Vergennes
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France’s EU ambassador on Wednesday walked out of a diplomatic meeting after the Council decided to use only English-language translation in a new working group on the EU’s long-term budget.
Philippe Léglise-Costa, the French EU ambassador, stormed out of the Coreper meeting on the Multiannual Financial Framework after refusing to sign off on a Council Secretariat decision that asked representatives of other EU countries to agree on using English for the group’s meetings, according to several participants.
The Council, one EU diplomat said, “maneuvered the procedure to make the decision pass quickly and efficiently.” The Council generally provides translation in several official languages for such high-level meetings.
Léglise-Costa raised his voice against the Council decision, arguing that France was defending “multilingualism as well as Francophony,” particularly within a group that would be discussing billions of euros in revenues and spending, the European diplomat said.
“France demanded that those who wish to speak in their language be provided interpretation,” he added. “There was a bit of tension on that Council operation.”
Leglise-Costa declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the French representation said she would not comment beyond what Léglise-Costa told his colleagues before leaving the meeting. The spokeswoman did not dispute the reports of the ambassador’s remarks.
According to Council’s website, “detailed information on Council configuration meetings is only published in English and French.”
French is one of the EU’s official working languages. But its historic role as the traditional language of international diplomacy has waned in recent decades amid the spread of English, especially in the EU as new countries joined, including from Eastern Europe and the Baltics where English is more commonly taught as a second language.
French officials, including presidents, however, have long defended its use in official meetings. French President Emmanuel Macron has attracted notice for being more willing than his predecessors to speak in English in international settings, but almost always still makes a point of speaking partly in French, as he did on his trip to Washington in recent days.
National honor notwithstanding, Léglise-Costa’s exit was a bit overly dramatic for some diplomats, who described it as a statement of anger that clearly needed no translation.
“He left the chair empty,” one diplomat said.
https://www.politico.eu/article/eng...assador-tells-council-philippe-leglise-costa/
France’s EU ambassador on Wednesday walked out of a diplomatic meeting after the Council decided to use only English-language translation in a new working group on the EU’s long-term budget.
Philippe Léglise-Costa, the French EU ambassador, stormed out of the Coreper meeting on the Multiannual Financial Framework after refusing to sign off on a Council Secretariat decision that asked representatives of other EU countries to agree on using English for the group’s meetings, according to several participants.
The Council, one EU diplomat said, “maneuvered the procedure to make the decision pass quickly and efficiently.” The Council generally provides translation in several official languages for such high-level meetings.
Léglise-Costa raised his voice against the Council decision, arguing that France was defending “multilingualism as well as Francophony,” particularly within a group that would be discussing billions of euros in revenues and spending, the European diplomat said.
“France demanded that those who wish to speak in their language be provided interpretation,” he added. “There was a bit of tension on that Council operation.”
Leglise-Costa declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the French representation said she would not comment beyond what Léglise-Costa told his colleagues before leaving the meeting. The spokeswoman did not dispute the reports of the ambassador’s remarks.
According to Council’s website, “detailed information on Council configuration meetings is only published in English and French.”
French is one of the EU’s official working languages. But its historic role as the traditional language of international diplomacy has waned in recent decades amid the spread of English, especially in the EU as new countries joined, including from Eastern Europe and the Baltics where English is more commonly taught as a second language.
French officials, including presidents, however, have long defended its use in official meetings. French President Emmanuel Macron has attracted notice for being more willing than his predecessors to speak in English in international settings, but almost always still makes a point of speaking partly in French, as he did on his trip to Washington in recent days.
National honor notwithstanding, Léglise-Costa’s exit was a bit overly dramatic for some diplomats, who described it as a statement of anger that clearly needed no translation.
“He left the chair empty,” one diplomat said.
https://www.politico.eu/article/eng...assador-tells-council-philippe-leglise-costa/
