92001E1212

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1212/01

by Jean-Charles Marchiani (UEN) to the Council

(24 April 2001)

Subject: Languages used in the defence sector in the European Union

Can the Council state what languages are used in Eurocorps and the Standing Military Committee?

In view of the fact that French and German are by virtue of demographic realities by far the most widely spoken mother tongues in the European Union, does it not feel that they ought to be retained - both for historical and political reasons - as priority languages within European military structures?

Can it explain the reasons behind the use of English within such structures?

Does it believe, both in the interests of efficiency in time of crisis and in the light of the prevailing cultural realities in Europe (existence of three major language branches, i.e. Latin and Gallo-Latin, Germanic and Anglo-Saxon), that it would be appropriate at the very least to limit oneself to the use of French, German and English?

Given the prospect of the establishment of a genuinely independent European defence policy, does it not believe that the unjustified and excessive use of English sends out, by analogy, a very poor message to Europeans?

Reply

(8 October 2001)

The official languages of the institutions of the European Union are Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. All the texts related to the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common European Security and Defence Policy (CESDP) which are submitted to the European Council or to the Council are translated into all these official languages.

However, in the area of the CFSP, as well as in the CESDP which forms an integral part of it, exchanges of information among Member States and meetings at official level are currently conducted in English and French on the basis of the Declaration on the use of languages in the field of the CFSP (Declaration No 30, Treaty of Maastricht).

The rules and practices described above also apply to the Military Committee which is a Council body. The use of language(s) in multinational European military structures or formations not belonging to the European Union, such as Eurocorps, is not a matter for the Council but for the contributing countries.