Bonn digs in heels over language row

Date: 22/07/1999

By Simon Taylor

CHANCELLOR Gerhard Schröder's fight for the right to use German at informal ministers' meetings is set to drag on into the autumn, despite a new initiative from the Finnish presidency aimed at breaking the deadlock.

Helsinki has floated the idea of using only two languages - French and English - at informal get-togethers while at the same time barring officials from speaking their native language, creating an odd kind of egalitarian situation where all participants were at an equal linguistic disadvantage.

But this is unlikely to resolve the argument which has prompted a German boycott of informal ministerial meetings since the Finns took over the presidency on 1 July.

German officials immediately poured cold water on the idea. "There is no room for that kind of compromise. We had experiments with this with working groups under our presidency," said one, who pointed out that the scheme had only worked on those occasions when all the officials present spoke French and English.

He added that the system would present major problems if it was applied at ministerial level. "Everybody has to be on the same level or some countries would have a negotiating advantage, especially in technical negotiations," he insisted.

If the German boycott continues, as seems likely, it could result in German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer staying away from an informal gathering to discuss EU enlargement in Saariselkä planned for 4-5 September.

The row blew up at the start of the Finnish presidency when Bonn learned Helsinki was not prepared to provide interpretation in and out of German at informal ministers' meetings.

Schröder responded by announcing a boycott of such get-togethers until German was reinstated. Informal meetings do not take any decisions, but provide a forum for free-ranging discussions on important policy issues.

The Germans argue that they are entitled to use their language as the largest single linguistic group in Europe with more than 90 million German speakers. German interpretation was provided under the last five presidencies including the British, Dutch and Luxemburg terms.

But the Finns argue that if they give in to the German demands, small member states will face pressure from other large countries such as Spain and Italy to provide translation in their languages, putting an impossible burden on EU resources.