Petition to drop Luxembourgish as requirement for citizenship fails

Despite being the fourth most spoken language in the country, Luxembourgish remains the sole language requirement for citizenship

Yesterday, the petition to drop Luxembourgish as the sole language required to obtain citizenship in the country failed. Originally, the petition hoped to expand the citizenship application process, allowing applicants to choose a language test out of the three official languages – German, French and Luxembourgish.

The petition opened to signatures on 30 July and the organisers had exactly 42 days to collect 4,500 signatures – the minimum required for the document to make it to parliament. Unfortunately, they were able to secure only 3,700, thus they fell short of the threshold needed for the process.

An 'at-home' language

Luxembourgish is arguably a small European language, with around 600,000 speakers and according to a 2018 study by the Ministry of National Education, it is not even the most common language in Luxembourg itself. That title goes to French, spoken by 98% of the population, followed by English at 80% and German at 78%. Luxembourgish is the fourth language sitting at 77%.

At the same time, the Grand Duchy's national statistics agency Statec reported that Luxembourgish is the most common language spoken at home. French, on the other hand, is the dominant language in the workplace.

Luxembourgish, though, remains the only option for people aiming for citizenship. But it is not all bad news as the test is widely regarded as rudimentary with the spoken part corresponding to an A2 difficulty level, the second easiest in the common European language framework.

Candidates have to present a basic ability to introduce themselves and talk about simple topics, such as work and family. The bar is even lower when considering that 50% is a passing grade.

Luxembourgish is unprofitable

Despite the petition’s failure the broader question of the practicality of Luxembourgish still stands. Recently, a decision to amend the automated announcements in the country’s only airport – Findel, garnered notable criticism.

The new automated announcement system runs only two languages – French and English. Airport staff will continue to make all non-automated announcements in Luxembourgish, while staff will be able to assist Luxembourgish speakers around the airport.

The head of the airport explained that Findel is servicing passengers from more than 160 countries and the addition of a Luxembourgish announcement system makes little financial sense.