Thursday 26th September is the European Day of Languages. To mark this occasion, the CER, in co-operation with the Delegation of the EU to the UK and the European Parliament Liaison Office in the UK, is holding a panel on 'The soft power of languages' with:

• Alison Graves, Director, Directorate-General for Logistics & Interpretation for Conferences, European Parliament
• Bernardette Holmes, Chair, National Consortium for Languages Education
• Dominic Schroeder, Principal of the International Academy, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, UK

Pedro Serrano, EU Ambassador to the UK, will begin the event with some opening remarks, after which the panel will reflect on the role of language as a tool for soft power and diplomacy, and on the importance of language education in the UK. This will be followed by a Q&A discussion with the audience, chaired by Ian Bond, the CER's deputy director. The whole event will be on-the-record.

Doors will open at 16:45 and the discussion will run from 17:00-18:30. We will then have a reception until 20:00. Spaces will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.