The splendours and miseries of French in European institutions: meeting rooms and interpretation booths

Abstract

Being the language of diplomacy and a lingua franca for centuries, French also remained important in post-war Europe, particularly thanks to the European Community of six founding countries and originally four official languages. This article briefly examines European integration – including EU enlargements – which brought in new countries and languages. The article asks why French is no longer the most widely used language among EU staff, delegates at EU meetings and interpreters as a relay and retour language. The article offers a partial answer, providing a nuanced picture of the current situation. Is the change due to enlargement to Scandinavia, and particularly central and eastern Europe, who, given that EU terminology in their languages was barely existent upon accession, used English as a lingua franca? Or is it because they could communicate primarily or exclusively in English within EU institutions? Is it a generational problem? Is it globalization? Does the problem lie with interpreters and their working languages? Why is French no longer the first-choice language for relay and retour? This article maps out the functioning of a team of interpreters. It concludes by looking at the knowledge and use of active French among interpreters from countries which joined the EU as of 2004 and how francophone interpreters have learned, know, and use the languages of those countries, giving some examples and using official figures. The situation is both surprising and paradoxical, and neither Brexit nor COVID-19 have brought much change. Rather, the opposite is the case.