Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne is Secretary of State for Tourism, French People Abroad and La Francophonie. Clément Beaune is Secretary of State for European Affairs.
“
Honni est qui mal y pensant
”, in French in the text, has been the motto of the Order of the Garter, the most important of British chivalry, since the 14th century.
If the English continue to speak French, why should we Europeans not do the same?
With its 300 million speakers and its status as the official language of 31 states and governments around the world, French is the fifth language in the world.
Above all, it is a space for reflection and common life for people of all origins and all beliefs, on all continents.
A treasure shared with nations around the world, our language lives, evolves, fits in with the times and geography, from Quebec to Senegal, from Switzerland to Rwanda, from Haiti to Vietnam, passing through each of the 88 states. members of the international organization of La Francophonie.
French, the language of freedom, yesterday allowed the expression of Eugène Ionesco or Milan Kundera.
Today, it is the Franco-Moroccan Leïla Slimani, the Algerian Kamel Daoud, the Swiss Joël Dicker, the Belgian Amélie Nothomb, the Franco-Rwandan Scholastique Mukasonga, the Russian naturalized French Andrei Makine and many others who make us dream, love, learn, know the world in French.
While the French language is alive, flourishing, its teaching is developing throughout the world, it is here, within the European institutions, that it suffers.
While the French language is alive, flourishing, its teaching is developing throughout the world, it is here, within the European institutions, that it suffers.
The use of French is in sharp decline.
This trend, which began several decades ago, has so far not been effectively stopped.
While French is one of the three official languages of expression of the European institutions, one of the two working languages of the Commission, the exclusive language of deliberation of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is clear that note that its use in practice has declined in favor of English and more often of Globish, this ersatz of the English language which reduces horizons of thought and limits expression more than it facilitates it.
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In the Commission, in the Council of the European Union, in the agencies, bodies and administrations, working meetings are now too often held in English, giving rise to reports and communications in English, even though this language is not is now more than that of two Member States.
To think in a language is to adopt its codes, concepts and ways of thinking.
Limiting oneself to thinking exclusively in English means implementing a standardization that goes against the very foundations of the Union and its treaty which states in Article 3 that the EU “
respects the richness of its cultural and linguistic diversity
”.
It is time to “
roll back the decline of the French language
” in international institutions, according to the words of the Secretary General of La Francophonie, Louise Mushikiwabo.
It is an emergency in the organization closest to us, the European Union.
And this is not a French fight, it must be a collective fight for our languages, their diversity, for multilingualism.
The French presidency of the Council of the European Union, from January to June 2022, will be an opportunity for France to take this vital fight high.
The President of the Republic has already had the opportunity to affirm his commitment to the French language and multilingualism.
Three years ago, at the Institut de France, he presented an ambitious strategy intended to restore the French language to its place and role in the world, while respecting other languages.
Since then, a lot has been done, for example with the creation of the
Dictionary of Francophones
, the many projects carried out by French high schools abroad, the construction of a House of French-speaking students at the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris or even the launch of the Cité internationale de la langue française project in Villers-Cotterêts, a symbolic place if ever there was one.
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The French presidency of the Council of the European Union, from January to June 2022, will be an opportunity for France to take up this vital fight for multilingualism.
In anticipation of this crucial period, we are today setting up a
Working Group for La Francophonie and plurilingualism within the European institutions
.
Composed of personalities of different origins and backgrounds, long committed in the fight for the Francophonie, this working group will formulate concrete offensive and defensive proposals.
It is about the restoration of a common cultural space allowing dialogue between peoples.
For example, defining additional language requirements for candidates for European Commission competitions, finding the means to guarantee respect for multilingualism in the communication of the institutions or even targeting European grants according to a criterion of respect for multilingualism.
The report will be delivered on the occasion of the European Day of Languages, September 26, 2021. We trust them to come up with ideas that are both innovative and practical.
When the time of the French Presidency of the European Union comes, we will act with the European Council to reaffirm a culturally desirable and legally binding plurilingualism.
We will take initiatives to promote and strengthen the learning of foreign languages within the Union.
"
The language of Europe is translation
" said Umberto Eco.
The linguistic issue is not reduced to the expression of European experts: it is the restoration of a common cultural space allowing dialogue between peoples that it is about.
The French presidency of the European Union is a historic opportunity for the Francophonie.
France will not let it pass.
So, forward!