Conference Paper

The Council of Europe was formed in 1949 in Strasbourg and it has 47 membercountries. It is an international body working under the European Cultural Convention, which was open for signing in 1954. Its primary emphasis is on democracy, human rights, law and other areas of living within Europe. The goal is to promote the togetherness of the diverse European society, to bring the different cultures closer by accenting the uniqueness of each one, and at the same time by intensifying the need of interconnection of all of them. One of the ways to achieve this is through language. The Council of Europe has formed the Language Policy Division in Strasbourg and the European Centre for Modern Languages in Graz in order to promote the multiculturalism and plurilingualism of the European society. These two official institutions working under the Council of Europe have as their main objectives to enhance the teaching and learning of modern languages to meet the requirements of the modern European citizen.