Within EU primary education, a clear majority of pupils choose to study English like a foreign language. Indeed, learning English is mandatory in several【M1】______ countries within secondary education institutions, and so the number of Mem-【M2】______ ber States have close to 100% of pupils learn this language already in primary【M3】______ education. The highest shares of primary education pupils studying English in 2009 were recorded in Italy, Spain, Austria and Greece, with more than nine out of every ten children studying English in every of these countries(which【M4】______ was also the case in Norway and Croatia). The related importance of English【M5】______ as a foreign language may be further magnified because pupils tend to receive more instruction in their first foreign language as they do for any subsequent【M6】______ languages they choose to study. The central and eastern European Member States that joined in the EU【M7】______ in 2004 and 2007 are in a particular position with regard in language teaching,【M8】______ as learning Russian was compulsory for many pupils in the past. This situation has changed rapidly and these days most pupils have more choice concerning the language(s)they wish to study. In most of these countries there has been a marked increase in the proportion of pupils learning English, often above 40% of all students and in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland and Estonia over 65%. Luxembourg is also of particular interest, insofar there are three offi-【M9】______ cial languages, with more pupils receiving instruction in Luxembourgish,【M10】______ German and French at primary level: English is introduced at secondary school. 【M1】