Articles related to "Language use in the EU"

A new translation engine that can cut faster through the rarefied vocabulary of Brussels technocrats in 23 European languages will be rolled out by the European Commission in July in an effort to cut costs.

Although the English language plays a central role in today's international business environment, workers in many countries are still struggling with basic communication skills, according to a new report.

Speaking in tribute to the European day of languages on Wednesday (26 September), Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said it was a time to “celebrate” multilingualism in all its forms, but that immigrants must learn the language of their “host” country.

Thirty years on, Margaret Thatcher's education policies have created a shortage of skills in the EU institutions, which are struggling to recruit English-language interpreters and translators. The UK's House of Lords has called on the government to address Britain's "monoglot culture" by re-instating compulsory language classes in schools.

Although the English language continues to dominate the Internet, the rise of global economic powerhouses like China and Russia has seen a surge in what used to be considered second-tier languages, a Brussels conference heard last week. Meanwhile, the UN predicts that half of the world's 6,000 languages will become extinct by the end of the century.

By the end of 2012, the EU will have an online observatory for multilingualism, which will document best practice in implementing language policies and showcase concrete tools for solving everyday communication problems. Uwe Mohr, head of the EU project 'Poliglotti4.eu', spoke to EurActiv in an interview.

An Azeri group performing in English won the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest held in Düsseldorf last weekend with their song 'Running Scared'. Of this year's 25 finalists, 22 chose to perform in English.

As the thirteenth Francophonie summit opens in Montreux, Switzerland, new statistics reveal an increasing dominance of African countries, whose demographic boom could end up tilting the organisation’s balance. EurActiv spoke to Abdou Diouf, secretary-general of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). 

With every round of enlargement, the EU's internal correspondence has steered further towards English as its main working language, heard participants at a conference in Brussels this week.

The EU institutions will tomorrow (13 July) launch competitions to recruit translators for five languages. The move will be followed a week later by similar moves to find interpreters for five tongues as the EU bids to address impending staff shortages.

People in Europe facing criminal proceedings outside their country of residence came within touching distance of receiving translation and interpretation in their own language yesterday (16 June), after the European Parliament gave its backing to EU legislation on the issue. 

Action at grassroots rather than EU level holds the key to ensuring the survival of minority languages such as Galician, heard a major conference at the European Parliament last week, with participants calling for an end to oppressive legislation like Slovakia's language law. 

The EU this week (8-9 December) launched a European Master's in Translation (EMT) network to provide high-quality education for translation students in view of nurturing a competent workforce for its institutions.

Europe's €8.4bn language industry is set to grow by 10% annually over the next few years after having recorded one of the highest growth rates of any EU industrial sector despite the economic crisis, according to a European Commission-backed study published last Friday (27 November).

European Commission representatives are in France this week to encourage young people to consider a career in languages, amid fears that the EU executive will face a "serious shortage" of French-language interpreters within five to 10 years.

60% of students in upper secondary education study two or more foreign languages, according to figures published last week by EU statistical office Eurostat.

The website fastenseatbelts.eu appears to be becoming a new reference point for intercultural travellers, providing advice on how to avoid blunders while abroad.

A new state language law passed by the Slovak parliament does not conform to EU standards as it discriminates against minority languages, the vice-chair of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee said yesterday (9 July).

The European Commission last week (26 June) announced plans to make it possible to register websites under the .eu domain using Cyrillic and Greek scripts, allowing individual and business users alike to use .eu in all 23 official EU languages. 

Small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe are losing business due to a lack of "linguistic and intercultural skills" among their employees, EU Multilingualism Commissioner Leonard Orban told business representatives this week (6 May).

The European Parliament yesterday (24 March) agreed that more must be done to encourage Europeans to learn foreign languages. But the EU assembly was divided over how far the Union should go in backing minority language teaching.

Faced with a "succession crisis" in its languages department, the European Commission will unveil an awareness-raising campaign tomorrow (19 February) aimed at encouraging young people to consider a career in languages and "making English a less rare language".

Six MEPs have accused the EU assembly of "illegally" discriminating against particular journalists by only admitting submissions for a prestigious EU prize if they are produced in one of the bloc's 23 official languages.

The European Parliament has called on the European Council to boost the use of German and other languages on its websites, including those of EU presidencies.

Over 90% of European schoolchildren learn English at some stage of their compulsory education and this figure is rising, according to a study presented on Friday (21 November) by the Eurydice network on behalf of the European Commission. The report also found that children across the EU are starting to learn foreign languages at an earlier age. 

The EU executive was not "courageous" enough to set out concrete initiatives to promote minority languages in its new multilingualism strategy, according to parliamentarians from the European Free Alliance, who called for "specific measures than go beyond generics" ahead of the European Day of Languages on 26 September.

The European Commission will present a new EU languages strategy on 18 September, emphasising the importance of language skills in addressing challenges as diverse as globalisation and increased mobility and immigration.

European business risks losing competitiveness as other countries start outperforming the EU in terms of language skills, concludes a report presented by business leaders last week (11 July).

Pressure is mounting on the EU to reconsider the status of regional and minority languages and introduce translation and interpretation for Welsh, Catalan and Basque.

Making sure different languages are represented at the heart of the EU is essential for democracy, according to Abdou Diouf, secretary-general of the 'Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie', the international French-language association.

Multilingualism Commissioner Leonard Orban was yesterday (10 April) presented with a petition calling for German to remain on an "equal footing" with English and French as an "EU procedural language".

Defending the multiplicity of languages in the EU is the best way of protecting them as taking a single language too seriously will only succeed in killing it, argues Catherine Suard of the French Institute in Sofia in an interview with EurActiv Bulgaria.

The multilingual nature of the EU institutions is "too politically sensitive" an issue to be dramatically reformed and is thus "here to stay", according to the Commission's translation chief, Juhani Lönnroth.

More needs to be done to promote language learning outside of formal educational settings if breakthroughs are to be made in spreading language use across the EU, Commissioner Leonard Orban will say today, presenting the conclusions of a report on multilingualism.

Multilingualism, as specified in the Treaties on the functioning of the EU institutions, is in danger of disappearing in favour of a de facto single-language regime based on English, warns Abdou Diouf, secretary-general of the 'Francophonie', the international French-language organisation, in an interview with EurActiv.

In a report on the translation costs of the EU institutions adopted by the European Parliament, MEP Alexander Stubb has called for more awareness of costs, questioning the need to have every document translated into languages such as Finnish, Swedish or Maltese in the EU institutions.

Speaking to EurActiv, the 'newest' commissioner, Romanian multilingualism chief Leonard Orban, says multilingualism benefits competitiveness and announces the September launch of a languages Business Forum. He also examines how EU institutions can better adapt to 23 EU languages, and announces policy initiatives for 2008.  

In a potential landmark announcement, EU Ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros is shortly to declare that the EU institutions' recruitment office, EPSO, is guilty of bias in favour of English, French and German, acording to Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza. 

The Council of Europe issued its second report on the situation of minority languages in the United Kingdom on 15 March 2007, which says more effort should be made in favour of Irish, Welsh and Scots/Ulster Scots/Scottish Gaelic. 

A high-level campaign group aims to have French confirmed as the EU's primary legal language.

Commissioner Figel is set to present a new communication for a comprehensive approach to multilingualism in the EU in 2007. A ministerial conference on the issue is also under preparation.

Speaking at a conference dedicated to translation and interpreting, Commissioner Jan Figel highlighted the importance of research on multilingualism and on language isses related to social sciences such as social exclusion.

Over the past 10 years, demand for French language classes has risen steadily among accredited ambassadors and the international press in Brussels. However, this renewed interest might in fact reflect the declining influence of French in the EU institutions. Thierry Lagnau, director of the Alliance Française in Brussels, explains the reasons behind this paradox.