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AFP/Getty Images

French ambassador to EU walks out of meeting in protest at use of English language

Philippe Leglise-Costa left the talks on Wednesday to show his dissatisfaction with the “linguistic regime”.

aFRANCE’S AMBASSADOR TO the European Union walked out of a meeting in Brussels in protest at a bid to hold some of the talks on the post-Brexit budget solely in English, sources said.

Envoy Philippe Leglise-Costa left the talks on Wednesday to show his dissatisfaction with the “linguistic regime”, France’s permanent representation to the EU told AFP, confirming a report by Politico Europe.

French is one of the three official working languages of the EU along with English and German, but it has been in decline in recent years, particularly after several Eastern European states joined.

The French walkout came as ambassadors from the 28 countries discussed technical details on future talks involving a group of experts on the bloc’s long-term budget after Britain leaves, one of the most sensitive issues the EU faces.

“It was not some kind of orchestrated scene, but a way of taking a stand against a badly organised debate by the secretariat of the Council of the European Union, with methods that had to be rejected,” a French diplomatic source said.

“On a subject as serious as the next multi-year budget, there has to be respect for multilingualism in the EU institutions,” the source added, criticising a growing trend for “everything to be in English”.

The dispute was over the fact that there would be no interpreters at the talks because they are in a “loose” format, which usually means the discussions end up being conducted in English.

EU sources confirmed the incident, with one saying it had caused “bad feeling” at the ambassadors’ meeting.

“There was a misunderstanding”, with officials having thought that France Had previously accepted the arrangement, said a source at the Council of the EU, which groups the member states and runs official meetings.

France has been eyeing Brexit as an opportunity for a comeback in Brussels, with President Emmanuel Macron saying as he unveiled plans in March to promote the French language that its decline in the EU was “not terminal”

European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, a former Luxembourg PM, has also remarked that English is “losing importance”.

© AFP 2018 

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    Mute Sheldon
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    Apr 26th 2018, 9:34 PM

    He couldn’t look more like a French man if he tried.

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    Mute Sheldon
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    Apr 26th 2018, 9:35 PM

    What the English should do is agree to use French, and speak like the policeman in Allo Allo.

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    Mute Ted Murray
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    Apr 26th 2018, 9:37 PM

    @Sheldon: __ Inspector Clouseau did a better job.

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    Mute Gene Dexter
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    Apr 26th 2018, 9:41 PM

    @Sheldon:
    Haha. He’s thinking ‘This place stinks’

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    Mute Keith Jack
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    Apr 26th 2018, 10:58 PM

    @Sheldon: I was pissing by so decided to drip in

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    Mute Chewey Bacca
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    Apr 27th 2018, 4:39 AM
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    Mute Etherman
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    Apr 27th 2018, 6:28 AM

    @Sheldon: fake news! He was thrown out for forgetting the Ferrero Rocher.

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    Mute Ian James Burgess
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    Apr 26th 2018, 9:40 PM

    He needs to get real English is taught all over the world as a second language not French.

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    Mute Terry McClatchey
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    Apr 26th 2018, 10:33 PM

    @Ian James Burgess: English is definitely the lingua franca for those with savoir faire.

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    Mute Bob Lynch
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    Apr 26th 2018, 10:43 PM

    @Ian James Burgess: French is spoken as a first language in more countries than you think including many African countries, some Caribbean and Polynesian islands and parts of Canada for example. Having said that this guy is being a petulant idiot.

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    Mute Ian James Burgess
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    Apr 26th 2018, 10:54 PM

    @Bob Lynch: Not any major world economies

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    Mute Bob Lynch
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    Apr 27th 2018, 12:29 AM

    @Ian James Burgess: Switzerland is one of the biggest financial nations in the world.

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    Mute Dow Dubrov
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    Apr 27th 2018, 4:46 AM

    @Bob Lynch: Even in Switzerland, English is more widely spoken than French

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    Mute Todd
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    Apr 27th 2018, 10:38 AM

    @Dow Dubrov: That is Untrue.

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    Mute Dotty Dunleary
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    Apr 26th 2018, 9:48 PM

    And there you have it.. Once the U.K is gone from the EU, guess who’s left as the only english speaking country… Yeap, a small Island with the approximate population of Berlin!
    So our EU representatives better learn to speak French and German….

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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    Apr 26th 2018, 10:01 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: Well Dotty our EU representatives already bend over when the EU requests so no worries about languages……

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    Mute Ted Murray
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    Apr 26th 2018, 10:16 PM

    @Kerry Blake: ___ Yes, our representatives scrapped VRT without any argument. Oh no, they didn’t scrap it did they?

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    Mute Earth Traveller
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    Apr 26th 2018, 10:26 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: Don’t forget Malta.

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    Mute Bob Lynch
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    Apr 26th 2018, 10:27 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: of the top of my head excluding principalities and micronations etc. French is the official language of at least 3 major countries in Europe so what’s the problem?

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    Mute Mick Jordan
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    Apr 26th 2018, 10:29 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: Believe it or not most of Europe use English as a second language. From the Scandinavian’s to the Greeks. So it is only natural that they use the language common to the majority. Or are you suggesting 3/4 of the EU suddenly start learning French or German?

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    Mute bmul
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    Apr 26th 2018, 11:42 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: but Irish is our OFFICAIL language in the EU

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    Mute Seamus O'Connor
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    Apr 27th 2018, 3:22 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: you forgot about the island with the population of Cork – Malta

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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    Apr 27th 2018, 10:56 PM

    @Mick Jordan: But most people do have French. Just as plenty of German people are delighted to brush up on their Irish. You’d expect them to have some language skills to take the job, wouldn’t you? This seems more about doing interpreters out of a job.

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    Mute Brian Ó Dálaigh
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    Apr 26th 2018, 10:06 PM

    A slight taste of their own medicine I guess. They complain about not being able to use their own language in international settings while denying Bretons, Basques, Corsicans, Occitans, Alsatians, Savoyans, etc the right to use their own languages in national settings.

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    Mute WinstonSmith
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    Apr 26th 2018, 9:44 PM

    How dare they speak in the language of the people they are negotiating with.
    French is becoming irrelevent because it’s a language not spoken by any major or upcoming power in the world.

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Apr 27th 2018, 1:01 AM

    @WinstonSmith: I’ve never understood French being taught in all schools while more common languages like Spanish are almost completely ignored

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    Mute Dainéil Ó hÍobhair
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    Apr 27th 2018, 9:19 AM

    @Dave O Keeffe: That’s no entirely true. As a Spanish and French teacher, Spanish has become increasingly popular in many schools nationwide to the point that there’s a huge shortage of Spanish teachers so some schools end up having to teach French and German as there are currently more teachers of those languages. In my school the majority of first-year students chose Spanish over French but because they couldn’t get an extra Spanish teacher, many students had to study French instead.

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    Mute gar yak
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    Apr 28th 2018, 8:14 AM

    @Dainéil Ó hÍobhair: @Dainéil Ó hÍobhair: what schools are these? I’m sure a half decent wage will attract plenty of the 10ish million unemployed in spain. Not being able to find a Spanish teacher is basically impossible unless you’re only putting up hand written notes in local londis

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    Mute Frainc Ó Broin
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    Apr 29th 2018, 10:39 AM

    @gar yak: French phased out in our school and spanish has taken over

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    Mute Daniel Donovan
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    Apr 26th 2018, 10:27 PM

    Not like the French to give up and walk away….

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    Mute Gerard Smith
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    Apr 26th 2018, 11:30 PM

    Meanwhile his president is giving out about Nationalism.

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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    Apr 26th 2018, 9:59 PM

    That apparently is a French diplomat in the EU no wonder it’s failing and right wing parties are being elected in the EU zone……

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    Mute Michael
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    Apr 27th 2018, 1:20 AM

    If anybody has ever been a meeting in Europe with people from all across the continent then you will know that English is the most commonly spoken language in Europe and the language that meeting are conducted in.

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    Mute Ted Murray
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    Apr 26th 2018, 9:34 PM

    Franglais is the way to go.

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    Mute Willy Malone
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    Apr 26th 2018, 10:05 PM

    EU monster eating itself..
    No Mon no Fun..

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    Mute dick dastardly
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    Apr 26th 2018, 10:08 PM

    An ignorant French man,why I never

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    Mute John O'Leary
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    Apr 26th 2018, 9:44 PM

    Could they maybbeeeee?…..devolve all EU government for a year and a half, bicker and argue like seagulls over a crossaint and remain on their inflated wages? Don’t ask me where I come up with these ingenious solutions…i just do.

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    Mute Sean Gordon
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    Apr 27th 2018, 12:12 AM

    Irish is an official language in EU. When GB leaves there will be no English. We must use Irish all the time. Our Official language is IRISH. Start working.

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    Mute Thosj Carroll
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    Apr 27th 2018, 12:42 AM

    @Sean Gordon: Ridiculous comment……maybe Irish language is officially but it wouldn’t be spoken widely….

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    Mute Sean Gordon
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    Apr 27th 2018, 10:06 AM

    @Thosj Carroll: Them is the rules old son. Ask them in theN I Assembly. Our Irish is our first language. Now is time to PROVE it.We now have to put our money where our mouth is.

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    Mute No One
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    Apr 26th 2018, 9:38 PM

    Throwing le tantrum because talks in English about an English Brexit cest tres stupide.

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    Mute gregory
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    Apr 26th 2018, 11:50 PM

    @No One: Tous est bien. C’est ne rien. On est bete n’est ce pas?

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    Mute Sam Alexander
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    Apr 26th 2018, 10:13 PM

    He mustt be a member of the Nous-Mêmes party.

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    Mute Polly Dolan
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    Apr 26th 2018, 10:48 PM

    Grand bébé!

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    Mute gregory
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    Apr 26th 2018, 11:43 PM

    ok so just do it in latvian or irish?

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    Mute Rear Admiral
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    Apr 26th 2018, 11:14 PM

    Esperanto FTW

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    Mute Mark Walsh
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    Apr 26th 2018, 11:22 PM

    Tête de bouton français

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    Mute gregory
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    Apr 26th 2018, 11:53 PM

    @Mark Walsh: quand on est bete c’est pour toujours n’est pas?

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    Mute Benjamin Shéamuis De Brugha
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    Apr 27th 2018, 2:46 AM

    Its a shame Esperanto didn’t succeed in being the Lingua Franca as it was designed for.

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    Mute Mark Dawson
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    Apr 27th 2018, 2:45 AM

    That’s one way of getting free press and raising your profile

    7
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    Mute Garreth Byrne
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    Apr 27th 2018, 10:26 AM

    If he learned to speak like a couple of Kerry TDs he’d command lots of attention.

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    Mute Peter gowan
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    Apr 26th 2018, 11:12 PM

    Monjtout monjtout

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    Mute DeFonz
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    Apr 27th 2018, 5:46 AM

    Toujours la Politesse

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