerg, the founder of the first Jewish movement for a united Europe, who emphasised that European identity has to be formed on the basis thereof. A permanent dialogue between different European nations and different national cultures is required, and not a compromise that would lead just to a certain final goal. The purpose of emphasizing cultural diversity and continued dialogue is to create a common identity, because a true European identity has to exist only on the diversity of cultures. ■ National minorities are an integral part of the political and cultural image of Europe, on which its identity is based. While becoming a more nationally diverse area ["maximum diversity in minimum space" - according to the Czech writer Kundera], Europe asks "what will remain of European culture in the future" and again seeks its roots. Because "globalization ... is the integration of world cultures and the growth of awareness of the world as a whole"33, the threat that Europe would lose its identity keeps increasing. The European Union chose its motto "United in diversity" also because national languages and cultural diversities of every nation, which are a great wealth, must not melt in the joint "melting pot". Therefore it is that more urgent to establish an intercultural dialogue that will maintain peace and coexistence between the colourful group of European nations, races, cultures, and religions. ■ The minority issue in the European area is regulated by the "European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages" and the "Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities" adopted by the Council of Europe. 33 http://sL.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLobaLizacija NATIONAL MINORITIES Minority members as percent of the total population, EU-27, 2007 % of total population 50-, 40. 30- 20- 10. nnnn n n n n n EU-27 LV EE ES BG LT CY FR SK RO HU SE Fl PL IT NL CZ DK AT GR PT UK SI IE BE DE LU MT countries Source: Christoph Pan/Beate S. PfeiL [2003], National Minorities in Europe, Vienna, ETHNOS. Note: The candidate country for EU Membership is also Croatia with the population of 4.4 million and 10 ethnic minorities, the members of which represent 11.4% of the total population. ■ International legal protection of national, religious, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural minorities is related to the issue of political interests of particular countries, international institutions and organisations, groups and minorities themselves. Due to this political dimension, the formation process of legal protection of national minorities is the process of confronting expert findings with political interests and an arena to implement different concepts and ideologically coloured notions of "state", "nation", "identity", and "national" minority. ■ Some European Union [EU] Member States do not recognise autochthonous minorities, because their legislation is not familiar with this notion. The definition of minority, also autochthonous minority, is not uniform at the EU level or at a global level. Every country has the right to determine or in some other way define the notion of minority and the scope of minority rights in its constitution. ■ Political incentive and the expressed political will of the highest-ranking politicians in Europe during the 1990s significantly influenced the beginning of the preparation and formation process of European legal standards for minority protection. Legally, the European Union encourages upgrading of legal standards in the field of nondiscrimination. In 2000, the European Union adopted a special Council Directive 2000/43/EC [OJ L 180, 19 July 2000] implementing the principle of equal treatment of persons irrespective of their racial or ethnic origin, binding the Member States to eliminate all forms of direct or indirect discrimination. NATIONAL MINORITIES Minorities in Europe, 2003, 2004 and 2007 Number of the population in 000 Number of Number of % of minorities minority minority members members in 000 of the total population EU-15 2003 EU-25 2004 EU-27 (2007 - estimate) All Europe (39 countries) 375,418 450,559 480,190 768,698 73 156 187 329 32,138 38,174 42,306 86,674 8.8 11.45 8.6 8.5 Source: Christoph Pan/Beate S. Pfeil (2003), National Minorities in Europe, Vienna, ETHNOS. Micro-countries were not considered: Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City. ■ More than 40 million members of different national minorities live in Europe; 27 minorities have their own independent political parties. A national minority is an ethnic community that remained outside its home country because of political reasons. Minorities are ordinarily protected by majority population by special laws. ■ EU-27 is actually not an international community, but a supranational community. ■ The post of the High Commissioner on National Minorities was established at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. ■ Because in the EU minority rights were always considered as part of human rights, there are still no common laws in the EU today that would refer to the rights of minorities. ■ The EU placed the issue of protection of minorities on its programme for the first time prior to the biggest enlargement in history, when in 1993 in Copenhagen the European Council also included respect and protection of minorities in the accession conditions for all future Member States from Eastern Europe. ■ After the Vienna meeting of heads of states and governments in 1993, the Council of Europe adopted the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, which is the first legally binding multilateral act for the protection of minorities in general. The Convention defines goals that the contracting parties are obligated to implement with their national legislation and guidelines. Among them are the following: assurance of equality before the law, preservation and development of cultures, protection of cultural identity, protection of religion, minority languages and traditions, guaranteed access to media, and implementation of free and peaceful contacts across the borders with people who legally live in other countries. The Convention entered into force on 1 February 1998. ■ So far, there have been quite a few examples of good practice in solving minority issues in the European Union. For example: the protection of Swedish-speaking Finns, territorial independence of South Tyrol in Italy, growth and development of Catalan autonomy in Spain, and the Welsh language protection act. NATIONAL MINORITIES Populations of EU Member States and members of minorities in these countries, prior to 2004 and after the EU enlargement until 2007 Number of % Number of Number of % the population of majority minorities minority minority in 000 population members members in 000 EU, 2003 Avstria 8,033 89.0 6 172 2.1 Belgium 10,310 91.3 1 22 0.2 Denmark 5,330 95.1 4 123 2.3 Germany 82,260 91.0 4 172 0.2 Finland 5,181 92.1 6 332 6.5 France 58,519 86.1 7 8,133 13.9 Greece 10,260 97.4 7 229 2.1 Ireland 3,917 99.4 1 24 0.6 Italy 56,306 93.3 12 2,794 4.0 Luxembourg 440 100.0 0 0 0.0 Netherlands 15,987 92.6 3 520 3.2 Portugal 10,356 97.5 3 147 1.4 Sweden 8,883 86.5 4 606 6.8 Spain 40,847 75.9 6 8,936 21.9 United Kingdom 58,789 98.6 6 837 1.4 EU-15 375,418 93.9 70 23,047 6.1 EU, 2004 EU-15 375,418 70 23,047 "New Member States" Estonia 1,454 65.1 12 497 34.2 Latvia 2,340 58.3 11 955 40.8 Lithuania 3,653 82.1 10 653 17.9 Malta 377 100.0 0 0 0.0 Poland 38,644 96,7 14 1,657 4.3 Slovakia 5,380 85.8 10 703 13.1 Slovenia 1,948 88.7 4 15 0.7 Czech Republic 10,293 93.8 8 323 3.1 Hungary 10,162 89.2 13 1,096 10.8 Cyprus 890 65.9 1 137 15.4 Total 75,141 83 6,036 8.0 EU-25 (2004 or later) 450,559 156 38,174 8.5 Enlargement, 2007 Bulgaria 7,933 78.8 12 1,620 20.4 Romania 21,698 88.3 19 2,512 11.6 Total 29,631 31 4,132 13.9 EU-27 (2007 or later) 480,190 187 42,306 8.8 Source: Christoph Pan/Beate S. Pfeil (2003), National Minorities in Europe, Vienna, ETHNOS. Note: The candidate country for EU Membership is also Croatia with the population of 4.4 million and 10 ethnic minorities, the members of which represent 11.4% of the total population. NATIONAL MINORITIES National minorities in Slovenia ■ Minorities contribute to cultural and national wealth of the majority population of a particular country in their own way. When Slovenia joined the EU, its policy towards minorities did not change because Slovenia has always strived to respect the fundamental human rights of all citizens. ■ Members of the two traditional national minorities, Hungarian and Italian, live in Slovenia. The members of the Hungarian national minority live autochthonously in the eastern part of the country, and the members of the Italian national minority live in the western part of the country. Both communities are protected by the Constitution. In addition, the Roma, who live in Prekmurje and can be found also in Lower Carniola, White Carniola and Posavje (the Sava River Basin), also have constitutional protection. The Roma are not defined as a minority, but as a special ethnic community with its own language, culture, and other ethnic particularities. ■ Both national minorities in Slovenia and their members have many rights recognised by the Constitution, which encompass all most important areas of work and life. These rights do not depend on the number of minority members. They have the right to use their own language and writing. In nationally mixed areas where members of minorities live autochthonously, the official language, in addition to Slovenian, is also Hungarian or Italian, and thus they are entitled to schooling and education in their own language. ■ Members of minorities can establish various organisations, develop economic, cultural, and research and development activities, and activities in the field of public information and publishing. They have the right to free expression of their own national background, to use national symbols, the right to contacts with their fatherland, and the right to establish a self-governing community; they also have their own representatives in municipal and city councils and in the National Assembly. Consent of minority representatives is essential also in the adoption of legislation that regulates the implementation of minority rights guaranteed by the Constitution. National bodies have to acquire opinions of both national communities before adopting decisions that affect the position of the members of minorities. ■ In 2004, the Co-ordination of Slovenian Minorities (SLOMAK), an association of Slovenians living in Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Croatia, was established with the purpose to connect Slovenian minorities in all four neighbouring countries of Slovenia and, by exchanging experiences, to contribute to their development in the countries they live in. ■ The Co-ordination consists of civil society umbrella organisations of all minorities: in Austria, Italy, and Hungary. The members of Slovenian minorities in Austria, Italy, Croatia, and Hungary monitored with great attention the events concerning the European Union enlargement, because it presented a perspective that the majority of Slovenians will live in similar social and political systems. With Slovenia and Hungary joining the EU, the majority of Slovenian minorities share a common EU citizenship with the citizens of the Republic of Slovenia. NATIONAL MINORITIES Italian national minority ■ The Italian national minority in the Republic of Slovenia represents 0.11% of the population according to nationality of individual persons. ■ According to the data of the 1991 census in Slovenia, 2,959 persons identified themselves to be of Italian nationality, and 3,882 people stated that their mother tongue was Italian. In the 2002 census, 2,258 persons (701 persons less or 23.7% less) identified themselves to be of Italian nationality, and 3,762 persons stated that their mother tongue was Italian (120 persons less or 3.1% less). ■ In the 2002 census around 81.5% of those who identified themselves as members of Italian nationality lived in the nationally mixed area in the municipalities of Koper, Izola, and Piran, which is 1,840 persons, and outside the nationally mixed area around 18.5%. ■ Nationally mixed areas in the Republic of Slovenia, where members of Italian national community autochthonously live and where, in addition to Slovenian, the official language is also Italian, are: - in the Municipality of Koper, the areas of the following places: Ankaran/Ancarano, Barizoni/Barisoni, Bertoki/Bertocchi, Bošamarin/Bossamarino, Cerej/Cerei, Hrvatini/Crevatini, Kampel/Campel, Kolomban/Colombano, Koper/Capodistria, Prade/Prade, Premančan, part of the settlement Spodnje Škofije/Val-marin, Šalara/ Salara, and Škocjan/San Canziano, - in the Municipality of Izola, the areas of the following places: Izola/Isola, Dobrava by Izola, Jagodje, Livada, and Polje by Izola, - in the Municipality of Piran, the areas of the following places: Piran/Pirano, Portorož/Portorose, Lucija/Lucia, Strunjan/Strugnano, Seča/Sezza, Sečovlje/ Sicciole, Parecag/Parezzago, and Dragonja. Hungarian national minority ■ The Hungarian national minority in the Republic of Slovenia represents 0.32% of the population according to nationality of individual persons. ■ According to the data of the 1991 census in Slovenia, 8,000 persons identified themselves to be of Hungarian nationality, and 8,720 persons stated that their mother tongue was Hungarian. In the 2002 census, 6,243 persons (1,757 persons less or 22% less) identified themselves to be of Hungarian nationality, and 7,713 persons stated that their mother tongue was Hungarian (1,007 persons less or 11.5% less). ■ Of 6,243 people identified as Hungarian, 5,212 members of the Hungarian national community live in the nationally mixed area in five Prekmurje municipalities (Lendava, Dobrovnik, Hodoš, Šalovci, and Moravske Toplice), which represents 83.5% of all people identified as Hungarian in the Republic of Slovenia in the 2002 census. 1,031 members of this community live outside the nationally mixed area, which represents 16.5% of all who identified themselves as members of Hungarian national community. ■ Nationally mixed areas in the Republic of Slovenia, where members of the Hungarian national community autochthonously live and where, in addition to Slovenian, the official language is also Hungarian, are the following: NATIONAL MINORITIES - in the Municipality of Hodoš, the areas of the following places: Krplivnik/Kapornak and Hodoš/Hodos, - in the Municipality of Moravske Toplice, the areas of the following places: Cikečka vas/Csekefa, Motvarjevci/ Szentlaszlo, Pordašinci/Kisfalu, Prosenjakovci/ Partosfalva, and Središče/ Szerdahely, - in the Municipality of Salovci, the areas of the following places: Domanjševci/ Domonkosfa, - in the Municipality of Lendava, the areas of the following places: Banuta/Banuta, Centiba/Csente, Dolga vas/ Hosszufalu, Dolgovške gorice/ Hosszufaluhegy, Dolina/ Volgyifalu, Dolnji Lakoš/ Alsolakos, Gaberje/Gyertyanos, Genterovci/Gonterhaza, Gornji Lakoš/Felsolakos, Kamovci/Kamahaza, Kapca/Kapca, Kot/Kot, Lendava/ Lendva, Lendavske gorice/Lendvahegy, Mostje/Hidveg, Petišovci/Peteshaza, Pince/ Pince, Pince marof/Pincemajor, Radmožanci/Radamos, and Trimlini/Harmasmalom, - in the Municipality of Dobrovnik, the areas of the following places: Dobrovnik/ Dobronak and Zitkovci/Zsitkoc. Roma ethnic community ■ According to the Office for National Minorities, between 7,000 and 10,000 Roma live in the Republic of Slovenia, the majority of them in Prekmurje, Lower Carniola, White Carniola, and Posavje (the Sava River Basin); according to the data of municipalities in Slovenia (2004) in which the Roma have been historically settled, 6,448 members of the Roma ethnic community live in them; according to the social work centre data from 2003, 6,264 Roma are supposed to live in Slovenia. ■ While the rights of national minorities are included in the Constitution, the protective measures for the Roma ethnic community and their rights are regulated by law or twelve sectoral laws. These laws regulate local self-government, financing of municipalities, elections, election registry; schooling, education, kindergartens, elementary schools; media, librarianship, public interest for culture, and, finally, promotion of a harmonious regional development and RTV Slovenia. ■ In the 2002 census, 3,246 citizens identified themselves as members of the Roma community, and 3,834 persons stated that their mother tongue was the Romany language. According to the 1991 census data, 2,259 citizens in Slovenia identified themselves as Roma, which is 30.5% less than in the 2002 census, and 2,752 persons stated that their mother tongue was the Romany language, which is 28.2% less than in 2002. ■ Members of the Roma community are a population group for which it is believed that it is socially endangered, in particular because its members are without an education or have an especially low level of education. Slovenia's efforts to improve the position of the Roma will produce the desired results only when the members of the Roma ethnic community themselves actively participate as well. NATIONAL MINORITIES Slovenian minorities in Austria, Italy, and Hungary - now also in Croatia ■ The Slovenian minority is officially recognised in Austria, Italy, since 1993 in Hungary, and since 2008 also in Croatia. ■ The rights of Slovenian minority members in these countries are regulated at a formal level. In Austria, the basis to preserve the identity of Slovenian national minority is provided by Article 7 of the Austrian State Treaty; in Italy, their rights are regulated by a protection act; in Hungary, this field is regulated by the agreement between the countries on the protection of the minority, signed in 1992. ■ In practice the situation is, of course, often different than written in legal acts: agreements and/or laws are not implemented or are implemented only partially. That is why the members of the Slovenian minority in Austria, Italy, and Hungary, which are all European Union Member States, are still facing numerous problems in different fields, e.g.: use of the Slovenian language in official proceedings, organisation of education and its financing, bilingual signs, small number of hours of radio and television shows in the mother tongue, etc. ■ The most serious issue of all minorities is usually their "demographic image" or "demographic development", because the number of minority members has been decreasing everywhere (due to low fertility rate, emigration because of poor economic situation in these areas, slow assimilation of minorities with the majority nation, etc.). ■ To be a minority member is today in its own manner also an increasing advantage; for example, the possibility for children to be educated in bilingual schools is a value not available to everyone: knowledge of Slovenian (in addition to the language of the majority nation of the country, in which the member lives) opens more and more doors in many places across Europe, in particular in the countries in the Balkans. ■ If we consider the definition by the Czech writer Milan Kundera34 that "Europe is maximum diversity in minimum space" as the fact, then knowledge of languages plays an increasingly more important role. Every European should learn already in early childhood at least two foreign languages, in addition to the mother tongue, whereby a particularly important role should have knowledge of languages of the neighbouring regions, because it enables better cooperation with neighbours as well as ensures overcoming of the usual prejudices about the backwardness of border regions. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/01/08/070108fa_fact_kundera, October 2008 W* ' s 34 STATISTICAL SIGNS - no occurrence of event . data not available 15+ 15 years and over DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS OF SOME BASIC TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS Censuses Censuses of the population, households and housing in RS COFOG Classification of the functions of the government DK/NA not applicable, no answer EC European Commission, the Commission ESPAD international project - European School Survey on Alcohol and Other Drugs ESA 1995 European System of Accounts 1995 EU-27 27 European Union Member States EU-25 25 European Union Member States EU-15 15 European Union Member States Eurostat Statistical Office of the European Communities EYID 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue GDP gross domestic product HBSC Health Behaviour in School-aged Children HIS Health Interview Surveys ISCED classification: International Standard Classification of Education LEG Working group, European Union Leadership Group ID Intercultural dialogue M/W men / women RS Republic of Slovenia SORS Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia [in Slovenian: SURS] SLOMAK the Co-ordination of Slovenian Minorities UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization LIST OF COUNTRIES: NAMES AND ABBREVIATIONS (ISO 3166) Country name Abbr. Country name Abbr. EU-27, TOTAL EU-27 Luxemburg LU Austria AT Malta MT Belgium BE Netherlands NL Bulgaria BG Poland PL Cyprus CY Portugal PT Czech Republic CZ Romania RO Denmark DK Slovakia SK Estonia EE Slovenia SI Finland FI Spain ES France FR Sweden SE Germany DE United Kingdom UK Greece GR Hungary HU Ireland IE Iceland IS Norway NO Italy IT Switzerland CH Latvia LV Croatia HR Lithuania LT How to obtain statistical data and information? • on Statistical Office's website www.stat.si • via mail, phone, fax and e-mail address: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia Vožarski pot 12, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia phone: +386 1 241 51 04 fax: +386 1 241 53 44 answering machine: +386 1 475 65 55 e-mail: info.stat@gov.si • by ordering statistical publications address: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia Vožarski pot 12, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia phone: +386 1 241 52 84 fax: +386 1 241 53 44 e-mail: prodaja.surs@gov.si • by visiting the Information Centre office hours: Monday to Thursday from 9.00 to 15.30 Friday from 9.00 to 14.30