The Conversation (0)
Greg Evans
Jan 02, 2021
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With Brexit now just days away from being completed once and for good the European Union is already planning its own future and it looks like the English language could be making its own exit from the EU too.
At the time of writing, English is the official language of the EU, making it easy for all the officials to communicate with one another and that nothing gets lost in translation. That being said current member states reportedly have the right to choose what language they receive translations in. Ireland has chosen Gaelic, Cyprus has Greek and Malta has Maltese but after Brexit, English is unlikely to be the go to choice for these translations.
It is now reportedly set to be downgraded after member states opted against using it for their translation of documents. This news comes from European and Scottish affairs correspondent Udo Seiwert-Fauti who told the National: “If these regulations still work and have to be followed, and I have not yet heard any different, English will be only a working language in talking to each other within the EU but it will end as the official EU language.”
However, it's not the complete end of the EU language in Europe. As the UK will remain a paying member of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France. Seiwert-Fauti added: “English and French are the official languages and the UK is still a fully paying member state. At the beginning of January the UK will pay about €20 million (£18.1m) into the CoE budget. The UK flag is still flying – if you leave the CoE building it’s on the far right – and they agree to follow the sentences of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Court of Justice.”
The New European also reports that French could end up replacing English as an official second language at the European Commission as at least 80 per cent of officials there speak French as a first, second or even third language.
Boris Johnson’s much scrutinised and maligned Brexit deal has been approved by parliament, meaning that the UK will have a deal when they leave the EU at the end of the day on 31 December.