EU's commitment to promoting multilingualism under fire

As one MEP takes to holding a 'language strike', the EU's promise of promoting language diversity has come under renewed scrutiny.In the late 1950s there were four official EU languages, today there are 24 but figures provided by the European commission reveal that 40 million people in the EU speak 60 indigenous regional or minority languages. While language policy is a member state competence, the European commission "helps fund projects and partnerships designed to raise awareness of minority languages, promote their teaching and learning, and thereby help them survive". The commitment to language and cultural diversity is enshrined in the European treaties and was further enhanced by the Lisbon treaty when respect for linguistic minorities became legally binding.