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This isn't about changing the native language to English, France gets to keep its French language. This is about using the language that most people understand in the entire EU. French is not that language, English is. The vote went probably like this... We can choose between French and German, cause Britain left the EU. German is disliked by more countries than French hence French won. The end result is we need more interpreters and it costs the tax payers more money.



> German is disliked by more countries than French hence French won.

French has also been a traditional common language or diplomacy and international relations. It's probably got more inertia going for it in those circles than German would.


That's good point, I suspect it's more a question of time before English replaces French in the UN and similar institutions though.


>This isn't about changing the native language to English, France gets to keep its French language

Ireland kept its Gaelic language. And nobody speaks it.


That development took 2 centuries, that's a pretty normal evolution to be honest. Languages grow and die organically.

Also I fail to see how this would impact the usage of French in France if the official language within the EU institution is English? The EU as an institution is comprised of a couple of thousand people from all over the EU, it would have no impact whatsoever on French as a spoken language. French is no longer the lingua franca, English is and therefore it makes more sense to use English as the common language within the EU institutions. Anything else is political currency as you so aptly mentioned.




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