How to choose between 23 EU languages

Ministers of Justice and of Foreign Affairs in EU countries recently gathered in Lisbon for an informal summit. The editorialist Andrea Bonanni noted that Italian was not used, which caused the Minister of Justice Clemente Mastella, to leave the meeting. "English, French, German, Portuguese, and Slovenian. Ministers present were given the choice of these five languages to listen to interventions and making their own propositions. The choice of languages offered by the Portuguese presidency seems however difficult to contest. With 23 different languages, the informal business lunch would have lost its spontaneity ... . If Mastella is right and the Portuguese have a point, the fact remains that Italy has failed to impose its language as a vehicle in the Union ... . It finds itself in an inferior position because its political employees have precarious grasp of foreign languages."

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