Macron Slams EU Meddling in 'Politically Correct Language Nonsense' Amid 'Cancel Christmas' Scandal
09:44 GMT 08.12.2021 (Updated: 19:29 GMT 03.11.2022)
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After a public outcry over perceived attempts to "cancel Christmas" or "suppress the culture of a people", EU Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli earlier admitted that the "inclusive communication" guidelines "is not a mature document”, announcing that it would be withdrawn in order to be further developed.
French President Emmanuel Macron has waded into the heated debate on “wokeism”, slamming the European Commission’s recently scrapped controversial Guidelines for Inclusive Communication as “nonsense”, reported The Telegraph.
“A Europe that comes to explain to people what words they should or shouldn't say is not a Europe to which I totally adhere. It's nonsense, basically,” said Macron during a speech at the Jacques Delors Institute in Paris.
As the French President elaborated on the priorities for France’s upcoming presidency of the European Union, he warned that despite the undeniable benefits of being part of the EU, such as coordinating the COVID-19 vaccination effort and economic recovery efforts, the bloc risked turning off citizens by meddling in politically correct language.
According to Macron, France, just like other EU countries, was seeing an increasingly “withered away” sense of European identity. “…When the going gets tough, people say its Europe’s fault,” stated Macron, as he underscored the imperative to “claim this Europe as still our own” amid the "War on Common Sense".
A 30-page guide to how to "update” the language used in the European Commission to become more gender-neutral and LGBTQ+ friendly was unveiled by the equality commissioner, Helena Dalli, in late October. The leaked details that suggested ditching gendered words such as “man-made” and “ladies and gentlemen” in favour of neutral ones like “human-induced” and “dear colleagues” had unleashed a torrent of backlash last week.
France's President Emmanuel Macron welcomes the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) before a working lunch on June 9, 2021 at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
© AFP 2023 / LUDOVIC MARIN
After the leaked internal document was picked up on by Italian tabloid il Giornale, many accused the EU of trying to “cancel Christmas”. References to “Christmas”, according to the guidelines, could be perceived as "intolerance or judgement, fuel stereotypes or single out one religious group”. EU officials were urged to avoid the word in favour of “holiday period”.
The document also offered a swathe of recommendations on how to speak about the LGBTQ+ community, advising being "careful about the use of gay and lesbian as nouns, which may be considered inappropriate. Transgender, bi or intersex are not nouns."
It urged to "allow for self-identification" and use the pronoun "Mx" when in doubt about how to address a person properly. A torrent of criticism had erupted from a senior official in the Vatican and among conservative politicians, and was echoed on social media. The EU was accused of waging a war on “common sense”.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, was cited as saying by the Vatican News that Europe "owes its existence and its identity to numerous contributions" but "we certainly can’t forget that one of its main contributions, if not the main one, has been Christianity itself".
Concern was raised with regards to some examples provided in the Guidelines on Inclusive Communication, which as is customary with such guidelines, is work in progress. We are looking into these concerns with the view of addressing them in an updated version of the guidelines. pic.twitter.com/90ZK8rpPb2
— Helena Dalli (@helenadalli) November 30, 2021
Amid the outcry, the EU Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli performed a U-turn on Tuesday, admitting that her "inclusive communication" guidelines "is not a mature document”. She tweeted that the Guidelines on Inclusive Communication was a “work in progress”.
‘Recovery and Belonging’ As the French President weighed in on the controversial guide, he said that the French EU presidency would focus on “recovery, power and belonging”. The remarks come just four months to go before presidential elections. While Macron has not yet announced he will be running for a second term, he is widely expected to do so. Polls currently suggest Macron would claim victory.
However, his potential rivals have been gearing up for the perceived challenge. Valerie Pecresse was chosen by members of the centre-conservative party Les Républicains to be their first female candidate in France's presidential election on the weekend.
7 December 2021, 13:31 GMT
As for controversial columnist and television pundit Eric Zemmour, notorious for his provocations on Islam, immigration and women, who has also thrown his hat into the ring for presidency, an Ifop-Fiducial poll on Tuesday suggested that Pécresse would outstrip him by 13% in the first round in April. Pécresse was suggested as being likely to place neck-and-neck with right-wing rival Marine Le Pen, both at 17 percent, ahead of a potential showdown runoff against Macron.
