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Advertising a job for Corsican-speakers is ‘discriminatory’ according to a French public institution

NEWS IN BRIEF. ‘It is unjustified since everybody can express themselves in the national language’ [French]

Earlier this week, the National Agency for Employment (ANPE), a public institution linked to the French Finance Ministry, refused to post a job offer on its website from a company based in Porti Vechju, the third largest city on the island of Corsica. The advertisement for a secretarial position contained the expression "corsophone souhaité" (Corsican speaker preferred), indicating that the company would give priority to speakers of Corsican, the language of the country.

According to the ANPE, specifying a preference for a Corsican speaker is discriminatory because the law stipulates that "the requirement for command of a particular language must be directly linked to the skills necessary for the advertised position", and in this case "it is unjustified since everybody today can express themselves in the national language", referring to France's only official language, French. Radio Alta Frequenza the ANPE's comments.

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