Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Merkel wants more German spoken in EU

Angela Merkel's conservatives want to increase the use of German in Europe if they are re-elected in September, calling in their campaign programme for the language to be treated on a par with English and French in top Brussels institutions.

English and French have been the dominant working languages of the EU in the past few decades, although French has declined since 2004 as the bloc expanded from 15 to 27 members, most from eastern Europe where English is a more common second language. But there are differences depending on the institution. German is rarely used day-to-day at the European Commission, but is heard frequently at the European Parliament, which has a German president and is made up of more Germans than members from any other state because of the country's large population.