Finland relents in German row

FINLAND, WHICH holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, backed away last night from confrontation with Germany over language. The Finns said they would accommodate six European languages at an informal meeting of EU ministers this week, less than a week after Germany and Austria boycotted a similar gathering from which their native tongue was excluded.

Thursday's meeting of social affairs ministers in Oulu will offer simultaneous interpretation into English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Finnish. However, German could be banned from a meeting of culture ministers on 19 July. Some informal ministerial meetings can be limited to English, French and the language of the presidency. If Finland caves in, other countries, such as Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, are certain to press for their languages to be translated.