Group pushes to bolster French-language legal supremacy

CPLDE leader Maurice Druon,  well-known author and Academie Française secretary said: "All languages are equal and all the national sensitivities are duly protected. However, as regards the interpretation of texts it is better to be certain what we are writing. The Italian language is the language of song, German is good for philosophy and English for poetry. French is best at precision, it has a rigour to it. It is the safest language for legal purposes...The language of Montesquieu is unbeatable."

Former European Parliament president Nicole Fontaine said: "This language is recognised as being analytical, precise and clear, with a syntax that can adapt to all the intentions of thought, and is particularly apt for describing the definitions and expressions of law."

French MEP Paul-Marie Couteaux, of Mouvement pour la France, a party defending France's sovereignty, referred to a recent vote in the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee on Kosovo: "The text was only in English and in Czech. I have worked at the UN so I understand English, but many of my French and other colleagues did not understand a word of it. This happens much more often. People come to me and ask: can you please tell me what I am voting about?" 

A parliament official  countered that draft political texts for MEPs often arise from last-minute negotiations between parliament officials and MEPs' assistants having to communicate rapidly and efficiently. 

"There you have an Italian, a Pole and a Lithuanian. And they speak in a language they all understand - normally English. That's perfectly normal," he said. 

According to The Times, another official said: "They don't want to say it, but they are raising the alarm on English getting more and more predominant in the institutions."

EurActiv welcomes readers' opinions on the sensitive subject of EU languages. Send us your Letters to the Editor.