BRUSSELS, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The European Union is struggling with a dispute over languages that arose when German appeared to replace Italian and Spanish at some EU affairs. The European Commission, the EU's administrative arm, had decided efficiency demanded replacing the two Latin languages with the dominant Teutonic one, the International Herald Tribune said Friday. | Somehow, "efficiency" and "European Commission" don't really seem to belong in the same sentance |
Spanish and Italian newspapers howled and Italian politicians vowed publicly to defend the nation's honor. Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the commission and a citizen of Portugal, responded with an emergency news conference Thursday attended by some 30 Spanish and Italian reporters to soothe tempers and reassure them that their languages were being taken seriously.
"He told us he was not going to discriminate against Italian or Spanish," said a journalist at the meeting. "He said the next time he goes to the press room, he is going to speak Italian." The problem has taken on such proportions that ambassadors from all 25 EU countries were set to discuss it Friday. |