The practical work that the EU must carry out to support linguistic diversity is being outlined in Brussels. "In under three years says a release from the EU Commission , the number of official languages has more than doubled, since between 30th April 2004 and 1st January 2007 it rose from 11 to 23". During these 32 months, the EU institutions "have taken up more languages than in the previous forty years": the last ones to have become official are Rumanian, Bulgarian and Gaelic (Irish). In addition, due to the globalisation of economy, languages are becoming increasingly important in productive and trade activities. A study conducted by the Committee of Cilt (a national British language centre), "every year, thousands of European companies miss business opportunities and contracts because they lack the necessary language skills". The conclusion of Cilt is that "small-sized companies would have huge opportunities to increase their exports if they invested more in languages and outlined consistent strategies". Actually, "those companies that know how to improve their language skills do benefit from the business opportunities offered by the EU’s market" as well as by the global market.
