The French language system: between protection and obstacles

International audienceSince its modification by Constitutional law in 1992, Article 2 of the French Constitution states that ‘the language of the Republic is French’, thereby making French the sole official language of France. The monolingual policy reigns over France. The Constitutional Council’s review of the constitutionality of laws would finally mean a constitutional enshrinement of the French language, to the advantage of the official language and to the detriment of regional and minority languages. The use of the French language is imposed upon public persons and private persons in the exercise of a public service mission. In the context of the establishment of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages by the European Council in 1999, the question of a monolingual policy in France arose once more. France remains to this day one of the only European States not to have ratified this Charter