In retrospect, significant parallels can be drawn between the International Year of Languages 2008, which was initiated by the United Nations General Assembly and was coordinated by UNESCO, and the European Year of Languages 2001, which was a joint initiative of the Council of Europe and the European Union. In both cases 'the Year' passed with little public notice, and ended with the insight that a shared interest in languages by no means goes hand in hand with common views on language policy. Moreover, the status in the education systems of mother tongues on the one hand and foreign languages or trans-regional linguae francae on the other was discussed intensely in both instances. Against the background of the current debate on the influence of international educational organisations on national educational systems and concepts, the present article asks whether UNESCO has a specific role to play in the area of language education, and what (eurocentrically determined) blindspots in language education concepts become visible when one looks beyond the borders of Europe.
