Languages of the European Union

Languages of the European Union
Multilingual sign in the European Parliament
Official
RecognisedRussian, Luxembourgish, Turkish, Sami languages, Basque, Catalan, Galician, Breton, Romani, Albanian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Occitan, Arpitan, Corsican, Sardinian
ImmigrantArabic, Chinese, Berber languages, Kurdish languages, Hebrew language
SignedMany sign languages, in the French Sign Language family, German Sign Language family and Swedish Sign Language family; also the Maltese Sign Language
Keyboard layout

The European Union (EU) has 24 official languages, of which three – English, French and German – have the higher status of "procedural" languages[1] of the European Commission (whereas the European Parliament accepts all official languages as working languages).[2] Irish previously had the lower status of "treaty language" before being upgraded to an official and working language in 2007. However, a temporary derogation was enforced until 1 January 2022. The three procedural languages are those used in the day-to-day workings of the institutions of the EU. The designation of Irish as a "treaty language" meant that only the treaties of the European Union were translated into Irish, whereas Legal Acts of the European Union adopted under the treaties (like Directives and Regulations) did not have to be. Luxembourgish and Turkish, which have official status in Luxembourg and Cyprus, respectively, are the only two official languages of EU member states that are not official languages of the EU. In 2023, the Spanish government requested that its co-official languages Catalan, Basque, and Galician be added to the official languages of the EU.[3]

The EU asserts that it is in favour of linguistic diversity. This principle is enshrined in the EU Charter of fundamental rights (art. 22) and in the Treaty on European Union (art. 3(3) TEU). In the EU, language policy is the responsibility of member states, and the EU does not have a common language policy; EU institutions play a supporting role in this field, based on the principle of "subsidiarity"; they promote a European dimension in the member states' language policies. The EU encourages all its citizens to be multilingual; specifically, it encourages them to be able to speak two languages in addition to their native language.[4] Though the EU has very limited influence in this area, as the content of educational systems is the responsibility of individual member states, a number of EU funding programmes actively promote language learning and linguistic diversity.[5]

The most widely understood language in the EU is English, which is understood by 44% of all adults, while German is the most widely used mother tongue, spoken by 18%. All 24 official languages of the EU are accepted as working languages, but in practice only three – English, French, and German – are in wide general use, and of these, English[6][7][8][9] is the most commonly used. French is an official language in all three of the cities that are political centres of the Union: Brussels, Belgium; Strasbourg, France; and Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Since the exit of the United Kingdom from the EU in 2020, the government of France has encouraged greater use of French as a working language.[10]

  1. ^ "European Commission - PRESS RELEASES - Press release - Frequently asked questions on languages in Europe". europa.eu. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  2. ^ "EU".
  3. ^ Hernández-Morales, Aitor; Moens, Barbara (8 September 2023). "Doubts over Catalan as EU language create a headache for Spain's Sánchez". Politico. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  4. ^ "COM(2003)449: Promoting Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity: an Action Plan 2004–2006" (PDF).
  5. ^ "EUROPA – Education and Training – Action Plan Promoting language learning and linguistic diversity". European Commission. Archived from the original on 18 April 2010.
  6. ^ European parliament has 24 official languages, but MEPs prefer English, theguardian 21 May 2014
  7. ^ English will remain the working language of the EU after Brexit, The Irish Times 18 July 2016
  8. ^ English will not be an official EU language after Brexit, says senior MEP, Politico Europe 27 June 2016
  9. ^ Britain is leaving the EU, but its language will stay, The Economist 13 May 2017
  10. ^ Forrest, Adam (10 June 2021). "El francés sustituirá al inglés como el "idioma de trabajo" de la Unión Europea". The Independent in Spanish (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 October 2021.