French journalists are furious about the European Union's annual economic reports being released initially only in English.
Jean Quatremer, the Brussels correspondent for the Paris-based paper, Liberation, fired off an angry email to the European Commission, saying (in French): "Once again, all the documents published today are available only in English. This is unacceptable."
The commission had released 1,500 pages of hotly-awaited reports on the state of the bloc's 27 economies, along with proposals to redress public finances as Europe struggles with its debt crisis.
Quatremer wrote: "I can't see why the Anglo-Saxon media should benefit from such an unbelievable competitive edge on the remainder of the other media and I can't see any practical reason for the commission's incapacity to do this work.
"The right to be informed in one's own language about the social and budgetary sacrifices demanded by the EU executive is a minimum right."
His protest was backed by most of his French colleagues. And the correspondent for English-language magazine, The Economist, also agreed with his French colleagues. He tweeted: "More insulting than telling France to reform."
A spokesperson for the commission later told AFP that "translations are coming."
Source: EUbusiness/AFP
