European Commission: English won't cease to be official EU language without unanimous vote

Tue, 28 Jun, 2016 - 11:16

The European Commission in Ireland has moved to calm concerns that English may no longer be an official language at the European Union after Brexit.

It had been reported that once the UK fully exits the European Union, English would be scrapped as an official language of the body.

However the EC office here has said that for the official languages to be altered, a full vote of the European Council of Ministers would have to take place.

The statement in full is:

We note the media reports stating that in the event of a UK withdrawal from the EU, English would cease to be an official language of the EU.

This is incorrect. The Council of Ministers, acting unanimously, decide on the rules governing the use of languages by the European institutions. In other words, any change to the EU Institutions' language regime is subject to a unanimous vote of the Council, including Ireland..

These provisions are contained in Article 342 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.