Why not adopt a single official language for the European Union?
Because it would cut off most people in the EU from an understanding of what the EU was doing. Whichever language were chosen for such a role, most EU citizens would not understand it well enough to comply with its laws or avail themselves of their rights, or be able to express themselves in it well enough to play any part in EU affairs. And which language would you choose? - The EU language with the largest number of native speakers is German. But it is not widely used outside Germany and Austria. - The EU languages with the largest number of native speakers in the world are Spanish and Portuguese - but most of those speakers are not in Europe. - French is the official language, or one of the official languages, of three Member States, it is spoken in many parts of the world and taught in many EU schools: but it is much more widely known in southern and western Europe than in the north or east of the continent. - Of the EU languages, English is the most widely known as either the first or second language in the EU: but recent surveys show that still fewer than half the EU population have any usable knowledge of it.
