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Language Disenfranchisement in the European Union *
Author(s) -
GINSBURGH VICTOR,
WEBER SHLOMO
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
jcms: journal of common market studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.54
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1468-5965
pISSN - 0021-9886
DOI - 10.1111/j.0021-9886.2005.00555.x
Subject(s) - german , resizing , european union , linguistics , political science , foreign language , international trade , business , philosophy
This article introduces the notion of language disenfranchisement which arises if the number of EU working languages is reduced and some EU citizens are denied the use of their own language for official purposes. We use data on language proficiency in the EU and show that, in spite of the widespread knowledge of English, the retention of French and German as working languages is essential to avoid a high degree of disenfranchisement of EU citizens. We also argue that, even though French is the second leading language within the EU, the recent enlargement could change that situation.