English is said to be the world’s second language and the primary working tongue of EU (European Union) institutions. According to the reports, English was their official language till the time Britain was the part of EU after the BREXI (Exit of Britain from EU) it may not be an official language of the European Union said the sources Monday. Read the complete report here.
[su_expand more_text=”READ MORE” less_text=” ” height=”0″ hide_less=”yes” link_style=”button” link_align=”center”] According to the news published by Reuters, English may not remain an official language of European Union anymore after the exit of Britain from EU. English is claimed to be the World’s second language and primary working language of EU institutions. The European Union includes France, Germany, Spain, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Finland, Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and UK (which is out). If you look at it, except the UK English is not the dominant language of other countries. The symbolic, if impractical, the move would further reduce London’s influence on the continent, and infuriate the Irish.
According to the sources, each member state has the right to nominate one EU idiom. Although English is the most spoken language in Europe, and an official language in three countries, only Britain legally chose it in Brussels. Ireland chose Gaelic. Malta picked Maltese. “English is our official language because the UK has notified it. If we don’t have the UK, we don’t have English,” Danuta Hubner, chair of the European Parliament’s constitutional affairs committee told a news conference on the legal consequences of the British referendum to leave the EU.
The sources further stated that, in the light of Brexit the English might remain a working language, even if it were no longer an official one, Hubner said, adding that keeping it an official language would require agreement by all member states. Alternatively, rules could be changed to let countries have more than one official language, Hubner suggested.
The sources further said that French was the dominant language in the EU institutions until the 1990s, when the arrival of Sweden, Finland and Austria tilted the balance, amplified by central and east European countries that had adopted English as their second tongue. EU documents and legal texts are translated into all 24 official languages of the bloc. If English were to lose that status, Britons would have to do the translation themselves.
English always remained dominant amongst the three languages used to apply for EU patents which gave an English-speaking researcher and companies an edge over other competitors who speak other languages. But apparently, France could not digest this linguistic defeat and imposed the French as an identical working language in EU. Although according to the sources, the number of speakers is shrinking among Brussels officials.
Indian in EU may not have to worry about this since the working language will remain English only. Many Indians also speak French, Portuguese (Goans). There are many more developments will be taken place in EU after the exit of Britain and it is most probably the France might take a lead to make French as an official language of EU. What is your opinion on this? Please leave your valuable comments on this issue.
Source: Reuters
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