Ahead of the implementation of Brexit, a number of issues still need to be clarified by the remaining member states of the EU. If English will still be an official language of the EU after the United Kingdom’s departure is one of them.
English as a lingua franca
When the United Kingdom joined the European Union in 1973, English became one of the official languages of the EU. It is also, and by far, the first working language used at present. But this has not always been the case. For instance, the French language played a leading role until Austria, Sweden, Finland, and other Eastern European countries joined the EU. English is, in fact, widely spoken as a foreign language in these countries. From then on, English has become essential in institutions and is the most widely spoken language in the EU.
The UK’s withdrawal will, therefore, have a huge impact on the linguistic repartition within the EU. German and French will become the most widely spoken languages with respectively 16% and 14% of native speakers among European citizens. In fact, only 1% of the European population will be living in countries where English is the official language (Malta and Ireland). But even these two countries have not registered English as their primary language in the European Parliament in Brussels. Under current circumstances, English might no longer be an official language or a working language in the EU.
What status for the English language after Brexit?
Of course, this option is considered as unrealistic by some politicians, particularly in Ireland and Malta. Two main alternatives have come up:
- Ireland claims that English is its official language just like Gaelic, and suggests that it can remain an official language of the EU according to the Article 1 of the Regulation 1/1958. European institutions might support this proposal, but it would have to be unanimously voted for by the European Council. Accepting that Ireland or Malta could register two official languages would open the possibility for other languages – Catalan for example – to become official languages too. France and Germany might vote against this solution.
- Another option is that Malta or Ireland registers English as its official language. But this would mean that Gaelic or Maltese would no longer be an official language of the E.U. This decision could be difficult to accept for native speakers from these countries.
What if English is no longer an official language of the EU?
If English is no longer an official language of the EU, official documents will not be translated into English. In that situation, the question is whether English will still be used as a working language. Just for interpreters and translators, it would have important consequences, as English is one of the most important relay languages. Using another relay language like French or German would have a dramatic impact on the translation process in terms of cost, organisation, and time. And even if English remains a working language, Euro-English, which is a slightly different variation of English used in European institutions, could develop further.
In the end, as Brexit approaches, the situation remains largely unclear. A recent communication from the European Commission mentions that the activities within the administrative services, including within the translation and interpretation services, will not change once the United Kingdom leaves the EU. No other official statement has clearly mentioned whether English will still be an official language of the EU. For further official information, the detailed communication of the European commission is available on the EU Website.
Do you think the current position of English as a major language will be threatened after Brexit?
Let us know in the comments what you think about this issue!
Comments
Michel078 | Sep 8, 2019 20:54
Madame,
J’ai lu avec intérêt votre article et souhaitais signaler que l’anglais disparaîtra bel et bien des institutions européennes. En effet, l’Irlande a choisi l’irlandais comme langue de communication avec l’UE (plus de cent traducteurs ont été recrutés en octobre 2018 à cet effet) et Malte le maltais. Seul le Royaume-Uni a choisi l’anglais. Cela signifie que lorsque ce pays sortira de l’UE, l’anglais perdra automatiquement son officialité, et ceci au regard des articles 3 et 8 du règlement no 1/1958, qui mentionnent clairement qu’un pays ne peut avoir qu’une seule langue de communication avec l’UE. Cette disparition est d’autant plus logique que, dans la nouvelle Union européenne qui naîtra cette année, le poids géopolitique de l’anglais sera quasiment nul. Il ne sera plus la langue de communication d’aucun pays et ne sera parlé en tant que langue maternelle que par cinq millions d’habitants (les Irlandais). Il aura ainsi moins de locuteurs de langue maternelle que le hongrois ou le slovaque et a donc vocation à disparaître. Et le français est très bien placé pour reprendre le flambeau vu que 80% des employés de la Commission européenne connaissent déjà cette langue. Ainsi, la disparition de l’anglais profitera fortement au français, qui deviendra mécaniquement la langue véhiculaire au sein des institutions européennes, et par ricochet celle des Européens, car les trois capitales de l’Europe (Bruxelles, Luxembourg et Strasbourg) sont francophones et de nombreux pays européens font partie de l’Organisation internationale de la Francophonie ou veulent en faire partie. Voir la jolie carte suivante :
https://www.francophonie.org/IMG/pdf/carte_oif_autour_du_monde_380_270mm.pdf
L’enseignement du français va ainsi fortement se développer en Europe et, par ricochet, dans les zones limitrophes de l’Europe. L’anglais, quant à lui, sera définitivement marginalisé en Europe, tant par le retrait du Royaume-Uni de l’UE que par la politique isolationniste de M. Trump.
Le retour en force du français va également reposer sur les deux éléments géopolitiques suivants :
1) Le nombre de locuteurs du français dans le monde ne cesse d’augmenter et atteindra 700 millions en 2050, entre autres du fait de la démographie africaine et des progrès de la scolarisation. Peu de gens savent, par exemple, que le pays francophone le plus peuplé au monde n’est plus la France mais la République démocratique du Congo, avec 85 millions d’habitants (180 millions en 2050).
2) Selon l’institut de conjoncture économique allemand de Cologne, la France supplantera l’Allemagne sur le plan économique au plus tard en 2035, grâce à sa croissance démographique. Cette enquête montre également que la population française devrait atteindre la barre des 78,9 millions d’habitants à l’horizon 2050 alors que celle de l’Allemagne ne dépassera pas 71,4 millions d’habitants :
http://www.jeuneafrique.com/Article/ARCH-LIN25027parisnenilr0.xml/
Le français va ainsi acquérir beaucoup plus de prestige, avec toutes les conséquences positives que l’on imagine sur son enseignement et même sur le budget de la France. Car je rappelle que l’hégémonie actuelle de l’anglais en Europe rapporte dix milliards d’euros par an au Royaume-Uni. Voir l’entretien du professeur Grin :
https://www.letemps.ch/societe/2005/06/22/anglais-mauvaise-solution
Ces dix milliards, ce serait bien que ce soit la France qui les reçoive à l’avenir.
Bien cordialement,
Michel Vernet
Stefan | Sep 8, 2019 20:54
Un francophone très typique. Oui, peut-être le anglais ne serait plus une langue officielle dans les institutions, mais la réalité est que l’anglais est la langue plus parlé en Europe avec plus de 50% de population européen qui peux le parler. En comparison, le français n’atteint plus que 16% (les locuteurs maternelles incluit pour tous les deux). C’est pareil pour ceux qui travaillent dans les institutions. Les locuteurs français sont vieux. Les nouveaux qui les remplacent parlent habituellement l’anglais vraiment mieux que le français. Dans le monde, le français est assez important, mais c’est tellement loin de l’importance de la langue anglais.
Voyez la réalité, pas de rêves.
double m | Sep 8, 2019 20:54
I think German will be the most important language in the EU. Not English neither French.
-Firstly: I do understand that Germans are old, and their population is declining, But they are the ones who take the most immigrants which mostly are from the middle east and they culturally have higher birth rate, this means they won’t let German speakers population decline considerably.
-secondly: there is also Austria which is another German speaking nation in the EU.
-Thirdly: the combined economy of Germany speaking Europe is much higher than French speaking Europe and the rest, Also majority of the major EU companies are in the German Speaking EU, which means if you want a Job, you gotta show some German skills.
-And lastly: French is not spoken as a native language in Africa, and French already have a very powerful rival on the African continent, Chinese language. If french is to stay as a lingua franca on the African continent, then France has to stay there, intervene there and invest there, But I’m afraid The rival is much more potent than what France can handle. China already is investing billions there, and employing millions. I recon Mandarin to gradually turn to the Lingua franca of the African continent, and this might be China’s plan to increase it’s hegemony over the world.
John Mullen | Sep 8, 2019 20:54
As an Irish citizen, I am appalled by the idea of the English language losing its status after Brexit. In Ireland our official languages are English and Irish (We do not call it “Gaelic” when speaking English.) with the latter being so for only political reasons. It may come as a surprise to many outside of Ireland, but the Irish language is actually a “foreign” language to more than 90% of the population in Ireland. The Irish language is a compulsory school subject in the Republic of Ireland, but in the home most Irish still speak English. According to the Central Statistics Office of Ireland (CSO) Irish is now the THIRD most widely spoken language in Ireland behind Polish. https://www.irishcentral.com/news/irish-now-the-third-most-spoken-language-in-ireland-after-english-and-polish-145200025-237438651
Yep, there are more people in Ireland that speak Polish at home than Irish.
With this being the case there should be no reduction in the status of the English language within the EU just because the UK decided that it wants to leave the block.