Editing English language in Europe

{{Refimprove|date=May 2023}}

{{Short description|none}}
{{Redirect|European English|the language used in the European Union|Euro English}}
[[File:EF English Proficiency Index 2019 Europe.svg|thumb|300px|[[EF English Proficiency Index]] 2019 in Europe:<ref name="b783">{{cite web | title=EF English Proficiency Index 2019 | url=https://www.ef.com/assetscdn/WIBIwq6RdJvcD9bc8RMd/cefcom-epi-site/reports/2019/ef-epi-2019-english.pdf |access-date=15 August 2024}} (pp. 6–7).</ref>
{{legend|#407294|"Very High Proficiency" (score 63.07–70.27)}}
{{legend|#5A857D|"High Proficiency" (score 58.26–61.86)}}
{{legend|#9DBB88|"Moderate Proficiency" (score 52.50–57.38)}}
{{legend|#E7CB5B|"Low Proficiency" (score 48.69–52.39)}}
{{legend|#F47B4B|"Very Low Proficiency" (score 40.87–48.19)}}
{{legend|#c0c0c0|Not included in report}}]]
[[File:English as a foreign and second language in the EU and Turkey, 2005.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Knowledge of English as a foreign and second language in the EU member states (plus Turkey), in per cent of the adult population (over the age of 14), 2005. Data taken from an EU survey.<ref name="EU"/>]]

The '''English language in Europe''', as a [[native language]], is mainly spoken in the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]. Outside of these states, it has official status in [[Malta]], the [[Crown Dependencies]] (the [[Isle of Man]], [[Jersey]] and [[Guernsey]]), [[Gibraltar]] and the [[Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia]] (two of the [[British Overseas Territories]]). In the [[Netherlands]], [[English language|English]] has an official status as a [[regional language]] on the isles of [[Saba (island)|Saba]] and [[Sint Eustatius]] (located in the [[Caribbean]]). In [[#Other countries in contemporary Europe|other parts]] of [[Europe]], English is spoken mainly by those who have learnt it as a [[second language]], but also, to a lesser extent, natively by some [[expatriate]]s from some countries in the [[English-speaking world]]. 

The English language is the [[de facto]] [[official language]] of [[England]], the sole official language of Gibraltar and of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, and one of the official languages of Ireland, Malta, [[Northern Ireland]], [[Scotland]], [[Wales]], the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and the [[European Union]].

The [[United Kingdom]] and [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] form a "European Anglosphere" with an area of about {{cvt|316,000|km2}} and a population of over 71 million. 

According to a survey published in 2006, 13% of [[European Union|EU]] citizens then spoke English as their native language. Another 38% of EU citizens then stated that they had sufficient English skills to hold a conversation, so the total reach of English in the EU in 2006 was 51%.<ref name="EU">[http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_sum_en.pdf Europeans and their Languages (2006)]</ref>

European English is known by a number of colloquial portmanteau words, including: ''Eurolish'' (first recorded in 1979), ''Eurish'' (1993) and ''Eurlish'' (2006).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lambert |first=James |date=2017 |title=A multitude of “lishes”: The nomenclature of hybridity |url=https://benjamins.com/catalog/eww.38.3.04lam |journal=English World-Wide |language=en |volume=38 |issue=3 |doi=10.1075/eww.38.3.04lam |issn=0172-8865|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==History of English==
{{main|History of English}}
English is said to be a descendant of the Germanic languages spoken by the [[Germanic tribes]] of the [[German Bight]] along the southern coast of the [[North Sea]], the [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]], [[Saxons]], [[Frisians]] and [[Jutes]]. According to the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', around 449&nbsp;AD, [[Vortigern]], King of the Britons, issued an invitation to the "Angle kin" (Angles, led by [[Hengist and Horsa]]), to help him against the [[Picts]]. In return, the Angles were granted lands in the South-East. Further aid was sought, and in response "came men of Ald Seaxum of Anglum of Iotum" (Saxons, Angles and Jutes). The Chronicle documents the subsequent influx of settlers who eventually established seven kingdoms: [[Northumbria]], [[Mercia]], [[Kingdom of East Anglia|East Anglia]], [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]], [[Kingdom of Essex|Essex]], [[Kingdom of Sussex|Sussex]] and [[Wessex]].

These Germanic invaders dominated the original Celtic-speaking inhabitants. The dialects spoken by these invaders formed what would be called [[Old English language|Old English]], which was also strongly influenced by another Germanic language, [[Old East Norse]], spoken by [[Danes|Danish]] [[Viking]] invaders who settled mainly in the North-East. English, England and East Anglia are derived from words referring to the Angles: ''Englisc'', ''Angelcynn'' and ''Englaland''.

For 300 years following the [[Norman Conquest]] in 1066, the [[Anglo-Norman language]] (or Anglo-French during the Plantagenet period) was the language of the elite and the administration and few [[Kings of England]] spoke English. A large number of [[French language|French]] words were absorbed into Old English, which also lost most of its inflections, resulting in [[Middle English]]. Around the year 1500, the [[Great Vowel Shift]] marked the transformation of Middle English into [[Modern English]].

The most famous surviving work from Old English is ''[[Beowulf]]''; the most famous Middle English work being [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]''.

The rise of Modern English began around the fifteenth century, with [[Early Modern English]] reaching its literary pinnacle at the time of [[William Shakespeare]]. Some scholars divide Early Modern English and Late Modern English at around 1800, in concert with the British conquest of much of the rest of the world, as the influence of native languages affected English enormously.

==Classification and related languages==
English belongs to the western sub-branch of the [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] branch of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] family of languages. The closest undoubted living relatives of English are [[Scots language|Scots]] and the [[Frisian languages]]. [[West Frisian language|West Frisian]] is spoken by approximately half a million people in the Dutch province of [[Friesland]] (Fryslân). [[Saterland Frisian language|Saterland Frisian]] is spoken in nearby areas of Germany.  [[North Frisian language|North Frisian]] is spoken on the [[North Frisian Islands]] in the North Sea.  While native English speakers are generally able to read Scots, except for some odd unfamiliar words, Frisian is largely unintelligible (though it was much closer to modern English's predecessors, [[Middle English]] and especially [[Old English]]).

After Scots and Frisian, the next closest relative is the modern [[Low German|Low German language]] of the eastern Netherlands and northern Germany, which was the old homeland of the Anglo-Saxon invaders of Britain. Other less closely related living languages include [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[German language|German]], and the [[North Germanic languages]]. Many French words are also intelligible to an English speaker, as English absorbed a tremendous amount of vocabulary from the [[Norman language]] after the Norman conquest, and French in later centuries; as a result, a substantial proportion of English vocabulary is very close to French, with some slight spelling differences (word endings, use of old French spellings, etc.) and some occasional shifts in meaning.

==English in Britain and Ireland==
===Ireland===
{{main|Languages of Ireland|Hiberno-English}}
The second English dominion was [[Ireland]]. With the arrival of the [[Normans]] in Ireland in 1169, King [[Henry II of England]] gained Irish lands and the [[fealty]] of many native [[Gaels|Gaelic]] [[nobility|nobles]].  By the 14th century, however, English rule was largely limited to the area around [[Dublin]] known as [[the Pale]]. English influence on the country waned during this period to the point that the English-dominated Parliament was driven to legislate that any Irish of English descent must speak English (requiring those that did not know English to learn it) through the [[Statutes of Kilkenny]] in 1367.

English rule expanded in the 16th century by the [[Tudor conquest of Ireland]], leading the [[Gaelic Ireland|Gaelic order]] to collapse at the start of the 17th century. The [[Flight of the Earls]] in 1607 paved the way for the [[Plantation of Ulster]] and a deepening of the English language culture in Ireland. The [[Act of Settlement 1657|Cromwellian Plantation]] and suppression of Catholicism, including both native Irish and the "Old English" (those of Anglo-Norman descent), further cemented English influence across the country.

As the centuries passed and the social conditions in Ireland deteriorated, culminating in the [[Irish Potato Famine (1845–1849)|Great Irish Famine]], Irish parents didn't speak [[Irish language|Irish]] to their children as they knew that the children might have to emigrate and Irish would be of no use outside the home country, in [[Great Britain|Britain]], the [[United States]], [[Australia]] or [[Canada]]. In addition, the introduction of universal state education in the [[national school (Ireland)|national school]]s from 1831 proved a powerful vector for the transmission of English as a home language, with the greatest retreat of the Irish language occurring in the period between 1850 and 1900.

By the 20th century, Ireland had a centuries-old history of [[diglossia]]. English was the [[prestige language]] while the Irish language was associated with [[poverty]] and [[disfranchisement]].  Accordingly, some Irish people who spoke both Irish and English refrained from speaking to their children in Irish, or, in extreme cases, feigned the inability to speak Irish themselves. Despite state support for the Irish language in the [[Irish Free State]] (later the [[Republic of Ireland]]) after independence, Irish continued to retreat, the economic marginality of many Irish-speaking areas (see [[Gaeltacht]]) being a primary factor. For this reason Irish is spoken as a [[mother tongue]] by only a very small number of people on the island of Ireland. Irish has been a compulsory subject in schools in the Republic since the 1920s and proficiency in Irish was until the mid-1980s required for all government jobs.

It may be noted, however, that certain Irish words (especially those germane to political and civic life) in the Republic are rarely, if ever, translated into English.  These include the names of legislative bodies (such as [[Dáil Éireann]] and [[Seanad Éireann]]), government positions such as [[Taoiseach]] and [[Tánaiste]], of the elected representative(s) in the Dáil ([[Teachta Dála]]), and political parties (such as [[Fianna Fáil]] and [[Fine Gael]]). Ireland's police force, the [[Garda Síochána]], are referred to as "the Gardaí", or  "the Guards" for short. Irish appears on government forms, [[euro|euro-currency]], and [[postage stamps]], in [[Music of Ireland|traditional music]] and in media promoting [[folk culture]].  Irish [[placenames]] are still common for houses, streets, villages, and geographic features, especially the thousands of [[townlands]].  But with these important exceptions, and despite the presence of Irish [[loan words]] in [[Hiberno-English]], Ireland is today largely an English-speaking country.  Fluent or native Irish speakers are a minority in most of the country, with Irish remaining as a vernacular mainly in the relatively small [[Gaeltacht]] regions, and most Irish speakers also have fluent English.

===Northern Ireland===
{{main|Languages of Northern Ireland|Languages of the United Kingdom#Northern Ireland|English language in Northern Ireland}}
{{further|Languages of Ireland}}

At the time of partition, English had become the first language of the vast majority in Northern Ireland. It had small elderly Irish-speaking populations in the [[Sperrin Mountains]] as well as in the northern [[Glens of Antrim]] and Rathlin Island. There were also pockets of Irish speakers in the southernmost part of [[County Armagh]].  All of these Irish speakers were bilingual and chose to speak English to their children, and thus these areas of Northern Ireland are now entirely English-speaking. However, in the 2000s a [[Gaeltacht Quarter, Belfast|Gaeltacht Quarter]] was established in Belfast to drive inward investment as a response to a notable level of public interest in learning Irish and the expansion of Irish-medium education (predominantly attended by children whose home language is English) since the 1970s. In recent decades, some [[Nationalists]] in Northern Ireland have used it as a means of promoting an Irish identity. However, the amount of interest from [[Unionism in Ireland|Unionists]] remains low, particularly since the 1960s. About 165,000 people in Northern Ireland have some knowledge of Irish. Ability varies; 64,847 people stated they could understand, speak, read and write Irish in the 2011 UK census, the majority of whom have learnt it as a second language.  Otherwise, except for place names and folk music, English is effectively the sole language of Northern Ireland. The [[Good Friday Agreement]] specifically acknowledges the position both of [[Irish language|Irish]] and of [[Ulster Scots dialects|Ulster Scots]] in the [[Republic of Ireland]] and in [[Northern Ireland]].

===Scotland===
{{main|Languages of Scotland|Scottish English}}
[[Anglic languages|Anglic]] speakers were actually established in [[Lothian]] by the 7th century,{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} but remained confined there, and indeed contracted slightly to the advance of the [[Middle Irish language|Gaelic]] language. However, during the 12th and 13th centuries, Norman landowners and their retainers, were invited to settle by the king.  It is probable that many of their retainers spoke a northern form of [[Middle English]], although probably French was more common. Most of the evidence suggests that English spread into Scotland via the [[burgh]], proto-urban institutions which were first established by King [[David I of Scotland|David I]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} Incoming burghers were mainly English (especially from [[Northumbria]], and the  [[Earl of Huntingdon|Earldom of]] [[Huntingdon]]), Flemish and French. Although the military aristocracy employed [[French language|French]] and [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]], these small urban communities appear to have been using English as something more than a ''lingua franca'' by the end of the 13th century.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} English appeared in Scotland for the first time in literary form in the mid-14th century, when its form unsurprisingly differed little from other northern English dialects. As a consequence of the outcome of the Wars of Independence though, the English of Lothian who lived under the King of Scots had to accept Scottish identity. The growth in prestige of English in the 14th century, and the complementary decline of French in Scotland, made English the [[prestige language]] of most of eastern Scotland.

Thus, from the end of the 14th century, and certainly by the end of the 15th century, Scotland began to show a split into two cultural areas{{spaced ndash}}the mainly English or [[Scots language|Scots]] [[Scottish Lowlands|Lowlands]], and the mainly [[Scottish Gaelic language|Gaelic]]-speaking [[Scottish Highlands|Highlands]] (which then could be thought to include [[Galloway]] and [[Carrick, Scotland|Carrick]]; see [[Galwegian Gaelic]]). This caused divisions in the country where the Lowlands remained, historically, more influenced by the English to the south: the Lowlands lay more open to attack by invading armies from the south and absorbed English influence through their proximity to and their trading relations with their southern neighbours.

In 1603 the Scottish King [[James VI]] inherited the [[throne]] of England, and became James I of England. James moved to London and only returned once to Scotland. By the time of James VI's accession to the English throne the old Scottish Court and Parliament spoke Scots. Scots developed from the [[Anglian dialects|Anglian]] spoken in the Northumbrian kingdom of Bernicia, which in the 6th century conquered the Brittonic kingdom of Gododdin and renamed its capital of [[Din Eidyn]] to Edinburgh (see the [[etymology of Edinburgh]]). Scots continues to heavily influence the spoken English of the Scottish people today. It is much more similar to dialects in the north of England than to 'British' English, even today. The introduction of [[King James Version of the Bible]] into Scottish churches also was a blow to the Scots language, since it used Southern English forms.

In 1707 the Scottish and English Parliaments signed a [[Act of Union 1707|Treaty of Union]]. Implementing the treaty involved dissolving both the [[List of Parliaments of England|English]] and the [[Scottish Parliament]]s, and transferring all their powers to a new Parliament in London which then became the [[List of Parliaments of Great Britain|British Parliament]]. A customs and currency union also took place. With this, Scotland's position was consolidated within the United Kingdom.

Today, almost all residents of Scotland speak English, although many speak various dialects of Scots which differ markedly from [[Scottish English|Scottish Standard English]]. Approximately 2% of the population use Scottish Gaelic as their language of everyday use, primarily in the northern and western regions of the country. Virtually all Scottish Gaelic speakers also speak fluent English.

===Wales===
{{main|Languages of Wales|Welsh English}}
In 1282 [[Edward I of England]] defeated [[Llywelyn ap Gruffudd]], Wales's last independent prince, in battle. Edward followed the practice used by his Norman predecessors in their subjugation of the English, and constructed a series of great stone castles in order to control Wales, thus preventing further military action against England by the Welsh. With ‘English’ political control at this time came [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]] customs and language; English did not displace Welsh as the majority language of the Welsh people until the anti-Welsh language campaigns, which began towards the end of the 19th century (54% spoke Welsh in 1891; see [[Welsh language#20th and 21st centuries|Welsh language]]). The [[Welsh language]] is currently spoken by about one-fifth of the population. It has been enjoying support from the authorities for some decades, resulting in a [[language revival|revival]], and is in a healthy position in many parts of Wales.

==English in other British or formerly British territories==

===Channel Islands===
The [[bailiwick]]s of [[Jersey]] and [[Guernsey]] are two Crown Dependencies. Besides English, some (very few) inhabitants of these islands speak regional languages{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}}, or those related to [[French language|French]] (such as [[Jèrriais]], [[Dgèrnésiais]] and [[Sercquiais]]).

===Cyprus===
In 1914, the [[Ottoman Empire]] declared war against the United Kingdom and France as part of the complex series of alliances that led to [[World War I]]. The British then annexed Cyprus on 2 November 1914 as part of the British Empire, making the Cypriots [[British subject]]s. Most of [[Cyprus]] gained independence from the [[United Kingdom]] in 1960, with the UK, [[Greece]] and [[Turkey]] retaining limited rights to intervene in internal affairs. Parts of the island were excluded from the territory of the new independent republic and remain under UK control. These zones are what are known as the [[Sovereign Base Area]]s or SBAs.

The British colonial history of Cyprus has left Cypriots with a good level of English but it is no longer an official language in either the Greek south side of the island, formally known as the Republic of Cyprus or the Turkish north, the [[Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus]] though English remains official in the SBAs. Since the effective partition of the island in 1974, [[Greek Cypriot|Greek]] and [[Turkish Cypriot]]s have had little opportunity or inclination to learn the others' language, and are more likely to talk to each other in English. Older Turkish Cypriots who worked or lived with Greek Cypriots prior to partition often speak Greek quite fluently. Indeed, many Ottoman soldiers took Greek wives and were allowed to marry up to four.<ref>The Turnstone: A Doctor's Story page 216</ref>

English is also commonly used in Cyprus to communicate with foreign visitors. The large number of British tourists (and other, largely Northern European ones, who use English as a ''lingua franca'') who visit Cyprus regularly has contributed largely to the continued use of English on Cyprus, especially in its thriving tourist industry.

After independence in the 1960s there was some attempt to encourage French, which was still the most important European language. This policy would have been in line with that in place in Greece at the time. Furthermore, in the 1960s, affluent French-speaking tourists (both from France and Lebanon) in terms of percentage were more important than today. Overall though, the French policy was indicative of a desire to distance Cyprus from the former British colonial power, against which a bitter war of independence had recently been fought and won.

However, knowledge of English is helped by the large Cypriot migrant communities in the UK and [[Australia]], leading to diffusion of culture and language back to their country of origin, and negative sentiments towards the UK have waned or disappeared. There is now a large British [[expatriate]] population, in addition to the British military presence in the [[Sovereign Base Area]]s, as well as the UN [[buffer zone]], whose peacekeepers usually also use English as a ''[[lingua franca]]''. All of the above maintains an English-speaking presence on the island.

===Gibraltar===
[[Gibraltar]] has been a [[British Overseas Territories|British overseas territory]] since an Anglo-Dutch force led by Sir [[George Rooke]] seized "[[Rock of Gibraltar|The Rock]]" in 1704 and [[Spain]] ceded the territory in perpetuity to [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] in the 1713 [[Treaty of Utrecht]].

The territory's [[Gibraltarian people|Gibraltarian]] inhabitants have a [[Culture of Gibraltar|rich cultural heritage]] as a result of the mix of the neighbouring [[Andalusian people|Andalusian]] population with immigrants from [[British people|Great Britain]], [[Genoa]], [[Maltese people|Malta]], [[Portuguese people|Portugal]], [[Moroccan people|Morocco]] and [[India]].

The [[vernacular]] language of the territory is [[Llanito]]. It consists of a mix of [[Andalusian Spanish]] and [[British English]] as well as languages such as [[Maltese language|Maltese]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Genoese dialect|Genoese]] and [[Haketia]]. Even though Andalusian Spanish is the main constituent of Llanito, it is also heavily influenced by [[British English]], involving a certain amount of [[code-switching]] into English.

English remains the sole [[official language]], used by Government. It is also the medium of instruction in schools and most Gibraltarians who go on to tertiary [[Gibraltar#Education|education]] do so in the UK. Gibraltar receives Spanish television and radio, and British television is also widely available via [[satellite television|satellite]]. Whereas a century ago, most Gibraltarians were monolingual Spanish speakers, the majority is now naturally [[bilingual]] in English and Spanish.

===Isle of Man===
The [[Isle of Man]] is a [[Crown Dependencies|Crown Dependency]]. English and [[Manx language|Manx Gaelic]] are the two official languages.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}. The last native speaker of Manx, [[Ned Maddrell]], died in 1974.

===Menorca===
Like Gibraltar, [[Menorca]] was ceded to Britain in the Treaty of Utrecht, although as it transpired this was to be a temporary dominion. Nevertheless, while under British Control Menorca become the Royal Navy's main Mediterranean base and English has been very widely spoken throughout Menorca ever since.  Although not an official language, English tends to be used on much public signage for the benefit of tourists and expatriates, alongside [[Castilian Spanish]] and [[Menorquín|Menorcan Catalan]].

==Other countries==
There are also pockets of native English speakers to be found throughout Europe, such as in [[Spain|southern Spain]], [[France]], [[Algarve]] in [[Portugal]], as well as numerous US and British military bases in [[Germany]]. There are communities of native English speakers in some European cities outside the UK and Ireland, such as [[Amsterdam]], [[Athens]], [[Barcelona]], [[Berlin]], [[Brussels]], [[Copenhagen]], [[Helsinki]], [[Oslo]], [[Paris]], [[Prague]], [[Rome]], [[Stockholm]], and [[Vienna]].

In [[Luxembourg]], a trilingual country, there was a proposal in 2019 to make English an official language, but this ultimately failed to get the required minimum number of signatures to be discussed by the [[Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg)|parliament]]. In 2021, a similar proposal was made, which failed to meet the 4500 minimum signatures.<ref>{{cite web |title=Accroître le taux d'attraction des talents non francophones et l'intégration mondiale : faire de l'anglais une langue officielle du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg |url=https://www.petitiounen.lu/en/petition/1997?cHash=46a5be6f70fd421db100f54ed8b01f71 |website=The petition website of the Parliament |access-date=10 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Make English an official language in Luxembourg, petition urges |url=https://www.luxtimes.lu/en/luxembourg/make-english-an-official-language-in-luxembourg-petition-urges-6152f5e7de135b9236691c34 |access-date=10 December 2021 |publisher=Luxembourg Times}}</ref> 

In 2020, two English-language courts opened in [[Stuttgart]] and [[Mannheim]], in the state of [[Baden-Württemberg]], Germany. According to a spokesperson of the Baden-Württemberg Judiciary, all judges of the Stuttgart Commercial Court and the Mannheim Commercial Court will be able to conduct hearings in the English language. The courts have been created with the intent of settling international disputes, thus increasing the role of Germany in international commercial law.<ref>{{cite news |title=What's the verdict with Stuttgart's new English language court? |url=https://www.dw.com/en/whats-the-verdict-with-stuttgarts-new-english-language-court/a-55465241 |access-date=10 December 2021 |agency=Deutsche Welle}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Two English-speaking commercial courts open in Germany |url=https://www.iamexpat.de/expat-info/german-expat-news/two-english-speaking-commercial-courts-open-germany |access-date=10 December 2021}}</ref>

In 2021, [[Juhana Vartiainen]], then mayor of [[Helsinki]], proposed to elevate English as an official language in [[Finland]]. He cited the difficulty typically encountered by foreigners in learning [[Finnish language|Finnish]] and the aim of making Helsinki more attractive to international talent.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mayor suggests Helsinki declare itself an English-language city |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/02/mayor-suggests-helsinki-declare-english-language-city-finnish |access-date=10 December 2021 |agency=The Guardian}}</ref> 8,000 Helsinkians speak English as their native language, which is 1.2% of Helsinki's population and makes it the 7th most spoken native language in the city.<ref>{{cite web |title=Language according to sex by municipality, 1990-2021 |url=https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rm.px/ |website=Statistics Finland |access-date=13 January 2023}}</ref>

Throughout Europe, tourism, publishing, finance, computers and related industries rely heavily on English due to Anglophone trade ties. [[Air traffic control]] and shipping movements are almost all conducted in English.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}

In areas of Europe where English is not the first language, there are many examples of the mandated primacy of English: for example, many European companies, such as [[Airbus]], Philips, [[Renault]]{{Citation needed|date=July 2008}}, Volvo, etc. have designated English to be the language of communication for their senior management, and many universities offer their programmes in English. The language is also a required subject in most European countries.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.euractiv.com/culture/english-dominates-eu-language-cu-news-220783 | title=English dominates EU language curricula, study finds| date=2008-11-24}}</ref> Thus, the percentage of English speakers is expected to rise.

[[Euro English]] or European English, less commonly known as EU English and EU Speak, is a dialect of English based on the technical jargon of the European Union and the native languages of its non-native English speaking population.

==English as ''lingua franca''==
{{See also|Languages of the European Union|Euro English}}
English is the most commonly spoken foreign language in 19 out of 25 European Union countries (excluding Ireland)<ref>''Europeans and their Languages''. "Special Eurobarometer 386" of the [[European Commission]] (2012)[http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf], p. 21</ref>
In the [[EU25#2004 Enlargement|EU25]], working knowledge of English as a foreign language is clearly leading at 38%, followed by [[German language|German]] and French (at 14% each), Russian and Spanish (at 6% each), and [[Italian language|Italian]] (3%).<ref>including native speakers, the figures are: English 38%, German 14%, French 14%, Spanish 6%, Russian 6%, Italian 3%. ''Europeans and their Languages''. "Special Eurobarometer 243" of the European Commission (2006)[http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf], p. 152</ref>
"Very good" knowledge of English is particularly high in [[Malta]] (52%), [[Denmark]] (44%), Cyprus (42%) and Sweden (40%). 
Working knowledge varies a lot between European countries. It is very high in Malta, Cyprus, [[Scandinavia]] and the [[Netherlands]], but low in [[Russia]], [[Spain]] (12%), [[Hungary]] (14%), [[Italy]] (5%) and [[Slovakia]] (14%). On average in 2012, 38% of citizens of the European Union (excluding the United Kingdom and [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]) stated that they have sufficient knowledge of English to have a conversation in this language.<ref>''Europeans and their Languages''. "Special Eurobarometer 386" of the [[European Commission]] (2012)[http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106183351/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf|date=2016-01-06}}, p. 24</ref>

English has become the pre-eminent second language of Europe not in the absence of any colonial history or diaspora, but rather as a concerted effort to increase fluency in English by Europeans since the Second World War. English has become the most useful language to connect different language groups in Europe. The [[Impact of Brexit on the European Union#Languages|impact of Brexit on EU language policy]] remains to be seen, but it is possible that the EU, in retaining English as a key working language without the dominant presence of British English speakers, would claim ownership over its own variety of English and develop it for its own needs.<ref name="Marko">[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/weng.12264/full English in a post-Brexit European Union] by Marko Modiano, World Englishes 19 September 2017</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Englishisation#Europe|English-language influence on European languages]]

==References==
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[[Category:English language|Europe in]]
[[Category:Languages of Europe]]
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