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Is English going to remain being an official language of the EU?
by partycoder 9y ago
Is English going to remain being an official language of the EU?
- icebraining 9y agoIreland and Malta also have English as their official language, so I assume so.
- pmontra 9y agoMaybe the question was meant to be if English is going to remain as a "procedural language", that is one of those few languages used for the internal business of the Commission. Currently they are English, German, French. More about that at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_European_Union#Official_EU_languages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_European_Unio... My bet is yes, even if Ireland and Malta were leaving the EU: everybody knows English, only a few know any other language.
- wiredfool 9y agoUnknown. There's still Ireland. But Ireland is a much smaller influence than the UK is.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- icebraining 9y agoThere are 24 official EU languages, many of them from countries with less influence than Ireland, so I find it hard to believe English won't be official. That said, it might not longer be a "procedural" language (status currently only held by English, French and German). But even then, I wouldn't bet on it. English is too ingrained at this point.
- wiredfool 9y agoFair enough, I was confused with the procedural vs official language. Languages are such a political thing. The whole recent (century) history of Gaeilge is a reaction to UK influence.
- flother 9y agoApart from the practical advantages of keeping English, it’s an official language of Ireland and Malta, and de facto official in Cyprus. All three are member states of the European Union. Interestingly enough, there is no official language in either England or the UK — although other languages do have official status in other parts of the UK.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- jwilk 9y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_of_Brexit_on_the_European_Union#Languages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_of_Brexit_on_the_Europe...
- craigsmansion 9y agoI think it will always remain an unofficial language in the EU and removing it as an official language is likely too much of a hassle. I do hope the withdrawal of the UK will lead to respective citizens of Ireland and Malta enjoying and practicing their own language more, with English being promoted to the language for international cooperation, but nowhere really spoken at home in the EU, because, well, cosmic irony I guess.