Amidst
tensions with the UK over looming Brexit negotiations, Jean-Claude Juncker, the
president of European Commission has told a conference in Italy on the EU that
“English is losing importance in Europe”.
Juncker said
he was delivering his speech in French. Explaining his choice of language he
said, “Slowly but surely English is losing importance in Europe and also
because France has an election.” He called the UK decision to leave the EU “a
tragedy”.
As laughter
and applause greeted his comment about the English language, he commented, “We
will negotiate fairly with our British friends, but let’s not forget that it is
not the EU that is abandoning the UK – it is the UK that’s abandoning the EU,
and that makes a difference,” he said.
Theresa May,
the UK Prime Minister has accused some EU officials of trying to sway the UK’s
8 June parliamentary election.
The European
Commission’s chief Brexit negotiator, French ex-commissioner Michel Barnier, is
to give a speech on Brexit in a few hours’ time.
EU leaders have
said that the UK cannot simply “cherry-pick” membership terms that it wishes to
keep. They have stressed that a Brexit deal cannot be healthier than full EU
membership.
France will
hold the critical second round of its presidential election on Sunday. EU top
officials have stated that they want liberal independent Emmanuel Macron to
beat Marine Le Pen, his nationalist rival.
At Florence’s European University
Institute (EUI), the EU
conference is called State of the Union.
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