BRUSSELS LETTER
The subject was believed to be dead and buried. But the conservatives of the European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Parliament decided otherwise. They have planned to organize a debate on Wednesday, December 15, on the occasion of the plenary meeting of the legislative assembly in Strasbourg, to come back to the matter of the guide for a “Inclusive communication”.
On October 26, Equality Commissioner Helena Dalli said to herself, in a tweet, “Proud to launch” these instructions in English, intended “To all colleagues in the Commission” so that “Everyone is recognized in all our media, regardless of their sex, race or ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, disability, age or sexual orientation.” On November 30, the Maltese backtracked, and announced in a press release that it had decided, in the face of “Worries” aroused by the libretto, the ” rework “. It must be said that the document, unveiled by the Italian daily Il Giornale, sparked a heated debate.
In order to “Reflect diversity” and fight against “Stereotypes deeply rooted in individual and collective behavior”, the Commission listed a series of terms to be banned. “Our communication should never assume that people are heterosexual, identify with the gender assigned at birth, or identify in a binary way”, could we read in the guide. This is why the ” Dear colleagues “ should be preferred to traditional ” Ladies and gentlemen “. In the same logic, trade names, such as “Policeman”, “Businessman” (businessman) or “Housewife” (housewife), which refer to a gendered distribution of tasks, were to be avoided. And ” fire “ should no longer be “The greatest invention of man”, corn ” of humanity “.
“Avoid assuming that everyone is a Christian”
In another register, Helena Dalli suggested no longer talking about “European citizens”, so as not to exclude from the speech “Stateless persons” and “Migrants”. Worse still, for the EPP in any case, the guide wanted to remove any reference to the Christian roots of Europe. In the Commission communications, he proposed to replace “Marie and John” through “Malika and Julio”. “We must avoid assuming that everyone is a Christian”, it was explained. And, therefore, to speak of ” Christmas and New Year “ instead of ” Christmas “. The Vatican itself reacted. “Cancel the Christian dimension of our Europe? “, moved Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See.
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