By Justin Stares, publicserviceeurope.com, September 6th 2011
Britain risks losing influence in the European Union if the nosedive in
foreign language skills is not redressed, according to the European
Commission. The prediction follows news that the number of British
pupils gaining a basic GCSE qualification in any foreign language has
dropped by 45 per cent over the last decade.
There will be fewer
qualified British applicants for institutions such as the European
Commission, says Dennis Abbott, commission spokesman for
multilingualism. "It will be more difficult to get jobs in the EU,"
Abbott told PublicServiceEurope.com. "For Britain this will mean a loss of influence". Read more...