Multilingualism – a Necessary, Absent Component in Europe 2020?

The title of this address is Multilingualism – a necessary, absent component in Europe 2020? – with a question mark. Before I move on, I should like to make two introductory remarks: First of all, the European Commission’s 2020 strategy is about delivering growth that is ‘smart’, ‘sustainable’ and ‘inclusive’. In this context, being smart means improving the European Union’s performance in education, in research innovation, and in the digital society (Europe 2020). And the increase in collaboration and interaction foreseen within and beyond Europe, begs at least one crucial question of interest to us here today: Are Europeans linguistically prepared for these endeavours to a sufficient degree?