French socialist Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has written to members of the government asking them to avoid using English words, even when dealing with technological innovations, reports FRANCE 24.
The request comes after Arnaud Montebourg, minister of industrial renewal, and Michèle Delaunay, minister for the elderly, announced they was creating a new industrial sector called “Silver Economy,” regrouping “all companies working with or for the elderly.”
They chose the English name “Silver Economy,” in reference to greying hair, because the sector is likely to open international export opportunities, a source in the ministers’ cabinet told leading French daily Le Figaro.
But Prime Minister Ayrault was not impressed, and sent out a memo the same day to all members of the government asking them to favour the French language as much as possible. In his note, he reminded ministers that the 1992 Constitution recognised French as the official language in both the administration and justice.
Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.