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If the request is for longer than 6 months, then I don't get the argument. How is this multiculturalism? I and many other people that rely on English as a lang

If the request is for longer than 6 months, then I don't get the argument. How is this multiculturalism? I and many other people that rely on English as a language to communicate across nations feel left out. Looking at the comments, there seems to be a distorted impression that EU=France (or any major Western country) and on top of that, the rest of the countries should be grateful for being given a chance to be put in uncomfortable situations that require a costly readaptation, aka, be glad your language skill is now obsolete because we decided so. It's ignorance towards the rest of EU member states. I don't even have a problem with French per say, I speak French and understand the urge to speak your own language. Just the approach of assuming that one of the member states knows best is mind-boggling to me and disrespectful. Looking forward to see the upcoming countries, each getting cocky about forcing their language. That's going to take us nowhere... So much for democracy.

toyg 5y ago
Calm down. This is obviously going nowhere. Nothing is going to change, the French are just sending up some lead balloons for their own media, right before an election year (April 2022 presidentials). Do you really think 26 countries (most of whom don't speak French nor trade primarily with France) will just let Paris lord over them? Of course not. The working languages will stay the same; some overzealous French bureaucrat might try to act a bit snootier for 6 months, but I bet that they'll eventually go back to normal if they want to get shit done.
- popsicum 5y ago
  It will not happen overnight but it does fuel nationalistic ideologies which is counterproductive for EU as a whole. Just because a politician got butt hurt and wants to save his face, doesn't mean it's acceptable. I was really looking forward to see the EU flourish for years now and all I see is them concerning with offense, accusations and procrastinating issues or matters that don't serve the union but rather a part of it. EU, just get over it, Brexit happened, whatever.
  - toyg 5y ago
    > It will not happen overnight but it does fuel nationalistic ideologies Sadly those ideologies fuel themselves. This is in fact an attempt at a propaganda victory, in an electoral year, to try and stop the ultraright from conquering the French presidence next April. > all I see is them concerning with offense, accusations and procrastinating issues All you see is what the anglo press wants you to focus on. The Union is doing ok; they agreed some historical aid packages to help their most troubled economies, moving one step forward towards a real shared treasury; they changed rules to try and sort out the "Eastern problem" of Poland and Hungary, the impact of which we'll see in the next 5-10 years, particularly on refugee policies; they are slowly grinding down their internal tax havens, and fielding multiple attacks to the monopolistic FAANGs; and are slowly clarifying a constitutional setup that is not even 30 years old, and hence still very much in-progress. (There was a bit of a fumble on vaccines but, as we've seen this week, nobody really came out well of COVID response, and they are reaching a decent velocity now.) On Northern Ireland, their internal public opinion wants them to hold firm against UK trickery; this will generate some hate on the English press, but it's a problem entirely of England's own making (and yes, I use "England" on purpose here). For something coordinating 400m people over a territory that's never been so united, the EU is doing incredibly well. 30 years after the American Revolution ended, the US was still very fragile internally and went to war with Britain and France; a lot of internal tensions were not solved until the US Civil War, 60 years after the US Constitution was ratified. The EU is not at war, hopefully we'll continue to settle our disputes around a table, and that's the real victory.
    - thu2111 5y ago
      Marine le Pen doesn't give a shit what language the EU uses, that claim is a distraction. Her and others like her think France needs to care about the EU a whole lot less, and the EU should be much less important in France, so she's really the last kind of person who would expend political capital on such a thing. BTW the EU sucks at peace and settling disputes. If it was good at the whole "peace in Europe" thing it wouldn't be constantly rolling boulders down the hill at the UK and Switzerland but rather, find ways to work amicably with them as productively as possible. It doesn't of course, it just threatens them and tries to force them into the EU's power structures regardless of popularity or the creation of resentment, which is exactly why the "ultra-right" as you put it (lol) is constantly gaining ground. Someone has to care what voters think, after all.

toyg 5y ago

Calm down. This is obviously going nowhere. Nothing is going to change, the French are just sending up some lead balloons for their own media, right before an election year (April 2022 presidentials). Do you really think 26 countries (most of whom don't speak French nor trade primarily with France) will just let Paris lord over them? Of course not. The working languages will stay the same; some overzealous French bureaucrat might try to act a bit snootier for 6 months, but I bet that they'll eventually go back to normal if they want to get shit done.

popsicum 5y ago
It will not happen overnight but it does fuel nationalistic ideologies which is counterproductive for EU as a whole. Just because a politician got butt hurt and wants to save his face, doesn't mean it's acceptable. I was really looking forward to see the EU flourish for years now and all I see is them concerning with offense, accusations and procrastinating issues or matters that don't serve the union but rather a part of it. EU, just get over it, Brexit happened, whatever.
- toyg 5y ago
  > It will not happen overnight but it does fuel nationalistic ideologies Sadly those ideologies fuel themselves. This is in fact an attempt at a propaganda victory, in an electoral year, to try and stop the ultraright from conquering the French presidence next April. > all I see is them concerning with offense, accusations and procrastinating issues All you see is what the anglo press wants you to focus on. The Union is doing ok; they agreed some historical aid packages to help their most troubled economies, moving one step forward towards a real shared treasury; they changed rules to try and sort out the "Eastern problem" of Poland and Hungary, the impact of which we'll see in the next 5-10 years, particularly on refugee policies; they are slowly grinding down their internal tax havens, and fielding multiple attacks to the monopolistic FAANGs; and are slowly clarifying a constitutional setup that is not even 30 years old, and hence still very much in-progress. (There was a bit of a fumble on vaccines but, as we've seen this week, nobody really came out well of COVID response, and they are reaching a decent velocity now.) On Northern Ireland, their internal public opinion wants them to hold firm against UK trickery; this will generate some hate on the English press, but it's a problem entirely of England's own making (and yes, I use "England" on purpose here). For something coordinating 400m people over a territory that's never been so united, the EU is doing incredibly well. 30 years after the American Revolution ended, the US was still very fragile internally and went to war with Britain and France; a lot of internal tensions were not solved until the US Civil War, 60 years after the US Constitution was ratified. The EU is not at war, hopefully we'll continue to settle our disputes around a table, and that's the real victory.
  - thu2111 5y ago
    Marine le Pen doesn't give a shit what language the EU uses, that claim is a distraction. Her and others like her think France needs to care about the EU a whole lot less, and the EU should be much less important in France, so she's really the last kind of person who would expend political capital on such a thing. BTW the EU sucks at peace and settling disputes. If it was good at the whole "peace in Europe" thing it wouldn't be constantly rolling boulders down the hill at the UK and Switzerland but rather, find ways to work amicably with them as productively as possible. It doesn't of course, it just threatens them and tries to force them into the EU's power structures regardless of popularity or the creation of resentment, which is exactly why the "ultra-right" as you put it (lol) is constantly gaining ground. Someone has to care what voters think, after all.