The day is organised jointly by the European Union and the Council of Europe. Europe is lucky to enjoy a rich diversity of language and cultures with 200 European languages, 24 Official EU languages and it is estimated around 60 regional or minority languages.

The European Day of Languages is observed on 26 September, as proclaimed by the Council of Europe on 6 December 2001, at the end of the European Year of Languages, which had been jointly organised by the Council of Europe and the European Union. Its aim is to encourage language learning across Europe.