Press Release: European Commission hosts Public Hearing on Multilingualism

On 15 April, 2008, the European Commission hosted a public hearing on the place and role of languages within the EU. The event rounded up a wide-ranging public consultation on multilingualism which was launched at the end of last year. It proved to be one of the most popular public surveys ever carried out on EU policies. The Commission is seeking to adapt its policies and actions in the area of languages in order to reflect the reality of an EU with over 450 million citizens and around 60 different mother tongues. The consultation was carried out online between September and November 2007 gathering the opinions of individuals, businesses, expert organisations and policy makers with respect to the Commission's policies and activities related to multilingualism.