Correspondent in Brussels
The document may well have been buried, the Maltese Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, is far from done with her guide on inclusive communication.
In this internal Commission text, officials were recommended to refrain from referring to Christmas, to prefer
“Dear colleagues”
to “
Ladies and Gentlemen
” or to avoid using first names “
typical of a religion.
”, Such as Marie or Jean.
See also
The "pronoun", a new fight for activists in inclusive writing
EPP MEPs - the European right - do not intend to stop there.
And their leader, the Bavarian Manfred Weber, asked that Helena Dalli come and explain herself to the plenary session in Strasbourg.
“We reject the idea that we would have to deny our beliefs or traditions in order to be inclusive.
We are proud of our roots.
That is why we have to debate it in plenary this week.
This is how parliamentary democracy works, ”
says Manfred Weber.
“We have a lot of other problems to settle in Europe and it is, unfortunately, this debate which will hold the attention of this week.
"
Marc Angel, co-chair of the LGBTI intergroup
In the European Parliament, as in the EU, the fractures keep widening on these issues.
“There is a rise in intersectional discourse and Wokism. This drift affects all European institutions. We must put a stop to it, ”
said MEP François-Xavier Bellamy, leader of the LR delegation.
The followers of the anti-gender movement and the defense of patriarchy block inclusive language. The defenders of this language do not want to erase the terms men and women but to take them into account in all their diversity. We have many other problems to settle in Europe and it is, unfortunately, this debate which will capture the attention of this week.
, worries the Luxembourg social-democrat Marc Angel, co-president of the LGBTI intergroup, which brings together 156 MEPs.
"Speak the language of the people"
Getting this debate has not been easy.
If Manfred Weber was able to count on the support of the ECR and ID groups, the presidents of the other political families - the Social Democrats, the Renew liberals, the Greens and the radical left - opposed the initiative.
The EPP has decided to force its way and the debate will take place on Wednesday.
“It is disappointing that the left has tried to prevent this debate from taking place.
Europe should speak the language of the people, not that of the technocrats! ”
, Weber indignantly.
But Helena Dalli will not be present.
See also
Being an inclusive manager can be learned!
Ursula von der Leyen dispatched Margaritis Schinas, the Vice-President of the Commission in charge of promoting the European way of life, to the site. Labeled PPE, he was very ironic in early December, in the press room.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,"
he said, adding that he hoped the Commission could still use those terms. Did the President of the Commission want to protect the Commissioner, some of whom are calling for her resignation, or to avoid reviving the controversy?
"Dalli,
confides a source,
would have been lynched by the right, she could have cracked and the pressure weighing on VDL to make her leave might have increased."
In any event, the person concerned would not have been warned.
She would have discovered the decision of the president on Friday, by taking note of the attendance schedule of the commissioners.