Il regime linguistico nell’Unione europea

Abstract

From the beginning of the Community integration process, it was necessary to regulate the diversity of languages spoken in the European area and to fix some precise rules to ensure an appropriate linguistic regime.
The aim of the essay is to examine the evolution of the EU’s linguistic regime, as well as the current legal framework in force between the European Union and its citizens and inside the European Institutions.
In this context, it demonstrates that especially after enlargement towards the new Member of the East, the situation has become complicated and complex: more and more of a linguistic “unity in diversity”.
In today's European society (in particular, in the Italian society) the "multilingualism" is still dominant. Although the promotion of the knowledge of a few common languages is encouraging, the growing up of an European “plurilingualism” space, while the use of a few languages has already established inside the Institutions and in some technical fields.
So the question that arises is whether it’s appropriate that it provides an European "lingua franca” (ELF) and, in case, under which terms this one could take place.