Languages and competitiveness, Expolangues, Paris, 14 January 2009

Mats Pahlman from Eurocadres pleaded for the recognition of skills and competences acquired outside the formal education system. Language skills are often acquired outside school and communication skills, as well as good interpersonal skills, are difficult to measure. He stressed that mobility within Europe is still far from satisfactory and argued that difficulties in recognition of qualifications are partly to blame for this. Delphine Poiré from the European Network of women scientists presented the dilemma of English being the compulsory lingua franca of research, especially for the publication of scientific articles. The lack of linguistic diversity in science is not necessarily favouring innovation and creativity. Mr Orban was asked about the possibilities for the European Commission to remedy the situation. He explained that initiatives had been taken in the past year to promote translation in the cultural field, but as of yet, no funds were available for scientific translation within the existing programmes. Dušan Jilek, communication consultant in Prague, explained how his German language skills had opened up career opportunities for him and facilitated his contacts within the Austrian and German banking sector. He observed how attitudes have changed rapidly as a result of political change in former Czechoslovakia, where Russian used to be compulsory, was subsequently rejected and has recently been in demand again, mainly for commercial reasons. Pasquale Catalfamo, entrepreneur and export manager of Catalfer srl, a company producing chemicals and abrasives for the automotive industry, talked about the need for his company to find linguistic and cultural mediators for their operations in different countries. He underlined that although global English is necessary for global business, it is totally insufficient for any dealings with customers and staff below management level. His business organisation is trying to influence Italian universities in order to make them understand that they need to promote language learning. Jaime Fernandez de la Vega, responsible for international recruitment at the luxury product division of the l’Oréal group, confirmed that language skills and cultural competence are what his company is looking for when they recruit the managers of the future. He emphasized the importance of the Erasmus university exchange programme in that context. The panel received many comments and questions from the audience, for example about the connection between language and culture and the role of linguistic diversity for sustainable development. In conclusion, Commissioner Orban expressed his satisfaction with the discussion and promised to continue the Commission’s work in this field by setting up a permanent platform for exchange of information and good practice. More on the Expolangues website