EN    EN EN 
 
EN    EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 18.9.2008 
SEC(2008) 2445 
  
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 
Accompanying document to the 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE CO MMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMI TTEE OF THE REGIONS 
 
Multilingualism: an asset for Europe and  
a shared commitment  
 
   
SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT  
 
{COM(2008) 566 final} 
{SEC(2008) 2443} {SEC(2008) 2444} 
 
This report commits only the Commission's servic es involved in its preparation and does not 
prejudge the final form of any deci sion to be taken by the Commission 
 
EN 2   EN EXECUTIVE  SUMMARY 
This Impact Assessment Report presents the stat e of play in relation to multilingualism policy 
and proposes to reinforce action in this field. It accompanies the proposal for the Commission 
Communication “Multilingualism: an asset for Europe and a shared commitment” 
(n°2008/EAC/004 in the Agenda Planning).  
Linguistic diversity is a key long-term feat ure of the European Union, whose 500 million 
citizens speak 23 different official languages along with 60 other languages spoken only in 
specific regions or by specific groups, not to mention the over 300 different languages that 
our immigrants bring with them. It is estima ted that currently citi zens from at least 175 
nationalities are living within the boundaries of th e European Union. Migration flows added 
to the already existing patchwork of national minorities and cultural. In such a context, 
interaction between speakers of  different languages has increase d steadily over recent years, 
because of increasing intra-European mobility ; migration flows from third countries and 
globalisation. This trend is likely to continue and to further increase in the years to come. 
Against this background, the two problems hi ghlighted in this Impact Assessment are:1 
(1) Knowledge of foreign languages remains insu fficient. Europeans have not yet acquired 
skills in two additional languages to their mother tongue, as called for by the 
Barcelona Council; 
(2) European citizens, companies and service pr oviders are not fully aware of assets as 
well as of challenges of lingui stic diversity in Europe.  
The problem definition is supported by data a nd feedback received during the follow-up of 
two previous Communications on multilingualism2 (2007) and the 9 month-long consultation 
process (2007-2008). 
Previous Communications on multilingualism and language diversity set out an agenda of 
actions up to 2006-2007, and called for a review  and possible further action. The assessment 
of progress and implementation carried out in  2007 shows that while there is evidence of 
progress (particularly in la nguage learning in primary and secondary education), 
implementation needs to continue and should be reinforced in a lifelong learning perspective, 
with much attention given to informal language  learning and linguistic diversity in the local 
environment.  
As for the consultation process , Member States, European institutions and stakeholders 
shared the following views:  
                                                 
1 Institutional multilingualism (i.e. languages used  by the European Commission to communicate 
internally and with the citizen: publications / transla tion / interpretation) is out of the scope of this 
Impact Assessment and related po licy initiatives. Although instituti onal multilingualism deals with 
languages, it has different problems, objectives and options and decision was taken not to tackle them 
together 
2 COM(2003) 449 final, COM(2005) 596 final, COM(2007) 554 final/2 
 
EN 3   EN On the scope of multilingualism policy:  
• Linguistic and cultural divers ity is perceived as a long- term feature of European 
society: most people value it while acknow ledging the need to manage it in an 
effective and prudent way. Shifting to a si ngle language is not  an option for the 
majority of respondents.  
• A language policy promoting only the learni ng of EU official languages is too 
limited for present-day society, where citizens (and residents) speaking many 
different languages are in daily contact.  
• Language learning should be pl aced in a lifelong perspective. 
• Multilingualism is a transversal issue th at has an impact on competitiveness and 
European citizenship and which should be  mainstreamed in a range of policies 
going beyond the field of education. 
• Promoting linguistic diversity should not ai m at preserving languages as an end in 
itself, on the contrary, it should emphasise dialogue between languages and 
communities.  
• Every citizen needs a different set of language skills, which depend on individual 
interests and where one lives, as well as family and professional background. 
On Methods: 
• Member States and the Commission s hould develop a language policy which 
favours linguistic diversity and promot es a language friendly environment, 
through widening the range of languages taught, valuing and maintaining the 
language skills of their citizens, a nd motivating them to learn more.  
• Lifelong language learning is  key to acquiring language sk ills: start early, sustain 
motivation through schooling and initial training, and go on learning languages 
throughout adult life. 
• Informal language learning should be be tter exploited, by increasing access to 
multimedia, virtual or physical mobility  and cultural exchanges. Learning 
languages in this way is effective allowing people to learn when, where and how 
they like and enabling people from diffe rent backgrounds to communicate, to 
discover and compare different mindsets. 
• Local communities, service pr oviders and companies should take into account that 
they often serve citizens and customers who speak different languages and they 
should develop strategies to cat er for their language needs. 
The added value of the new Communicat ion will be: 
• to sustain the efforts towards mother tongue pl us two by giving cleare r indications on areas 
and target groups lagging behind  (students in voca tional trainings, low- skilled adults and 
migrants) and less tackled by the previous Communications 
 
EN 4   EN • to anchor multilingualism in the wider context of “Growth and Jobs process” by raising 
awareness on the assets of li nguistic diversity and on their ef fects on intercultural dialogue. 
In this context multilingualism is also emerging as a component of EU external policies, as 
recently highlighted by the Euromed Culture Summit.3. 
• to mainstream multilingualism in relevant policies at European level and work in 
partnership with Member States and stakeholde rs to ensure that objectives are shared and 
met at the most appropriate level 
Consequently the two general objectives of multilingualism policy are: 
(1) to enable citizens to be fluent in two languages in addition to their mother tongue (in 
short: "mother tongue-plus-two") 
(2) to raise awareness of the linguistic diversity  of European society and turn it into an 
asset for intercultural dialogue and competitiveness.  
Coming to implementation , the first operational objective will be to ensure that 
multilingualism is consistently promoted across the above-mentioned European policies, using a mainstreaming approach  and making the best use of financial support available 
under existing European programmes.  According to the subsidiarity  principle, Member States 
are key decision-makers on these matters, while several stakeholders (educational providers, 
social partners, the media, local authorities, etc.) are essential to implementation. Therefore 
the second operational objective will be to work in partnership with Member States and 
stakeholders  and support them in achieving the common objectives and adopting a 
mainstreaming approach at their level.  
Different options have been taken into consideration to achieve the objectives:  
(1) No further action with Member States and no strategic us e of EU programmes 
(mainstreaming) 
(2) Use of regulatory instruments (a Recommendation) 
(3) Use of the Open Method of Coordina tion: issuing a Commission Communication 
paving the way for cooperation with Member  States and having it endorsed by the 
other European Institutions. Mainstreaming multilingualism in current EU programmes and initiatives. 
DG Education and Culture, in comparing the st rengths and weaknesses of the above options, 
has elected to propose option 3
, which would enable the Commission – with the co-operation 
of the Member States and the stakeholders – to address the identified challenges to multilingualism and find appropriate solutions. This option, which also corresponds most closely to Member States’ and stakeholders’ expectations, co mplies with the subsidiarity 
                                                
 
3 Agreed Conclusions of the third Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Ministers of Culture Athens, 29 – 
30 May 2008, ; Presidency Declaratio n at the Conference New Paradigms, New Models — Culture in 
the EU External Relations, Ljubljana, 13 -14 May  
http://www.mzz.gov.si/si/zunanja_ politika/kulturno_sodelov anje/nove_paradigm e_novi_modeli_kultur
a_v_zunanjih_odnosih_eu/ .  
 
EN 5   EN principle, and would provide the best basis for raising awareness of the challenges and 
problems and achieving real progr ess towards their solution. 
As for the way multilingualism should be promoted by Commission policies and programmes, 
the option of an expenditure programme  for multilingualism was discarded because 
multilingualism is a transversal objective of very  different policies (education, culture, media, 
employment, social inclusion, research...) and supporting them outside th eir natural contexts 
does not seem to be either appropriate or eff ective. Therefore the approach of mainstreaming 
multilingualism in relevant Commission policie s and programmes seemed a viable answer. 
Chief among these programmes are: all st rands of the Lifelong Learning Programme, 
language training support given through structural funds, langua ge integration courses for 
immigrants supported by JLS, Youth in Actio n, Citizens for Europe, Literary translations 
supported by the Culture programme, Medi a programme, Research Programme and 
Information technology. 
In the light of observations made and consider ing the limited scope for direct action of the 
Commission, these are the economic and social im pacts the chosen option is likely to have, 
depending on the determination with which Memb er States and stakeholders will implement 
the recommended strategy: 
• Economic impacts: through the impact of langu age skills on citizens' employability and 
competitiveness, the new strategy defined in the Communication is likely to have a 
positive impact on international trade and cr oss-border investments; technological 
development and innovation; th e number and quality of jobs ; third country and overseas 
relations. 
• Social impacts: the strategy is likely to have  a positive impact on social inclusion, as well 
as governance and participation since language skills are a prerequisite for intercultural 
dialogue. 
As for costs: at Commission level the implem entation of the actions recommended in the 
Communication will not entail a budget increase. It  is aimed at making more effective use of 
existing programmes to promote mu ltilingualism, notably by ensuring: 
• a more consistent approach (i.e. pass on a co nsistent message in support of linguistic 
diversity, give attention to language issues in projects and initiatives) 
• more synergy between Member States (i.e. support them to achieve  shared objectives, 
through Commission initiatives and th e exchange of good practices).  
As for Member States, the Communication, in line with the already agreed EU objectives 
such as the Barcelona target of "mother t ongue plus two" will recommend general and 
operational objectives and suggest ways of achieving them, while the implementation will 
remain the competence of the Member States . A general principle to be conveyed by the 
Commission Communication will be to recommend that action is taken close to citizens, 
taking into account local language needs and pooling the resource s of business, civil society 
and local authorities so as to us e them in the most effective way. 
 
EN 6   EN Concerning monitoring, the already existing In ter-service Group on Multilingualism could be 
used to ensure a coordinated approach with the Commission and to mainstream 
multilingualism in relevant European progra mmes and initiatives, through interventions at 
programme level (thematic pr iorities, budget for linguistic preparation and linguistic 
activities, adequate monitoring, etc.). Follow-up with Member States will be ensured through 
a Working Group of High Representatives of Me mber States, based on the existing Working 
Group on Languages. To maintain focus on multili ngualism policy and to ensure a periodic 
review of its progress, the Commission will r ecommend that the European institutions devote 
an annual slot in their agenda to its discussi on. In the case of the Council, it will suggest the 
inclusion of multilingualism in the rolli ng agenda of the Education Council.  
The Commission will regularly update available i ndicators and consider the possibility of 
funding surveys of less charted areas (like business and service providers). As far as 
mainstreaming is concerned, the Commission should ensure that language issues are 
adequately taken into account  while evaluating relevant EU programmes and policies. The 
Commission will encourage Member  States and stakeholders to include language as an issue 
in the evaluation of policies and strategies at their level. The Commission will carry out a global review of progress in 2012 and report to the European Parliament and the Council on 
the experience gained. To this end, Member Stat es will be invited to  report on their progress 
by end 2011.