ETS 148 – Regional or Minority Languages, 5.XI.1992 __________________________________________________________________________________ 3 The Parties undertake to make appropriate provision, in pursuing their cultural policy abroad, for regional or minority languages and the cultures they reflect. Article 13 – Economic and social life 1 2 With regard to economic and social activities, the Parties undertake, within the whole country: a to eliminate from their legislation any provision prohibiting or limiting without justifiable reasons the use of regional or minority languages in documents relating to economic or social life, particularly contracts of employment, and in technical documents such as instructions for the use of products or installations; b to prohibit the insertion in internal regulations of companies and private documents of any clauses excluding or restricting the use of regional or minority languages, at least between users of the same language; c to oppose practices designed to discourage the use of regional or minority languages in connection with economic or social activities; d to facilitate and/or encourage the use of regional or minority languages by means other than those specified in the above sub-paragraphs. With regard to economic and social activities, the Parties undertake, in so far as the public authorities are competent, within the territory in which the regional or minority languages are used, and as far as this is reasonably possible: a to include in their financial and banking regulations provisions which allow, by means of procedures compatible with commercial practice, the use of regional or minority languages in drawing up payment orders (cheques, drafts, etc.) or other financial documents, or, where appropriate, to ensure the implementation of such provisions; b in the economic and social sectors directly under their control (public sector), to organise activities to promote the use of regional or minority languages; c to ensure that social care facilities such as hospitals, retirement homes and hostels offer the possibility of receiving and treating in their own language persons using a regional or minority language who are in need of care on grounds of ill-health, old age or for other reasons; d to ensure by appropriate means that safety instructions are also drawn up in regional or minority languages; e to arrange for information provided by the competent public authorities concerning the rights of consumers to be made available in regional or minority languages. Article 14 – Transfrontier exchanges The Parties undertake: a to apply existing bilateral and multilateral agreements which bind them with the States in which the same language is used in identical or similar form, or if necessary to seek to conclude such agreements, in such a way as to foster contacts between the users of the same language in the States concerned in the fields of culture, education, information, vocational training and permanent education; 11