1. How much vocabulary have you learnt? Find the words and/or ex-

pressions in the text that mean: 

1) to saturate, 

2) to choose something carefully, 

3) a preliminary outline of report, a letter, a speech etc., 

4) a tray on a secretary's desk for papers requiring attention, 

5) to knock or shove (aside), 

6) enterprising, promising future success, 

7) to be firmly established,

8) to hold fast, to stick, 

9)second to best, 

10) to refresh one's knowledge (of a subject). 

2. Answer the questions: 

– Which languages were optimists studying at the height of the cold war, 

and which ones are the studying now? 

– How many languages does the Community have and which are the three 

working languages? 

– Why will Eurocrat probably answer the phone in French? When did Eng-

lish start its rise at the expense of the once dominant French? 

– What happens to drafts in German? 

– Translation for "minority" languages is one-way, what does this imply? 

– In which areas is English becoming the main working language? 

– And where is French clinging on? 

– Why are German journalists and Eurocrats upset? 

– What signs are there that German is making headway?

the text

The Language of Europe 

At the height of the cold war, it was said that optimists were learning Rus-

sian and pessimists Chinese. Nowadays opportunists in Brussels are said to be 

studying German. Even if they are, it still leaves German a very poor third lan-

guage after English and French among the EC's 14,000 Eurocrats. 

In a Community of 27 nations and nine official languages, it is inevitable 

that some are more equal than others. Formally, the European Commission has 

three working languages: English, French and German. In fact, only English and 

French really count. And over the past 15 years there has been an inexorable rise of 

English in EC institutions at the expense of once dominant French. 

French is not giving up easily. Call a Eurocrat on the telephone and he will 

probably reply in French, although many will willingly lapse into English This is 

hardly surprising. Senior officials who joined the Community as bright-eyed

youngsters in the 1960s, when there was no English-speaking member, were 

steeped in French. All but one of the presidents of the European Commission over 

the past 20 years have been native French-Speakers. Brussels itself is a predomi-

nantly French-speaking city. 

The rise of English started after Britain, Ireland and Denmark joined the 

Community in 1973 (although in the early days British Eurocrats were hand-picked 

for their knowledge of French). Within ten years English had reached parity with 

French. Middle-ranking commission staff members can send working papers to 

their bosses in either English or French. A draft in German never gets beyond a su-

periors in-tray unless translated into English or French. 

At its top level, the commission is a tower of Babel. The 17 commissioners 

themselves may speak any of the nine official languages at their weekly meetings. 

Simultaneous translation is provided for all with small limitations. Translation for 

"minority" languages is one-way. This means that Mrs Vasso Papandreou from 

Greece and Mr Antonio Cardoso E Cunha from Portugal can speak in their own 

languages but have to listen to their colleagues in, say, French. 

It is among the louver orders in the commission that English is now begin-

ning to elbow French aside. Younger Eurocrats, with the exception of some Spa-

niards and Portuguese, tend to have English as their first foreign language rather 

than French. English is becoming the main working language in up-and-coming 

commission departments: those responsible for financial services, information 

technology and telecommunications, sciences & technology, and the environment. 

French remains relatively well entrenched in less dynamic departments such as 

agriculture. 

French has clung on as the working language in the commission's press 

room. There the commission's spokesman, Mr Claus-Dieter Ehlermann (no prize 

for guessing his nationality), gives a daily briefing in French to 250 journalists 

from all around the globe, only a handful of whom are native French-speakers. 

French-speaking journalists have led an anti-English coalition with the support of 

colleagues from other EC countries. The Germans, Italians and Spaniards do not 

mind their languages playing second fiddle to French – provided English has to as 

well. 

German journalists and German Eurocrats are sensitive about what they con-

sider the low status of German. Their country is the biggest in the Community and 

by far the largest contributor to the EC budget. The West German economy is po-

wering ahead and East Germany could be coming into the Community before long. 

Many Germans feel their language will soon come into its own. 

Evidence of non-German Eurocrats brushing up on their Goethe and Schiller 

is so far mainly anecdotal. The people who run the commission's language courses 

say they will have firm evidence only once the new cycle of courses—the first 

since the tumultuous events in Eastern Europe – gets under way next month. But 

there are other signs. The commission will start publishing its press releases in 

German — as well as in English and French – from next April.