The recent decision of Poland to introduce a mandatory starting age for early language learning from the very beginning of schooling can be viewed as part of both a global and a specifically European trend. Current statistics indicate that since 1990 approximately 60% of the nation-states of the European Union have reduced mandatory starting ages by at least two years and in some cases as much as five years. This study interrogates contemporary drivers of Polish language-in-education planning, proposing their essentially political nature as a vehicle for the acquisition of linguistic cultural capital and questioning the extent to which this ambitious project is founded on empirical evidence of the real advantages of an early start. (Contains 2 tables and 2 notes.)