Abstract

Most social scientists and an overwhelming majority of politicians disregard the existence of any “language issue” in the EU. According to the doxa, English competence is steadily increasing, and English will soon be able to universally deliver all the functions that a common language in the European Union asks for. A careful empirical analysis shows that this is but a myth promoted by the political communication of the EU and facilitated by the paucity of independent data. A majority of European citizens is actually excluded from the benefits of multilingualism in the EU, and this has dangerous political implications for its future.