Opinion of Advocate General Darmon, Anita Groener v. Minister for Education and the City of Dublin Vocational Educational Committee, Case C-379/87, CJEU, 16 May 1989

Free movement of workers within the European Economic Community. National rules making appointment to a certain job in a Member State conditional upon proof of an adequate knowledge of one of the official languages of that Member State.

Art. 48 EEC Treaty

Regulation (EEC) 1612/68 of the Council of 15 October 1968 on freedom of movement for workers within the Community

1. A minority language cannot be preserved without the adoption of voluntary and obligatory measures. Any minority phenomenon, in whatever field, cannot usually survive if appropriate measures are not taken.

2. Every State has the right to try to ensure the diversity of its cultural heritage and, consequently, to establish the means to carry out such a policy. Likewise, every State has the right to determine the importance it wishes to attribute to its cultural heritage. The fact that Irish is recognized as an official language in the Constitution is evidence of the desire of the Irish State to attribute major importance to the preservation of this heritage.

3. Once a Constitution (that is to say, all the fundamental values to which a nation solemnly declares that it adheres) recognizes the existence of two official languages without limiting their use to specific parts of the national territory or to certain matters, each citizen has the right to be taught in those two languages. The fact that only a minority of citizens use a language is no justification for sweeping away that right altogether, for its importance is measured not only by its use but also by the possibility of preserving its use in the future.

4. Whatever the official language used in an educational institution, a State is entitled to ensure that any citizen can express himself and be understood there in another language, which is also an official language and which is a respositary of and a means of transmitting a common cultural heritage.