EU Enlargements and its Linguistic Borders: A Historical Review
EU Enlargements and its Linguistic Borders: A Historical Review

Summary/Abstract: The European Union is founded on respect for its diversity: diversity of cultures, customs, beliefs and languages. The EU also claims that it is this diversity that makes the European Union what it is: not a ‘melting pot’ in which differences are rendered down, but a common home in which diversity is celebrated, and where the many languages are a source of wealth and a bridge to greater solidarity and mutual understanding 1 . As stated by the first ever Commissioner with specific responsibility for multilingualism, “there is no such thing as a superior or inferior language. Each language is a unique cultural expression with its own characteristics and singularly adapted to the needs of its speakers. As well as a means of expression, it is also a channel of self-expression”

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