English, a cuckoo in the European higher education nest of languages?

This article addresses the issue as to whether the advance of English in higher education in continental Europe represents a threat to other languages. In the context of moves by the European Union to create a single European ‘education and research area’, in which the integration of higher education through the Bologna process plays a key role, international commodification pressures challenge the status of education as a public good. The study looks at a variety of key aspects of this situation, including the role of university evaluation and planning for internationalisation. It analyses both discourses promoting English, and language policy statements from several countries aiming at a balance between English and other languages. It also deals with the issue of diglossic domain loss as a result of the forces propelling English forward and dispossessing other languages. It concludes that fluidity in European language policies and the many obstacles to coordinated Europe-wide policy formation confirm the need for language policies to be formulated explicitly rather than being left to market pressures, national and international.