European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, Androulla Vassiliou, has recently given her support to the international “Paris declaration” calling for awareness-raising about the importance of language learning and career opportunities for interpreters, translators and other skilled language professionals. The heads of language and conference services from 76 international organisations issued the initiative on 23 June during the International Annual Meeting on Language Arrangements, Documentation and Publications (IAMLADP), which took place at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. Participants urged:

·         Their governing bodies to ensure the necessary budgetary resources in order to achieve effective succession planning, including awareness-raising, pedagogical assistance activities and respective language admission examination.

·         The national authorities to promote the teaching of languages throughout the education system in order to ensure that young people can take advantage of the vast range of employment openings in international organizations.

The Declaration warns that "without a new generation of professionals trained with the necessary language skills, international organisations will be unable to perform their vital tasks".