Abstract
Multilingualism constitutes an organizational challenge in the European Union not only in terms of human resources but also in terms of working methods that have to be adapted to the particularly complex decision-making procedures involving a multiplicity of actors and conducted to a strict timetable. This is illustrated by means of the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Right to Information in Criminal Proceedings, which also serves as an example of the difficulties encountered and the criteria used in the choice of EU legal terminology.
The Views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Council.
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Notes
- 1.
Croatian will become the 24th official language in 2013.
- 2.
In French, “ovni” means an “objet volant non identifié”, that is, an “unidentified flying object” or “UFO”.
- 3.
Since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, the basic treaties have been the Treaty establishing the European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
- 4.
An acronym from the French “Comité de représentants permanents”, the Committee of Permanent Representatives as the ambassadors are known.
- 5.
OJ 17, 6.10.1958, 385.
- 6.
The impact of multilingualism on the organization of the EU institutions is manifested by the following key figures showing the number of staff involved in linguistic matters in the Commission, the Council, and the European Parliament:
-
Commission:
-
2,500 translators;
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600 staff interpreters + 3,000 freelance interpreters providing interpretation also for the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, and the Committee of the Regions;
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+/− 60 legal revisers;
-
-
Council:
-
600 translators;
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90 lawyer linguists;
-
-
European Parliament:
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700 translators;
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430 staff interpreters + 2,500 freelance interpreters;
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70 lawyer linguists.
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The cost of interpretation for the EU institutions corresponds to 0.26 euro for each European citizen each year.
-
- 7.
- 8.
The Commission’s proposal is available in EUR-Lex under the reference COM (2010) 392.
- 9.
The legal revisers of the Commission verify compliance with the formal and substantive drafting rules in order to improve the draft proposal prepared by the technical department competent for the field covered by the act. For further details on drafting in the Commission, see Robinson (2008).
- 10.
Irish was added to the list of official languages by Council Regulation (EC) No. 920/2005, but a transitional period of five years was laid down, which has been extended by five more years by Council Regulation (EU) No. 1257/2010 (OJ L 343, 29.12.2010, p. 5). During that period, only regulations adopted jointly by the Parliament and the Council must be published in Irish.
- 11.
This is a rather exceptional situation since in the Council’s working parties, interpretation is now provided only upon request of an individual Member State, which has to pay for it. For this purpose, Member States are allocated an annual amount; they can decide if they need interpretation or if they prefer to use (part of) this amount for covering the travel costs of their experts.
- 12.
Directive 2012/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2012 on the right to information in criminal proceedings (OJ L 142, 1.6.2012, p. 1).
- 13.
Case 283/81 CILFIT and Lanificio di Gavardo v Ministry of Health [1982] ECR 3415, at paragraph 19.
- 14.
Case C-66/08 Proceedings concerning the execution of a European arrest warrant issued against Szymon Kozłowski [2008] ECR I-6041; see, in particular, paragraph 42.
- 15.
Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European Arrest Warrant and the Surrender procedures between Member States, OJ L 190, 18.7.2002, p. 1.
- 16.
Case C-261/09 Gaetano Mantello [2010] ECR I-0000; see, in particular, paragraph 38.
Abbreviations
- COREPER:
-
Comité de représentants permanents
- EU:
-
European Union
- MEPs:
-
Members of the European Parliament
- OJ:
-
Official Journal
- TFEU:
-
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
References
Guggeis M, Robinson W (2012) ‘Co-revision’: Legal-Linguistic Revision in the European Union ‘Co-decision’ Process. In: Baaij CJW (ed) The Role of Legal Translation in Legal Harmonization. Wolters Kluwer, Alphen aan den Rijn
Robinson W (2008) Drafting of EU Acts: A View from the European Commission. In: Stefanou C, Xanthaki H (eds) Drafting Legislation: A Modern Approach. Ashgate Publishing Limited, Aldershot
Robinson W (2010) Manuals for Drafting European Union Legislation. In: The Theory and practice of legislation, vol 4, no. 2. Hart Publishing, Oxford
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Guggeis, M. (2014). Multilingualism in the European Union Decision-Making Process. In: Ruggieri, F. (eds) Criminal Proceedings, Languages and the European Union. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37152-3_4
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