Each EU member state has the right to nominate a primary language in Brussels, but no state other than Britain has registered English. English could be banned as an official language of the EU after Brexit despite being the most spoken in Europe, an official has admitted. Although it is the main working tongue of European Union institutions, it might be dropped when Britain leaves the bloc - further reducing the UK’s influence on the continent. Each member state has the right to nominate a primary language in Brussels, but no state other than Britain has registered English.
“If we don’t have the UK, we don’t have English” Danuta Hübner, chairwoman of the European Parliament's constitutional affairs committee said. This means that its legal status would be removed when Britain leaves the EU, despite it being in everyday use in both Ireland and Malta - which chose Gaelic and Maltese respectively as their official languages. The Polish MEP said that English might remain a ‘working language’, adding that keeping it an official language would require agreement by all member states.
Source: The Daily Telegraph
