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Speak French! Macron ally moans eurocrats are still using English even after Brexit

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Vincent
Published date12 January 2021
Date12 January 2021
“Let’s re-accustom ourselves to speaking our languages.”

To the consternation of the French, English remains the dominant language for EU civil servants and MEPs.

Brussels has 23 official languages, but for daily business the European Commission and Council use English, French and German.

Even after Brexit, English remains the most popular foreign language in all but five European countries.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered 81 per cent of her flagship State of the Union speech in English, compared to just seven per cent in French.

French politicians have repeatedly led calls since the Brexit vote to end its dominance.

Mr Beaune, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, has previously branded the Commission’s reluctance to scrap English as an “obstacle to understanding and adherence”.

The French position was notably backed by former Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, a supporter of a "United States of Europe".

But their protests have been waved away by Commission officials, who insist “even after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU, English remains one of the official languages of Ireland and Malta”.

Discussing the end of the transition period, Mr Beaune insisted trade between the EU and UK could never be the same.

He claimed disruption would be inevitable, adding: “Trade between the EU and the UK will not be the same, in its simplicity and perhaps also in its scale.”

But he admitted there are some “complications and difficulties that have to be resolved”.

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