A Brexit for English from the EU Parliament?
Hours after the Brexit vote, media outlets prompted dire warnings over issues such as trade relationships between countries and the dramatic drop in sterling to decade-lows. However, not very many addressed one prominent issue- Language. Despite English being the first choice in EU institutions and even the most used foreign language among the European Union, English now faces the danger of being removed from the EU in legal terms.
Under European Union regulations, every country has the right to register a primary language, but no state other than the United Kingdom had designated English as their official language. Since Britain has voted to remove itself from EU, voices have expressed that English should be stripped of its privileged status as the official language in the European Parliament.
Despite such opinions on the disproportionate use of English in the EU, it remains unlikely that English will be dropped in the near future. Experts have voiced that too much has been invested over the years to foster English language use in both educational and professional environments. With English still seen as an important lingua franca among a large percentage of Europeans, it would be a dramatic discordant practice if English were to be abruptly removed from the EU.
