Official German is already a problem for many native speakers. The German Chamber of Industry and Commerce underpins its claim: civil servants must be able to speak English. There is resentment there.
Cologne – What does the application for housing benefit mean in another language? People who come to Germany have to know a number of complicated technical terms right from the start. There is one language that would be easier to communicate with, at least initially: English. In view of the many vacancies, the head of the Federal Employment Agency, Andrea Nahles, demanded in November that Germany needed up to 400,000 people from abroad – and that every year. For Klaus Olbricht, the solution is obvious: “Let’s introduce English as a second official language!” said the Vice President of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) recently in a speech. The Magdeburg “Volksstimme” reported first.
DIHK President Peter Adrian is now following suit. “English is the world language and that’s why you can get a lot with it in many German companies. That’s why it would be a strong signal if people from all over the world didn’t just get ahead in German when they first contacted our authorities,” he said Munich Mercury by IPPEN.MEDIA. “Welcome” and “Make it in Germany” shouldn’t just be on the Internet, but also in residents’ registration offices or when registering a vehicle.
New official language in authorities: “Of course it’s not at Oxford level everywhere”
So nobody would have to learn German anymore? “But it is also clear that we should then have the expectation that skilled workers will learn German quickly here. In addition to language courses, ‘training on the job’ is guaranteed when learning German in everyday working life. Because in the long run, our language is of course very important for good integration,” says Adrian.
One does not like to hear such statements at the German Civil Service Association (DBB). The civil servants would be urgently needed to actually introduce a second official language in the authorities. DBB President Ulrich Silberbach makes it clear: English is often spoken in the authorities. “Of course it’s not at Oxford level everywhere, but English is common administrative practice,” he told the “Bild”. Ulrich Stock, DBB state chairman in Saxony-Anhalt, finds: The demand goes too far. “The mere fact of being able to draft all administrative files in a second language would be a bureaucratic monster with many legal imponderables,” said Stock.
English in the administrations: “We have an enormous deficit here”
Concerns that DIHK Vice Klaus Olbricht shares only to a limited extent. “I cannot estimate how high the administrative burden would be if we introduced English as a second official language. But we have to ask ourselves how we can do it and not keep asking ourselves what isn’t possible,” Olbricht told our editorial team. “In many countries, for example in Scandinavia, English is part of everyday life. “Sweden, Norway, Denmark, but also the Netherlands, are much further along than we are. Also in administration. We have an enormous deficit here,” says Olbricht.
From a purely formal point of view, the introduction of a second official language is not easy. Because: German is stipulated by federal law. If that is to change, the federal and state governments would have to agree. So far, only the FDP has welcomed the proposal.
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