Foreign language learning

2.4.2014

Question for written answer E-004129-14
to the Commission
Rule 117
James Nicholson (ECR)

Eurostat figures on foreign languages learned per pupil in upper secondary education between 2005 and 2010 show a marked decrease across the then EU-27 in the rates of pupils learning French and German. Nowhere is this more stark than in the UK, where the percentage of pupils learning French between 2005 and 2010 fell from 40% to 27%, and the percentage of pupils learning German fell from just 15% to 10%. English-speaking regions are fortunate, given that in Member States where English is a second language there is an extraordinarily high level of proficiency in English (93% in 2010).

As French and German are two of the main working languages of the EU, does the Commission have any plans or targets to encourage an increase in the number of pupils learning these languages at upper secondary education level?