[official crest]
PRIME MINISTER |
Prime Minister's |
10, Downing Street, |
Personal Minute |
Whitehall |
[handwritten] M. 39/71 |
|
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS |
In my conversations with the President of the French Republic last
week, we discussed the future of the French language in the Community
institutions, and the possibilities for increasing knowledge of France
and the French language in this country. |
| On the first point, I said that, while English would become one
of the official languages of the Community if we entered it, we had
no wish to displace French as a main working language. I assured him
that British officials appointed to the Communities would be fully
competent to negotiate and transact business in French. |
| I said that French was already by far the commonest second language
in the British educational system; and he told me that English was
the second language for over 80 per cent of French school children. |
| I went on to say that I should like to see a substantial increase
in exchanges between France and Britain, on the line of what had been
achieved between France and Germany following the Franco-German Treaty |
| negotiated by President de Gaulle and Dr. Adenauer. I hoped that
we could jointly consider exchanges of civil servants; exchanges of
teachers; exchanges of students; and other cultural exchanges of all
kinds. I suggested that it might be possible to invite the responsible
Ministers in both countries to meet and discuss these possibilities. |
| President Pompidou agreed that we should ask the Ministers concerned
to discuss these questions, and was prepared to consider the possibility
of a formal agreement, if that seemed desirable. |
| I should be grateful if these possibilities could now be urgently
pursued, so that we may be in a position to make definite proposals
to the French Government without delay. One of the possibilities which
I think we should examine is that of a European discussion centre
corresponding to Ditchley. [handwritten in margin] Wilton
Park. |
| I assume that the facilities for language training for members of
the Civil Service and the Foreign Service are sufficiently well developed
to enable us without difficulty to ensure that any public servant
sent to Brussels can be made fully competent to transact business
in French; but I should be grateful if this assumption could be confirmed. |
| I am sending copies of this minute to the Chancellor of the Duchy
of Lancaster, the Secretary of State for Education and Science, the
Lord Privy Seal, the Paymaster General, Sir William Armstrong and
Sir Burke Trend. |
[signature] E.H. |
| 27 May 1971 |
|
