HC Deb 25 June 1980 vol 987 c200W
Mr. Ernie Roberts

asked the Lord Privy Seal what study he has made of the additional costs to the various Community institutions of the use of the Greek, Spanish and Portuguese languages after the accession of those countries to the Community; and if he will, in the interests of economy, institute a study of the use of Esperanto as a common language for the Community.

Sir Ian Gilmour

Enlargement is expected to increase the administrative cost of the Community by between 10 per cent. and 20 per cent. No separate estimate has been made of the cost of the three additional official Community languages involved. While aware of the arguments for Esperanto, I do not believe that a study of the sort suggested would be worth while.

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