There are still no easy answers to whether limits should be placed on the number of official languages in EU decision-making

The EU has 24 official languages and the Member States have made a formal commitment to maintain linguistic diversity within the EU’s institutions. As David Fernández Vítores notes, however, there is wide disagreement over whether a smaller number of working languages such as English and French should be used in specific cases. He writes that while multilingualism is important for preserving equality between states, it can also have a negative effect on the overall efficiency of decision-making.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: France has almost entirely failed in its strategy to prevent English taking over as the lingua franca of the EU http://www.europeansources.info/record/france-has-almost-entirely-failed-in-its-strategy-to-prevent-english-taking-over-as-the-lingua-franca-of-the-eu/

European Commission: Languages: Policy: Language-policy http://ec.europa.eu/languages/policy/language-policy/official_languages_en.htm

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