Elvira Forte

Let's talk about EU languages, because it is a VERY political topic despite appearances. Official EU languages are languages that can be used in the EU institutions and in which every EU document must be translated and interpretation provided. There are currently 24 official EU languages, which led the EU institutions (who share interpreters) to have the biggest pool of permanent interpreters in the world (more even than the UN). An official language of a Member State does not automatically become an official EU language. You must specifically require its recognition, either when joining the EU or later on. And if you have several official national languages, you can pick and choose which may become (or not) an official EU language. For example, Luxembourg never asked the recognition of Luxembourgish as an EU official language, so you will not find a single EU document in this language nor can you use it in any official capacity. This led to a Luxembourgish MEP being sanctioned because he spoke in Luxembourgish in a Parliament plenary speech. To get your language recognised as an official EU language, you need ALL the other Member States to agree. Spain, as part of a national political agreement, is trying to get Catalan recognised as a EU language, but other Member States are refusing to avoid creating a precedent for other regional languages. Like I said, language is VERY political and some countries are very sensitive about this, as language is a mean of influence and soft power in the institutions. Why ? Because language carry meaning (copyright and droit d'auteur are not the same thing) and because people who speak your language can be more susceptible to your views and cultural sensitivities. It's also necessary to enable politicians, particularly MEPs, to use the language they are most comfortable with to carry out their duties and shape EU rules with the nuance and precision required. Language also matters because it means that EU decisions and debates may be accessible for citizens. And it's a matter of legitimacy, because why would you accept far-away institutions that take decisions for you but don't even bother to speak your language ? But, on a daily basis, only a limited number of EU languages are commonly used to work, the so-called EU working languages (English, French and German). Because ultimately, for practical reasons, you need a sort of lingua franca and a language of reference to negotiate. But even there, influence wars take place. France is notoriously waging a constant guerilla to ensure that multilinguism is respected within the EU institution (and particularly prevent English from becoming the default EU language). French civil servants are under instruction to actively protest if any French national in a EU institution does not use French to speak when interpretation is available. Recently, France lead the opposition to a Commission effort to have EU trade agreements being communicated in English only (instead of being translated in all languages) when sent for ratification by the Council. French used to be the dominant EU language (EU Treaties were negotiated in French until 2005) but following the Eastern enlargement of 2004, English became the de facto lingua franca, even after Brexit (English remaining an official EU language thanks to Malta and Ireland). As an exception however, it remains the dominant language in the EU Court of Justice. Fun fact to reward those who read until the end: The first ever legal act of the EU in 1958 (literally "Regulation 1") was to set up the list of official languages that could be used in the institutions.

La tarte à la crème classique et simpliste qui réduit le bénéfice de l'UE à la balance financière directe (dans le sens d'un versement direct de la Commission). Oui la France est contributrice nette, mais elle bénéficie énormément de l'UE (en plus d'être la première bénéficiaire pour certains fonds comme la PAC ou Europe Creative). Erasmus c'est pas la Commission qui fait un chèque et tout le monde est d'accord que c'est un gros succès (même le RN ose plus y toucher). Le marché unique et l'harmonisation des normes c'est pas un chèque de la Commission mais ça a ouvert 26 marchés à nos entreprises au point que la moitié du commerce français c'est avec le reste de l'UE. Le versement de fonds européens aux autres pays (plus pauvres que nous) c'est pas un chèque qui nous est versé mais c'est ce qui permet aux autres de rattraper leur retard économique et donc de réduire l'attrait du dumping (salaires minimums multipliés par 5-8 dans les pays de l'Est). Le fait d'être un bloc de 27, c'est pas un chèque de la Commission mais ça nous donne collectivement un poids décuplé dans toute négociation (prenez l'accord UE-US, malgré ses déséquilibres c'est le meilleur accord obtenu par quiconque dans le monde). Et la liste continue. Morale de l'histoire, ne vous faites pas avoir par un calcul arithmétique simpliste qui cache 90% de ce que l'UE fait pour nous. Les anglais sont tombés dans le panneau, la majorité est maintenant d'accord pour dire que c'était une connerie.