17 October 2016
MPs and Peers in plea for protecting language skills in Brexit negotiations
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages today launches Brexit and Languages: A checklist for Government negotiators and officials highlighting four essential language-specific objectives of the Brexit process:
1. Guaranteeing residency status for EU nationals already living in the UK and safeguarding future recruitment of EU citizens to address the shortage of language skills
2. Continuing full UK participation in the Erasmus+ programme (noting the examples of Norway and Switzerland)
3. Committing to legislate to replicate the rights enshrined in the 2010 European Directive on the Right to Interpretation and Translation in Criminal Proceedings
4. A post-Brexit plan in education (from primary school to post-graduate research, including apprenticeships), business and the civil service, with specific actions to ensure the UK produces sufficient linguists to meet its future requirements as a leader in global free trade and on the international stage
The APPG on Modern Languages will this week be presenting the document to the leaders of the main political parties, MPs and Peers.
Baroness Coussins, Co-Chair of the APPG on Modern Languages, said: “Brexit must make the UK’s language skills a top policy issue. Language skills are vital for our exports, education, public services and diplomacy and we will not be able to carry on relying on other EU nationals to plug the gap. The Government have a double challenge: they must safeguard crucial current access to language skills and international experience, such as participation in the Erasmus+ programme, and also kick-start a national plan to ensure the UK produces the linguists we need to become a world leader in global free trade and on the international stage.”
Download Brexit & Languages: A checklist for Goverment negotiators and officials
Download the press release
Visit the APPG's website
1. Guaranteeing residency status for EU nationals already living in the UK and safeguarding future recruitment of EU citizens to address the shortage of language skills
2. Continuing full UK participation in the Erasmus+ programme (noting the examples of Norway and Switzerland)
3. Committing to legislate to replicate the rights enshrined in the 2010 European Directive on the Right to Interpretation and Translation in Criminal Proceedings
4. A post-Brexit plan in education (from primary school to post-graduate research, including apprenticeships), business and the civil service, with specific actions to ensure the UK produces sufficient linguists to meet its future requirements as a leader in global free trade and on the international stage
The APPG on Modern Languages will this week be presenting the document to the leaders of the main political parties, MPs and Peers.
Baroness Coussins, Co-Chair of the APPG on Modern Languages, said: “Brexit must make the UK’s language skills a top policy issue. Language skills are vital for our exports, education, public services and diplomacy and we will not be able to carry on relying on other EU nationals to plug the gap. The Government have a double challenge: they must safeguard crucial current access to language skills and international experience, such as participation in the Erasmus+ programme, and also kick-start a national plan to ensure the UK produces the linguists we need to become a world leader in global free trade and on the international stage.”
Download Brexit & Languages: A checklist for Goverment negotiators and officials
Download the press release
Visit the APPG's website
Published by the APPG on Modern Languages, October 2016