There were two reasons why the project was started.

In the first place, SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) as well as other organisations, including government organisations, increasingly come into contact with foreign people and foreign markets. There are quite a few indications that in many countries the level of foreign-language proficiency is not high enough to actually deal with all the requirements of an expanding “Europe” and a more international market. Only a language audit can reveal where the linguistic shortcomings are.

And secondly, with the increasing influence of “Europe” organisations need to keep abreast of European rules and regulations. Consequently there is a need to be able to read what is published about them. Hence one of the objects was to develop teaching material on “EU English”.