Chirac protests against French executive speaking English

French President Jacques Chirac stormed out of a European summit meeting today to protest a speech in English by a top French business executive.

“I’m going to speak in English, the language of business,” said Ernest-Antoine Seilliere, the former head of France’s powerful union of employers, who now runs European employers federation Unice.

Hearing those words, Chirac, French Finance Minister Thierry Breton and Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy promptly quit the ballroom where European leaders were meeting.

Chirac returned after Seilliere’s speech, and aides said the French leader had walked out to defend the French language.

Typically officials at EU gatherings speak in their native tongue, and their remarks are translated.

French was long the dominant language of the European Union but has been overtaken by English during the last decade.