Diverting Linguistic Diversity: The Politics of Multilingualism in the European Parliament

Abstract

The European Union (EU) motto ‘united in diversity’ encompasses a rich variety of languages. Both the treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights commit the Union to respecting linguistic diversity. Yet, what such linguistic diversity concretely entails remains unclear. This chapter draws on original fieldwork (debates on resolutions, European Parliament activities and interactions with Members of the European Parliament), including over 150 interviews conducted as part of a larger project on the contestation of minority rights in the EU. It shows that everyone appears to be a champion of linguistic diversity inside the European Parliament. But whereas minority rights activists use this value to motivate Brussels to act where their national governments would not, their opponents instead interpret in a way that helps them maintain the domestic status quo.