It is a generous idea that Emmanuel Macron regularly defends: it is not a question of defending French against English out of simple nationalism, but in the name of a higher value, cultural diversity. “The Francophonie must do justice […] to all the languages that globalization weakens or isolates”, he declared in 2018. Noble ambition!
We could therefore only applaud this direction if… its action did not contradict this beautiful speech. It is indeed difficult to urge foreign countries to grant rights to their minority languages while refusing to apply these same rights to the regional languages of France. However, not only did the Head of State not take a single measure in their favor, but he opposed in 2021 the law of MP Paul Molac, the only one ever passed on this theme under the Fifth Republic! He also refused to establish the co-officiality of Creole in Martinique or Corsican in Corsica. Similar devices are however in use in many democracies, and for good reason: it is a question of the best known method for ensuring the survival of minority languages.
During his 2017 presidential campaign, Emmanuel Macron had assured : “Respecting and valuing its own linguistic diversity will enable France on the international level to better ensure that of the world’s diversity and thus contribute to its international impact.”
If we dared, we would advise President Macron to reread candidate Macron.