<div dir="ltr"><h1 itemprop="headline">Days after Brexit, the EU is already trying to get rid of English</h1>
<img itemprop="image" alt="German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C), French President Francois Hollande (L) and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi attend a news conference at the chancellery during discussions on the outcome of the Brexit in Berlin, Germany, June 27, 2016" title="hollande-merkel-renzi">
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Who needs English? <span class="">(Reuters/Hannibal Hanschke)</span>
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<h5>Share</h5>
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<h5>Written by</h5>
<a href="http://qz.com/author/nsonnadqz/" class="">Nikhil Sonnad</a>
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<h5>Obsession</h5>
<a href="http://qz.com/on/brexit/">Brexit</a>
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<span class="" itemprop="datePublished">June 28, 2016</span>
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<p class=""><em>This story has been corrected.</em></p>
<p class="">The UK’s vote to leave the EU is threatening what
is arguably the greatest achievement of the British Empire: the total
ubiquity of the English language. Just days after Britain’s vote, the EU
began taking measures to reduce the influence of English in the
organization.</p>
<p class="">The EU has 24 official languages, English among
them. The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, uses just three
languages for its official business: French, German, and English.</p>
<p class="">Each EU member nation is allowed to nominate one
official language. English is on the list thanks to a nomination from
the UK. The other predominantly English-speaking countries in the EU
left English for Britain; Ireland nominated Irish Gaelic, and Malta
selected Maltese. Without the UK, English would lose its largest
supporter, though it would be likely to remain an official language, as
any change to the EU’s language policy requires a unanimous vote from
its Council of Ministers. Being “official” allows speakers to address
the EU in a given language, and gives EU citizens the right to access
official documents translated into it.</p>
<p class="">Then
there is the matter of the European Commission’s “working languages.”
The commission already appears to be shunning English in favor of French
and German. Jean-Claude Juncker, the commission’s president, is
expected to drop English from a normally trilingual speech to lawmakers,
<a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/eu-to-say-au-revoir-tschuss-to-english-language-1467036600">reported the Wall Street Journal</a> (paywall), citing anonymous EU officials. The commission’s chief spokesperson gave a press briefing <a href="http://www.miragenews.com/how-long-before-the-eu-does-away-with-english/">in French</a> rather than the usual mix of French and English.</p>
<p class="">Dropping English from the EU is of course an absurd proposition, despite a <a href="https://twitter.com/RobertMenardFR/status/746265987410989056">pronouncement</a>
from one French mayor that “English no longer has any legitimacy in
Brussels.” English is by far the most widely spoken common language in
both EU countries and among EU officials, and is unquestionably the <em>lingua franca</em> of multinational politics.</p>
<p class="">Whatever language high-level EU officers decide
to use for press conferences, English will be the working language of
the rest of the organization. A <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf">2012 survey</a>
from Eurobarometer found that 38% of Europeans spoke English “well
enough to be able to hold a conversation,” compared to just 12% and 11%
for French and German, respectively.</p>
<div class=""><img src="https://www.theatlas.com/i/atlas_BJVWW-yU.png" style="max-width: 100%;"></div>
<p class="">Here’s a more anecdotal piece of evidence: A <a href="http://www.efca.europa.eu/sites/default/files/atoms/files/1604_EN.pdf">random job posting</a>
seeking a data analyst at the European Fisheries Control Agency tells
applicants that they “may apply in any of the official languages of the
European Union” but that it would be “helpful” to do so in English
because “the Agency follows a practice of using English as working
language.”</p>
<p class="">Not supporting English could make the EU’s version of the language <a href="http://qz.com/679670">pretty strange</a>.
More seriously, though, it could alienate both English-speaking
countries like Ireland, and the many non-French, non-German-speaking
member states, where English is by far the most common second language.</p>
<em><strong>Correction</strong><strong>: </strong>An
earlier version of this story suggested that the UK leaving the EU
could remove English’s official language status. In fact, changes to EU
language policy <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/ireland/news/statement-on-behalf-of-the-European-Commission-Representation_en">require a unanimous vote</a> from its Council of Ministers.<br><br><a href="http://qz.com/717914/days-after-brexit-the-eu-is-already-trying-to-get-rid-of-english/">http://qz.com/717914/days-after-brexit-the-eu-is-already-trying-to-get-rid-of-english/</a><br clear="all"></em><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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