The first European Day of Languages took place on 26 September
2001. It was one of the highlights of the European Year of
Languages. On the eve of the closing event of the Year, the
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided to
declare a "European Day of Languages" to be celebrated on 26
September each year. This decision was taken in response to a
recommendation by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe, which had been actively involved throughout the
campaign. The Committee of Ministers recommended that the Day be
organised in a decentralised and flexible manner according to
the wishes and resources of member states, which would thus
enable them to better define their own approaches. The European
Year of Languages 2001 Source: "European Year of Languages
2001", Celebrating linguistic diversity, lifelong language
learning "Everybody deserves the chance to benefit from the
cultural and economic advantages language skills can bring.
Learning languages also helps to develop tolerance a