Conclusions
As stated throughout this research paper, the European Union has 23 official languages which are also considered the working languages within various EU institutions. However, when discussing these institutions separately, one can witness differences among the actual usage of languages. Such institutions as the European Parliament, The Council of the European Union, The European Council, The Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions tend to employ all the 23 official languages, while, for instance, the European Commission uses French, English and German in their internal communication, the European Central Bank gives preference to English, the Court of Justice – to French, and the Court of Auditors – to French, English and, to a lesser extent, German. The reasons for these situations are diverse, still it is mainly done to facilitate everyday communication and avoid time delays.
Accordingly, many experts have stated that the introduction of a single working language within all the EU institutions would save a considerable amount of money spent on translation and interpretation, help to prevent time delays and provide a so-called “one voice” to the EU; however, there are also numerous arguments against that, including the loss of jobs for translators and interpreters, uncertainty as to which language should be used as the single working language and even claims about an unfair advantage to the native speakers of this hypothetical language as well as restrictions of democracy.
Thus it can be concluded that the language regimes within the EU institutions are not very likely to experience significant changes in the near future as it is still a very debatable issue.
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