Editing Languages of Europe (section)

=== European Union ===
{{main|Languages of the European Union}}
The [[European Union]] (as of 2021) had 27 member states accounting for a population of 447 million, or about 60% of the population of Europe.<ref name=Pop2022>{{cite web | url = https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/TPS00001/bookmark/table?lang=en&bookmarkId=6ef61f16-dadc-42b1-a6ce-3ddfda4727e8 | title = Population on 1 January | website = [[Eurostat]] | access-date = 27 March 2024}}</ref>

The European Union has designated by agreement with the member states 24 languages as "official and working": Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.<ref>{{cite web|title=Languages Policy: Linguistic diversity: Official languages of the EU|url=http://ec.europa.eu/languages/policy/linguistic-diversity/official-languages-eu_en.htm|publisher=European Commission, European Union|date=4 June 2009|access-date= 9 August 2015}}</ref> This designation provides member states with two "entitlements": the member state may communicate with the EU in any of the designated languages, and view "EU regulations and other legislative documents" in that language.<ref>{{cite web|title=Languages of Europe: Official EU languages |url=http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/languages-of-europe/doc135_en.htm |publisher=European Commission, European Union |year=2009 |access-date=5 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202112407/http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/languages-of-europe/doc135_en.htm |archive-date=2 February 2009 }}</ref>

The European Union and the [[Council of Europe]] have been collaborating in education of member populations in languages for "the promotion of plurilingualism" among EU member states.<ref>{{cite web|title=Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR) |url=http://www.coe.int/T/DG4/Linguistic/CADRE_EN.asp |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=5 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030205032/http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/CADRE_EN.asp |archive-date=30 October 2009 }}</ref> The joint document, "[[Common European Framework of Reference for Languages]]: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR)", is an educational standard defining "the competencies necessary for communication" and related knowledge for the benefit of educators in setting up educational programs. 
In a 2005 independent survey requested by the EU's [[Directorate-General for Education and Culture (European Commission)|Directorate-General for Education and Culture]] regarding the extent to which major European languages were spoken in member states. The results were published in a 2006 document, "Europeans and Their Languages", or "Eurobarometer&nbsp;243". In this study, statistically relevant{{clarify|date=December 2019}}{{Fix|text=Do you mean "significant"?}} samples of the population in each country were asked to fill out a survey form concerning the languages that they spoke with sufficient competency "to be able to have a conversation".<ref>{{cite web|title=Europeans and Their Languages|url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf|publisher=European Commission|year=2006|access-date=5 November 2009|page=8}}</ref>