Fribourg parliament moves closer to adopting long-awaited official languages law

Fribourg’s parliament has moved a long-discussed languages law through its first major test, bringing the canton closer to rules that could let municipalities define themselves as French-speaking, German-speaking or bilingual.

The Grand Council debated the bill for more than 90 minutes on Tuesday. It rejected an amendment from Liberal-Radical lawmaker Savio Michellod that sought to double the 10% linguistic-minority threshold required to hold a municipal vote. The proposal failed by 68 votes to 30, with one abstention.

The debate then paused to welcome and congratulate the delegation of Swiss ice hockey champions Fribourg-Gottéron. Legislators are due to resume consideration of the bill on Friday morning.

PLR State Councillor Didier Castella called the day historic, noting that Fribourg had discussed such legislation for five decades without reaching a solution. The bill he has supported since 2018 would establish an implementation framework for the cantonal constitution approved in 2004.

The proposed criteria are specific. A linguistic minority must account for more than 10% of a municipality’s population for at least 25 years. The municipality must also border a bilingual area or a municipality that uses another official language, and residents must approve the change in a popular vote. Twelve municipalities are currently concerned, all along the linguistic boundary between the canton’s French- and German-speaking areas.

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A historic day