Is the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union going to deal a fatal blow to the language of Shakespeare on the continent? English, one of the 24 official languages of the EU, is very much spoken in Brussels and in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. But according to certain leading French politicians, its status after the Brexit should be questioned. 

 

英国脱离欧盟会对英语在欧洲大陆的使用产生致命的影响吗？英语，是欧盟24种官方语言之一，在布鲁塞尔和欧洲议会所在地斯特拉斯堡都非常盛行。但是据某法国政要说，英国脱欧后，英语的地位也应受到质疑。

 

On Friday morning, the mayor of the southern French town of Béziers, Robert Ménard -- a man with close ties to the National Front -- reckoned that English no longer had "any legitimacy¹" in Brussels. 

 

Left-wing presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who supports moving away from European treaties, has, for his part, said that English can no longer be "the third working language" of the European Parliament. 

 

In various ways, they're both wrong. The very complex operation of multilingualism in European institutions doesn't rely on the single criterion of a member state's membership in -- or withdrawal² from -- the EU. 

 

The EU's official languages are communicative languages recognized by the institutions. At the inception³ of the European structure, during the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951, there were four: French, German, Italian and Dutch. Today there are 24 of these official languages, including Bulgarian, Danish, Croatian and, obviously, English. In the European Parliament, all documents and discussions must be translated simultaneously⁴ into the 24 languages. 

 

The official language of a member state doesn't automatically become an official language of the EU (as is notably⁵ the case with Luxembourgish). This recognition happens at the request of the state. If a state withdraws, its language might also be withdrawn⁶, even if a case for it was never made. 

 

Nevertheless, Great Britain's exit should not be enough to abolish the use of English in Brussels, contrary to what Robert Ménard thinks. That is quite simply because the English language is one of the official languages of Ireland and Malta, who are still members of the EU.

点击收听单词发音