The 24 Official Languages of the European Union

The European Union has 24 official languages for 27 member states. Every one of them has equal status: EU law is published in all 24, and citizens can write to EU institutions in any of them and get an answer in the same language. Here is the full list, when each was added, and how long each takes an English speaker to learn.

On this page

The 24 languages

Per the EU's own languages page: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.

The number is lower than you might expect from 27 countries because several languages are shared: German in Germany, Austria and Luxembourg; French in France, Belgium and Luxembourg; Dutch in the Netherlands and Belgium; Greek in Greece and Cyprus; English in Ireland and Malta. Each country chooses which of its languages it brings to the EU; Luxembourg, for example, did not ask for Luxembourgish.

When each language was added

The list grows when new countries join. The founding rule, Regulation No 1 of 1958, started with four.

Irish is the odd one out. It has been a treaty language since Ireland joined in 1973, became an official language in 2007, and for years had a temporary exemption that limited how much was translated into it. That derogation ended on 1 January 2022, and Irish now has the same full status as the other 23.

What about English after Brexit?

English stayed. The UK was the country that had registered it, but English is also an official language of Ireland and Malta, and the EU's own page notes that it remains an official EU language. In practice it is also the language used most in the institutions’ day-to-day work.

Languages that aren't on the list

• Catalan, Basque and Galician. Spain formally asked in 2023 for all three to become official EU languages. Adding a language needs unanimity among member states, and the request has been repeatedly postponed. As of September 2026 it had not been adopted.
• Luxembourgish is a national language of Luxembourg but was not put forward.
• Turkish is an official language of Cyprus but not of the EU.
• Regional and minority languages such as Breton, Frisian or Sami have no EU official status.

What 24 languages cost

Twenty-four languages make 552 possible translation pairs (each language into 23 others). The European Parliament estimates the total cost of translation and interpreting across EU institutions at around €1 billion a year, under 1% of the EU budget, or a little over €2 per citizen. When there's no translator for a direct pair, say Maltese to Finnish, the work goes through a “relay” language, often English, French or German.

How hard is each one for English speakers?

The U.S. Foreign Service Institute publishes class-hour estimates for English speakers to reach professional working proficiency. Applied to the EU list:

Twelve of the 24 are Category III, the “hard languages”, mostly Slavic, Baltic and Finno-Ugric. None is Category IV. FSI publishes no figure for Irish or Maltese. Our FSI categories guide explains what the hours mean and has a calculator.

For the wider picture, see the most spoken languages in the world, the languages of international organizations, and the six UN languages, which share only English, French and Spanish with the EU list.

FAQ

How many official languages does the EU have?

24: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.

Is English still an EU language after Brexit?

Yes. English is an official language of Ireland and Malta, and it remains one of the EU's 24 official languages.

Is Catalan an official EU language?

No. Spain asked in 2023 for Catalan, Basque and Galician to become official EU languages. Changing the list needs unanimous agreement of the member states, and that had not happened as of September 2026.

Which EU language is easiest for English speakers?

By the U.S. Foreign Service Institute's estimates, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and Swedish (about 552 class hours) and French and Spanish (about 690).