On the 15th April 2008,the European Commission (EC) is hosting a public hearing on the place and role of languages within the EU. The event, held in the Borschette Conference Centre, rounds up a wide-ranging public consultation on multilingualism which was launched at the end of last year.

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.

 The consultation sparked off an exceptional response both within and beyond the EU's borders with nearly 2,500 contributions received using all 23 official languages. Respondents came from 58 countries. The results of the online consultation have been presented in the framework of the public hearing, which will take the form of an open debate with the Commission on issues of multilingualism.

Most respondents to the online survey shared the views that:

• The linguistic diversity of the EU is an asset to be safeguarded.
• The media should promote an intercultural society model, focussing on tolerance, not on confrontation.
• The costs related to working in 23 official languages are worth paying.

There are over 200 participants, representatives of local and regional administrative bodies, youth, educational and cultural NGOs, educational establishments and EU Institutions. The hearing can be followed online in real time on the website of Directorate-General for Education and Culture.