13/05/2004 (Agence Europe) - In a press release, the Italian official at the European Commission Anna Maria Campogrande said: "Since 1 May, operators at the Commission switchboard have received instructions to answer only in English". Ms Campogrande recalls that, "since the foundation of the European institutions, they have answered in French, out of courtesy for the host country, and went on to another language as soon as the person on the other end needed to". She considers compulsory English cannot be justified as it "encourages mono-lingualism, discriminating against the Latin countries which are more at ease in French, especially on the phone". The use of French was justified by the fact that it is the language used in Brussels, but, Ms Campogrande said, there is no justification for English. Ms Campogrande is very active in defending multilingualism.