A very strange feature of the EU is the use of English as the language by which its business gets done. Instead of declining post-Brexit, the practice has spread. The Union rule is to operate with all the national languages of member states. For two countries, and they’re not in the big league – Ireland and Malta – English is one of their two official languages. Formally, that fact helps to justify how in the wake of Brexit, English was not dropped from the management of European affairs.
One would have expected that member states having a certain weight in EU business were going to press for a reduction in the importance accorded to English. Indeed, it was said that for instance, Spain and Germany were bound to insist on securing a higher profile for their language. If they did try to do so, as of now their success must have been minimal. For in the majority of cases, one finds that even their representatives are quite ready to adopt English as their working language including during official meetings.
It still seems as if English has become the lingua franca of the Union without this creating discomfort for its members.
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THE GULF COUNTRIES
On the back of the mountain of monetary assets that they hold, the Gulf countries – with Saudi Arabia top of the list – are running a formidable strategy to acquire a voice in the world’s sports and cultural agenda. They have understood that these sectors open a way by which to uphold their policies and their interests when deploying diplomatic approaches that rely on so-called “soft” power.
The resources they dedicate to such approaches are so huge (as in the case of football but also in other areas) that they have made impressive gains. On their basis, they hope to be able to influence public opinion and consequently the political attitude that countries having advanced economies – notably the US and the EU – will adopt in their regard. As Qatargate showed just over a year ago, they likely see no limits on how they can deal out their cash to achieve their aims.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the criticisms that they used to draw about their disrespect for the civil and political rights of their citizens and for their total disregard for the rights of women have been almost completely forgotten.
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THE DEFENCE OF EUROPE
A substantal majority of the EU’s member states have been insisting that Europe needs to have its own security and defence policy, one that is autonomous, robust and effective. They have every right to proceed as best they can along these lines. But they are making a mistake in trying to build a military “defence” capability within the wider structures of the EU.
They should have been following the model first launched during the first half of the 1950’s, namely the establishment of a European defence union side by side with the Common Market structures of those early days. The same approach would still have made sense this time around. While the EU would be covering all matters related to economic, financial, social, environmental and cultural cooperation, a European defence union would function separately among those countries that wish to participate in it.