English

Countries to which
the institution belongs

Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Kingdom of Belgium, Flemish Community

Foundation Date

9 September 1980

Type of institution

Intergovernmental organisation, established by Treaty between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Belgium.

Parent body or organisation

None. The Nederlandse Taalunie has the status of legal person in both the Netherlands and Belgium.

Language with which the institution is concerned

Dutch

(Dutch is the name of the official language which the Netherlands and the Flemish part of Belgium have in common. The name Flemish is used to refer to the subvariety of Dutch as used in Flanders and to the Dutch dialects spoken in Flanders. Thus, Flemish is not a separate language but belongs to Dutch)

Description of objectives, tasks and primary activities of the institution

The Nederlandse Taalunie has the aim of carrying out a common Dutch-Flemish policy for Dutch language and literature.

The domains of action are:

● language planning, language care and language policy, e.g. orthography, grammar, dictionaries, linguistic resources and the position of Dutch in the European Union.

● language learning and didactics.

● Dutch language literature and language related culture, e.g. literary translations.

● support of Dutch courses and lectureships abroad.

The Nederlandse Taalunie comprises 4 bodies:

● Comity of Ministers: decision making body, consists of members of the Dutch and Flemish governments.

● Council for Dutch Language and Literature: advisory body of experts.

● Interparliamentary Commission: parliamentary control body, consisting of members of the Dutch and Flemish parliaments.

● Secretariat General: the administrative body which prepares and carries out the policy measures and projects.

Responsible person

 Linde van den Bosch, secretary general

Contact person

Johan Van Hoorde, senior project manager

Number of staff

30

Periodicals and serial publications

The Taalunie publishes two periodicals in digital format, a general language issue periodical Taalschrift Digitaal and a weekly survey of articles on Dutch language and literature published in Dutch and Belgian newspapers. Both publications contain exclusively articles in Dutch language.

Address of the institution

Nederlandse Taalunie
Algemeen Secretariaat
Lange Voorhout 19
Postbus 10595
2501 HN Den Haag
Netherlands
Tel.: +31-70-346 95 48
Fax:  +31-70-365 98 18
E-mail: info@taalunie.org

Websites:
http://www.taalunieversum.org

Languages in which the organisation is able to communicate actively

Dutch, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian
(not all staff members speak all foreign languages)