Year 2001 was declared the European Year of Languages by the Council of Europe, the European Union, and UNESCO. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. The Council of Europe (Conseil de l'Europe is the oldest International organisation working towards European integration, being founded in 1949 The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 In announcing the initiative, the three bodies argued for the importance of language learning for personal development and suggested that lingual competencies are needed to respond to economic, social, and cultural changes in society. The declaration was accompanied by initiatives in most European countries; it was expected to draw attention to Europe's cultural richness and to support closer collaboration among people, schools, and institutions. One initiative was a Lingual Education Week for Adults, held May 5-11 to emphasize that it is never too late to learn a new language.
References
Breinstrup, Thomas, "2001 – Anno Europee de Linguas". Panorama in Interlingua, 2001, Issue 1. Panorama in Interlingua is the primary Periodical for the language Interlingua, published bimonthly