It’s not likely that Europe will privilege any one language as its legal yardstick (about 0.914 meters in any other European language). The Italian delegates aren’t singing about the French proposal, even though theirs is supposed to be the language of song. And the Germans, who pioneered the notion that each language reflects the “genius” of its culture, aren’t taking the philosophical approach: Druon, who is careful to distinguish between German philosophy and precise, rational French discourse, is hardly a Nietzschean superman to them. And where Druon got the notion that English is well-suited for poetry isn’t clear – surely the two poets and many novelists who are currently members of the French Academy would disagree.

In fact, despite romanticized notions of how language relates to culture, languages don’t ever sort themselves out as primarily poetic, musical, scientific, or legalistic. And speakers of every language are capable of rational, precise thought or, as in the case of Maurice Druon’s proposal to interpret all of Europe’s laws according to the French version of the text, of irrational, highly-subjective, and thoroughly self-aggrandizing reasoning as well. And that's a linguistic law that no parliament can repeal.

Dennis Baron, Champaign, US/Illinois

Maurice Druon, Nicole Fontaine and others are so naive they don't realise they have just shot their campaign in the foot! They have been duped by an evil Anglo-Saxon plot!

But seriously, the whole idea smells of narrow nationalism: every language has legal rigour, it's just the law-makers themselves who don't.

Maybe each member of the EU law-making body could vote on their preferred language with the exclusion of their own individual mother tongues!

Or better still, let there be no decision at all.

Charles Fiddes Payne, Watford, UK

This is obviously a rear gard combat on the part of some French politicians and bureaucrats who feel humiliated by the steady erosion of French influence in Europe and in the world as a whole. I am fully trilingual (English, French and Spanish,my mother tongue), and have published two books in French and one in English. I certainly enjoy writing and reading French as much as, if not more than, English, and contend that neither is superior to the other. Be that as it may, it happens that English is handier than French for debating and responds better than French to the present correlation of forces in Europe. French politicians had better asked themselves why their country is losing influence, and act accordingly. Frustration, frustration, quand tu nous tiens!

Fabio Rafael Fiallo, Nyon, Switzerland

This is a rearguard action by the French. Everyone knows that they are very proud of there culture but they must realise that it has a declining sphere of influence.

Luis is correct; Spanish is the second most influential language in Europe when put in the context of the world stage. As the EU is looking to have influence across the globe this should not be over looked. Spanish should be brought to the fore front of EU linguistic thought.

As for British opinions on Napoleon: Napoleon is generally well respected in the UK as a modernist, military leader and generally flamboyant character. He was no Hitler, and there is no pervading negativity about him. So this 'you Brits are just being xenophobic about our national hero' argument is null and void.

Rob, Coventry,

In response to Luis from Madrid, French is the official language of 41 countries and is the official administrative language of numerous important bodies such as the Afriac Union, European Broadcasting Union, International Olympic Comittee, Interpol and the International Bureau of Weights and Measures among others. Although a lot less people speak French (approx 175 million) than Spanish (approx 400 million), it is the most used language in the European Commission and undoubtedly has a lot more official weight. Unfortunately, given the relative positions of Spain and France within the European heirarchy, it is unlikely that Spanish will be able to compete with French for dominance.

Rob King , Norwich , England

I do think that English is the only language that should be the EU's common tongue. Every people, from Portugal to Poland speak English whereas French is not that known...
Moreover I do not understand why French would fit so well for law. I'm a native speaker of French and I can honestly say that I consider English as a far more precise language. We should not forget that for example English has about three times more words than French.
Undoubtedly all continental laws are based on the Napoleonic (now Civil) Code, which is French. But it's not a relevant argument for making French the primary language in EU law.

Michel, Paris, Franche

Your picture of Napoleon looks familiar. Has the little corporal been promoted to a Vice Admiral ?

tony bohan, lifton, devon

Isn’t Spanish relevant at all in the EU? It is the language spoken by around 400 million people throughout the world, being the official language in more than 20 different countries. It is the second language spoken in the US (in fact it is the mother tongue of 20% of US nationals), the third language spoken in the entire world (only after mandarin Chinese and English) one of the most ancient, precise and beautiful languages of the world, used in countries with very different cultures. How many people do speak French as a mother tongue? In how many countries is it the official language? And what about the German or the Italian? Which of them are at the level of the Spanish language if we consider all these global figures?

Luis, Madrid, Spain

Well it would certainly help the EU fulfil its true destiny of creating discord where there was none before....

Ian Kemmish, BIggleswade, UK

Surely your picture of Napoleon has a Nelson touch.

Roger, Montaut, France

he best thing done by Napoleon was the planting of all those shade trees for his troops along the Routes National.
They ensure that bad drivers only crash once!

peter, singapore,

French is a beautiful language, which I speak and would love to hear more widely spoken. However, I rather think the Academie Francaise has shot itself in the foot by being over-protective of the language.
English flourishes precisely because it is a bastard language, made up of words from all over the world and constantly expanding as new words enter accepted usage.
There is a need for an internationally used language, just as there is a need to preserve national languages and local languages. The broad acceptance of English, and its multi-national roots, make it the obvious candidate. Having different languages for different purposes would merely serve to make life more complicated and more expensive. After all, why not have Japanese as the international language of quality control, German for engineering, Russian for wheat farming, etc? No, I thought not.

Allister Steele, Bristol, UK

This is a completely stupid issue, but it is a "classic" thing that the Frenchs always try overprotect their own things. But the real situation is that they are frightened by the reality: French (like German and Italian) are languages "in frank disappearance", in front of strong languages like English and Spanish that are growing more and more.

Montse, Zaragoza, Spain