EU Referendum: France wants English language out of the EU after Brexit vote

A French mayor and the leader of far-left Left Party have called for English to be kicked out.

Two French politicians have called for the English language to be scrapped as one of the official languages of the EU after the UK voted to leave the bloc. French mayor Robert Ménard, the mayor of the southern French town of Béziers, said that English no longer has "any legitimacy" in Brussels.

The call for English to be ditched as one of the 24 'official languages' was also echoed by Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of France's far-left Left Party. He said that English can no longer be the third working language of the EU.

On Thursday 23 June the UK decided to leave the 28-nation bloc and even if English is considered the universal language of business it may still be dropped by the organisation as an official means of communication.

In a Twitter post, in French, Ménard said: "The English language has no more legitimacy in Brussels #Brexit". He added in a later Tweet that Irish Gaelic is now more relevant than English: "Irish Gaelic , the first national language. English is a second language of the constitutional point of view."

Unlike most other EU nations the French have a strained relationship with the English language. In 1994 French advertisers were forced to only use their national language in an attempt to stem the influx of English words.

Left-wing presidential candidate, Mélenchon said English should no longer serve as a means of official communication inside the bloc after the Brexit vote. "English can no-longer be the third working language of the European Parliament," he said according to Press TV.

La langue anglaise n'a plus aucune lÃ©gitimitÃ© Ã Bruxelles. #Brexit
— Robert MÃ©nard (@RobertMenardFR) June 24, 2016

He adding that even the Irish would have no problem if the English language disappears from EU officialdom as their main language is Gaelic — not English. Up until now the EU uses 24 official and working languages, with English being the most dominant in communications between officials.

In a 2014 report by Education First, an international language training company, they revealed that French adults were the weakest in the EU in English proficiency.