Robert Lane Greene suggests so. He feels all schoolchildren in the European Union should learn two foreign languages:
Why not let the [English] spread to every corner of Europe – and, indeed, the rest of the world? This would certainly seem more practical than teaching every European child two more languages. But mandating English might also serve to undermine loyalty to the EU. There are too many Europeans who would rather not have English dominate political affairs. The continent has more native German-speakers, including four countries where German is an official language. French has as many native-speakers in Europe, too, and is official in three countries (not to mention Europe’s de facto capital, Brussels). Native English-speakers make up less than a fifth of the EU’s population. And, awkwardly, English is the official language of the one country that will soon hold a referendum on whether to quit the EU entirely.
But the real reason not to adopt a “mainly English” language policy involves the EU’s promise to its members, under the official motto “united in diversity.” No country joined the union in order to be crushed under a homogenizing wheel.
The Dish 