Official: Maltese will be an EU language

By Ramona Depares

If this is not news, then what is? Maltese is to be an official European Union language. The news is being greeted with gleeful patriotism from the Maltese side, but not without a touch of caution at the wide possibilities this opens up both in terms of language development and employment opportunities for the Maltese. Strangely, government has kept the news as low key as is possible.

The move will mean that Maltese will be used as a working language when Maltese functionaries talk in European Union seminars. It will also lead to the immediate employment of up to 180 Maltese proficient in writing and speaking Maltese in Brussels on accession.

Furthermore, it will add a new dimension to the Maltese language. The decision to include Maltese as an official language is a feat for the negotiating team. More so, when one considers that other European languages such as Catalan, Basque, Breton and Gaelic are not considered as official languages.

Arnold Cassola, secretary general for the European Greens and former lecturer in Maltese at the University of Malta, said he was pleased that the Maltese language has taken its official place alongside the other European languages. But Dr Cassola, confirmed that although Maltese would not be a working language, its status as an official language does bring with it certain responsibilities.

"Being recognised as an official language entails a lot of things. All the existing ‘acquis communautaire’, that is the 80,000 of European law, will have to be translated into our language. It also means that any laws adopted and enacted by the European Union from today onwards will also have to be translated into the Maltese language," Dr Cassola explained.

What this means in practical terms is that Maltese citizens are being treated with equal dignity and will have access to all EU legislation in our mother tongue.

"Granted, ‘legal language’ is not at all easy to understand, but this is still quite significant, both politically and from a practical point of view. It means that the Maltese language will become a ‘must’ in the European Union and in this way the Maltese citizens will have closer access to ‘European’ justice," he continued.

Dr Cassola also pointed out that Alternattiva Demokratika have for the past 13 years tried to raise the status of Maltese. He noted that Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami is expected to sign the accession Treaty to join the EU in March 2003.

"What this means is that in 10 month's time our national language will be elevated to the status of official language of the European Union. It will effectively become the only European national language of Semitic origin to attain official status in the EU. And it will be placed alongside much wider spoken languages such as English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and others."

When asked how he believes the department of Maltese at the university will be affected, Dr Cassola replied that he did not think the issue of becoming an official language of the EU should necessarily lead to any re-thinking about the Maltese language.

"The Maltese language - like any other living language - is in continuous evolution and has to come to terms with the use of modern terminology, independent of EU membership or not," he said.

What he does expect as a result of Maltese becoming an official language of the EU, is a much greater interest in Malta and Maltese "things" in general.

"In this respect, I find that our university has a real lack of foresight by not having set up an ‘Insititute of Maltese Studies’, which would deal with anything Maltese, ranging from archaeology to history of language to literature to folklore, history and Maltese medical history. The idea has been bandied about for quite some years now .... but nothing happens. It will be a real pity that with European interest in Malta increasing, there will not be any university or research institute in our country to cater for this increased interest," he commented.

Dr Cassola is especially proud that after what he calls "the various vicissitudes" our language has been through until less than 100 years ago, it has managed to put all this before it.

"Until some time ago Maltese was still regarded as a ‘lingwa tal-kcina’. Many people have fought over the past two centuries or so in order to raise its dignity and it must surely be a great satisfaction to see Maltese become an official language of the whole European Union."

Dr Cassola remembers Malta Labour party stalwarts, such as Manwel Dimech, Guze' Bonnici, Johnnie Marks, Guze' Orlando and Guze' Ellul Mercer and says that it is ironic that two former Labour prime ministers, Dr Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici and Dr Alfred Sant, are today trying to stop the Maltese language from taking the status of official language of the EU.

At present there are 11 official languages in the EU: Spanish, Danish, German, Greek, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Finnish and Swedish. German is the most widely-spoken, at 24%, while Finnish and Dutch are the least spoken at 1%.