Why maintaining multilingualism is better for social inclusion

Dr Michele Gazzola, who worked closely on the EU-funded LAPO (Language Policy and Linguistic Justice in the European Union) project has argued that consolidating the official number of EU languages should be rejected as being socially divisive and would lead to many millions of European citizens being linguistically excluded.

From 24 to one (or three)?

The study was responding to a growing argument over recent years that the EU should fully acknowledge the role of English as the continent’s prevailing language, with the most radical commentators arguing that English should become the EU’s sole official language (possibly regardless of the recent Brexit vote). Less radical observers instead have argued for a trilingual policy based on English, French and German.

Using data collected by Eurostat on almost 170 000 residents and their language skills in 25 EU Member States, the study showed that if English became the sole official language of the EU, 45 % of residents would have no access to legal documents, EU institutional websites and to streamed debates carried out in the European Parliament, due to not being able to understand English. In essence, they would become linguistically excluded, which could be viewed as a form of political disenfranchisement.

Additionally, when looking at EU residents who are neither native speakers nor proficient in English, the proportion of residents who would have difficulties in understanding political and legal EU documents increases to 79 %. This is four out of five Europeans. Thus, contrary to what is commonly believed, proficiency in English is not a basic skill in Europe, not even amongst younger adults.

Indeed, over 30 % of respondents aged 25-34 have no knowledge of English, which is admittedly lower than the average of 45 %, but 74 % of respondents in that age group do not speak English at a native or proficient level. This corresponds closely to the average for the whole population at 79 %. In essence, these percentages indicate that the young are more likely to speak foreign languages than the older generations, but that doesn’t mean that they master them better.

Although less drastic, an EU language policy based on English, French and German would also be highly exclusionary too, as it would disenfranchise 26 % to 49 % of residents, depending on the indicator used, and these percentages will increase considerably after the withdrawal of the UK from the EU.

Maintaining multilingualism

Instead, the study argues that multilingualism is not only the most effective policy to convey information about the EU to its citizens, but it is also the only truly inclusive policy. It is also a cost-effective policy, at 1 % of the EU’s budget. A reduction in the EU’s official languages would have regressive effects, particularly for the least-educated EU citizens (17 % of respondents with a university education had no knowledge of English, compared to 47 % of respondents who only finished secondary education). Thus, a contraction in official EU languages would hit the poorest Europeans – residents in the higher income brackets are much more likely to speak additional languages than those in the lowest.

With Eurosceptic movements and parties gaining increasing prominence across Europe, perhaps it has never been as urgent as now for the EU to ensure that it can effectively communicate with all of its citizens through their native languages. To do this, there must be clear political support for an inclusive language policy that places top priority on fostering multilingualism.

For more information please see:
project website