Official status for Maltese in Brussels welcomed

Moviment IVA, the pro-EU lobby, has described the news that Maltese would be one of the EU official languages as extremely positive.

Movement general secretary David Casa stressed that the decision taken in Brussels to include Maltese among the official list of EU languages should shut up those spreading false speculation that the Maltese language would be lost once Malta joined the EU and that Malta would lose its identity.

On the contrary, Mr Casa said, the decision taken by the EU would put the Maltese language on an important platform among the other official EU languages.

At the moment, the EU has 15 members and there are 11 official languages: Danish, Finnish, French, German, Greek, English, Dutch, Swedish, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.

"The decision means it is not true that the Maltese will lose their identity. On the contrary, we will strengthen what we already have."

Mr Casa stressed that the decision taken by the EU should not be considered a privilege.

"We are getting what we should as a right and what the Maltese language deserves. Nonetheless we welcome the decision that has been taken. It is very good news for us."

Mr Casa said the decision also creates job opportunities in Brussels for Maltese to work as translators.

Among other things, the decision to make Maltese an official language upon accession implies that the EU would start issuing laws and official documents in Maltese, and that Maltese members of the European Parliament would be able to make their speeches in Maltese.

Maltese citizens would have the right to write to the European Commission and all other EU institutions in Maltese, and to receive their reply in Maltese.

A substantial number of Maltese translators would have to be employed in Brussels upon accession.

For the every day internal work, the European Commission uses two working languages: English and French.

The government announced on Sunday that it had been informed by the EU that Maltese would be one of the EU official languages.

The decision was taken last week during a meeting in Brussels of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of EU Member States, known as COREPER.

Alternattiva Demokratika also welcomed the decision to make Maltese an official language of the EU, describing the decision as a "historical one which makes us proud to be Maltese".

AD also welcomed the fact that Maltese will be the first Semitic language to be recognised as an official language of the European Union.

"This shows that the European Union is based on tolerance and the unity of diversities," it said in a statement.