Why does the European Union use so many official languages?
The EU is a democratic organisation so it has to communicate with its citizens in their languages, not to mention the Member States’ governments and civil services, businesses and other organisations all over the EU. The public have a right to know what is being done in their name and must also be able to play an active part without having to learn other people’s languages. And the European Union passes laws which are directly binding on everyone in the EU, so everybody in the EU, both citizens and the courts, must be able to understand them, which means they must be available in all the official languages. The use of the official languages enhances the transparency, legitimacy and effectiveness of the EU and its institutions. The legal basis for the EU’s language policy is Council Regulation No 1 of 1958 determining the languages to be used by the European Economic Community, as amended, which lists the official languages and specifies when and for what purposes they are to be used. T
