Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities has published data on language learning of students and perceived language skills of adults. In the EU in 2007, 60% of students in upper secondary education studied two or more foreign languages and one third studied one foreign language, while 6% did not study any foreign language. English is the most studied foreign language in upper secondary education and the most commonly spoken foreign language among adults aged 25 to 64 years, except for  Ireland and the United Kingdom , where French is most common.

The report published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, shows that, based on their own perception of their linguistic skills, 28% of the EU population aged 25 to 64 in 2007 said they spoke two or more foreign languages and 36% one foreign language, while 36% said they could not speak any foreign language. The highest proportions of students studying two or more foreign languages in 2007 were found in the Czech Republic , Luxembourg , the Netherlands and Finland (100% of students in upper secondary education each), Slovenia and Slovakia (both 98%) and Estonia (97%).

The largest shares of students studying one foreign language were observed in Greece (92% in 2006), Italy (74%), Ireland (73%), Spain (68%), Malta (60%) and Hungary (57%).

More than half of students in upper secondary education in the United Kingdom did not study any foreign language, followed by Ireland (19%).

In 2007, the highest shares of the population aged 25 to 64 who perceived they spoke two or more foreign languages were found in Slovenia (72%), Slovakia and Finland (both 68%), Lithuania (66%), Estonia (56%) and Latvia (55%).

The United Kingdom (65%), Cyprus (59%), Austria (50%), Greece and Sweden (both 45%) had the largest proportion of those declaring they speak one foreign language.

The highest shares of those speaking no foreign language were found in Hungary (75%), Portugal (51%), Spain (47%), Bulgaria (44%) and Greece (43%).

To highlight the importance of speaking different languages, every September 26 the European Day of Languages is celebrated. During this time it promotes the cultural richness of Europe and supports learning throughout life both inside and outside of school. One of the challenges of the Lisbon and Barcelona European Council in 2002 is to get children to study at least two foreign languages. EU citizens must be helped and encouraged to learn languages other than their own if they are to derive full economic, social and cultural benefit from freedom of movement, says a report adopted by the European Parliament.