The linguistic domains of business and commerce are especially affected by the economic and
communicative globalization. Since language use in these domains has an impact on the use of a
language in other domains the future development of the European languages will not mainly
depend on language-internal processes but will increasingly be influenced by the use of
English as the international vehicular language. The present development in Europe is discussed
in several overview articles and a series of reports on the specific situation in various
European countries. In addition the Lisbon Resolution of EFNIL pointing at the advantages of
multilingualism in international business is presented in 26 languages including the 23
official languages of the European Union. It calls the EU and its members to acknowledge
languages as key factors for economic success also from the perspective of consumers and
workers.
