Twenty years after its official release, the European Framework of Reference is being renewed. This tool, which has had a great influence on all those involved in language education at different levels in Europe and in many contexts outside Europe, has undergone a profound process of renewal and expansion. In particular, one of its most innovative concepts, that of mediation, has finally found the space and articulation it deserved, thus giving full depth to the descriptive scheme, the true conceptual backbone of the CEFR. The shift from the four competences to the four modes of communication that the CEFR proposed two decades ago is now showing its full potential in the field of language didactics. On the occasion of the launch of the French version of the new CEFR (Council of Europe 2021), it is important to consider the scope of mediation and its fundamental role in relation to the other key concepts of the CEFR, notably plurilingualism/pluriculturalism and the action-oriented approach. After presenting how the notion of mediation has been developed and has informed the new CEFR, the article questions the articulation of the different key concepts and how they can be seen as levers for innovation.