Why is Europe considered less important than the US?

English is not mandatory at the school level in Europe. In Europe, learning a minimum of 1 foreign language is a must. However, that foreign language need not be English. Students may choose French or German or some other non-English European language instead of English. That being said, it is true that most learners and education seekers opt for English. I disagree that English is always necessary for exploring Europe. People with a reasonable knowledge of French can experience umpteen places in Europe. You should realize that French also holds the status of a working language in the United Nations Secretariat. Canada's Quebec region speaks French and a good chunk of the African continent speaks French. As far as Europe is concerned, Belgium, France and Switzerland speak French to a colossal extent. The bottomline is that French always has the potential to compete with English at the global level and at the European level.

@Presenthere - We all learn English in school now here in Europe. One foreign language is mandatory, but in most school it's two, and people get English because they know how important it is. I lived 26 years in Switzerland they speak 3 languages there, the three OFFICIAL languages. French is no more important. Where you are from?