The Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s party has proposed a draft bill in parliament that seeks to prohibit public and private entities from using foreign terms, particularly English, in official communications. The bill, drafted by the Brothers of Italy, aims to promote the Italian language and impose fines of up to €100,000 on entities found violating the order. The legislation has been introduced by Fabio Rampelli, a member of the lower chamber of deputies, and supported by the prime minister.
The proposed law comes amid concerns that the increasing use of foreign languages in Italy undermines the country’s cultural identity and damages its economy. The bill banning English stated that the spread of English “demeans and mortifies” Italian and has repercussions for society. It called on all public and private bodies to use the “language of Dante” to promote their goods and services. The widespread use of English in Europe was “even more negative and paradoxical” as Britain had quit the European Union, the bill added.
Under the legislation, the Culture Ministry would establish a committee whose job would include “correct use of the Italian language and its pronunciation” in schools, media, commerce, and advertising. This could mean that saying “bru-shetta” instead of “bru-sketta” could be a punishable offense. The bill has to be approved by both houses of parliament to be passed as law, but there was no indication of when this might happen.
The proposed law comes amid the push from the incumbent far-right government to what it calls preserving the local culture. Recently, Italy also banned the use of laboratory-produced food to safeguard the country’s agri-food heritage.
