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FEATURES instance in the Council of Europe – was a major diplomatic achievement. There was no question of German cultural or linguistic influence being attractive to – let alone exerted over – its neighbours at that time. The question of English You might ask why English did not immediately take a dominant role. After all, it was the language of the dominant Western power: America. I think the answer lies in American indifference to the notion of linguistic dominance. Britain also stayed aloof from continental endeavours at greater unification. There were relatively few Englishspeaking visitors to the continent, apart from those associated with the military. Tourism was a luxury and there were no serious migratory flows across the Channel in either direction. But Britain's separation from the continent was not always self-imposed. As the UK shifted to a more sympathetic stance towards the Common Market, De Gaulle twice vetoed British applications. We were, he said, the Trojan horse for the Americans, and we would always prefer 'le grand large' to continental integration. We would spoil the game for the French. 'Messieurs les anglais, nuls points, pas de chance.' When the UK finally joined the European Community in 1973, the administrative ethos was already well established. French was the language of administration. Every document was drafted in French, irrespective of the nationality of the administrator who drafted it. The Secretary General of the Commission – the lynchpin of the bureaucracy – was a Frenchman: Emile Noel. He had been there since day one, and you had to be prepared for a stream of rapid French when you picked up the phone in the Commission offices. It was frightening – especially for me, a language and literature graduate who could quote Voltaire but had difficulty ordering a coffee. De Gaulle twice vetoed British applications. We were, he said, the Trojan horse for the Americans 10 The Linguist © EUROPEAN UNION 2011 PE-EP It was the Dutch and the Germans who most welcomed Britain to Brussels. We joined the European communities along with the Irish and the Danes, both of whom had closer affinities with the UK and English than with any continental state or language. Together these five states made a loose, alternative cultural grouping to the Latins. After that first enlargement, the Latins had to come to terms with a Common Market where new cultural patterns began to play a role in Brussels. But the status quo still had considerable life in it. In the press It was the same with the press. In my first years in Brussels, I ran the press office of the Council of Ministers, along with a young German colleague. The job gave unrivalled access to political information, sitting in on meetings of ministers and ambassadors, and being very close to the developing European story on a multitude of fronts. We had the advantage of a superb interpreting service. We could listen in English or German if we wanted to. In the 1970s, the Commission organised a daily press briefing in French. It was, in a way, our competitor. The international press corps turned up in force. Since interpretation was only from French, they could witness the embarrassment of English spokesmen having to give their brief in French, and then enjoy the irony of it being interpreted into English for the monoglot members of the British press. But a few of the more assiduous journalists wanted more. They came to the Council, where my colleague and I gave off-the-record briefings in English or German. It was rather a DECEMBER 2013/JANUARY 2014 BRITAIN'S POSITION The British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg makes a speech to the European Parliament in November 2011 different operation to our predecessor, who only invited journalists to her personal briefings if they spoke French flawlessly. So we did strike an early blow for linguistic diversity. New additions Successive EU enlargements have increased the number and variety of languages spoken in Brussels. The Greeks came in 1981; Spain and Portugal in 1985; Austria, Sweden and Finland in 1995; eight Central and East European states plus Cyprus and Malta in 2004; Romania and Bulgaria in 2007; Croatia in 2013 – and more to come as the jigsaw of European integration is completed. Each has added its language to the list and there are now 23 official languages for the 28 member states. Fundamental texts, such as treaties, are translated and published in all the languages, as is the Official Journal, which carries every new legislative text. But the new arrivals have also shifted the emphasis on working languages away from French in favour of English. At the Commission, more than 75 percent of working documents (totalling 2 million pages each year) are now initially drafted in English. Barely 10 percent are drafted in French, and close to 5 percent – and growing – are drafted in German. More than half of the translation work is outsourced to freelancers, yet there are some 2,500 translators on the EU staff. It is not easy www.iol.org.uk