This entry focuses on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR), which, in the words of a non-European observer, is “one of the most ambitious examples of the gradual formation, shaping and … implementation of language education policies” (Byrnes, 2007, p. 641). The CEFR was designed by the Council of Europe (CoE), a pan-European organization that promotes human rights, mutual understanding, parliamentary democracy, and the rule of law. It advocates linguistic rights and language learning as a way of enhancing mutual understanding, and plurilingualism—an individual's ability to use more than one language—is a key concept in CoE language policy (see CoE, 2008).      Keywords:    language policy,  language teaching,  assessment,  multilingualism