Post-Brexit, Will the EU Stop Speaking English?

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 5/12/2017 07:23:00 PM
"We don't need no pidgin English!" The Academie Francaise may be ascendant with the UK leaving the EU.
I've talked about how English has become entrenched in global use--most often as a widely-spoken second language--because of its more "open source" nature [1. 2]. That is, people come up with new words to fit novel situations, and these become part of the global lexicon. Think about "Grexit" and "Brexit", which would have been unintelligent gibberish only a few years ago. The Internet has certainly played its part in establishing a common language as well. 

It is apropos that we make use of those examples drawn from the trials and tribulations of the European Union since the self-ejection of the UK from the EU may have significant consequences for the use of English in that institution. Just as English is widely used as a second language worldwide, accounting for its ubiquity, so has it functioned within the EU. In short, most participants from the 28 (shortly 27?) member states have at least some familiarity with English.

However, European Commission President Juncker seems to be warning us that, with the UK leaving the EU, it becomes harder to justify using the language of the leavers. Cut it out, English speakers, in so many words:
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has told a conference in Italy on the EU that "English is losing importance in Europe". Amid tensions with the UK over looming Brexit negotiations, he said he was delivering his speech in French. "Slowly but surely English is losing importance in Europe and also because France has an election," he said, explaining his choice of language.

He called the UK decision to leave the EU "a tragedy". Laughter and applause greeted his comment about the English language, and he could be seen smiling wryly. "We will negotiate fairly with our British friends, but let's not forget that it is not the EU that is abandoning the UK - it is the UK that's abandoning the EU, and that makes a difference," he said.
Luxembourg where Juncker hails from is partly French and partly Germany speaking. What we need to figure out here is whether English will be retained from a practical standpoint. Just because the UK is leaving the EU, it doesn't mean that fewer EU nations' citizens will be less familiar with it anytime soon. That much is obvious.

Of course, there may nonetheless be a political backlash against speaking English. After all, it is the language of the leavers.

After decades and decades of getting its teeth kicked in because of French authorities at the Academie Francaise decreeing what the language is, French may again be the language of (European) diplomacy. An improbable comeback for French may be on the cards, then, at the EU--just as Brexit was in itself rather improbable.