Since the Grahnlaw blog post EU Commission: Internal market reform (9 December 2010), I have actually been busy writing about the internal market or single market, although on my other blogs and partly in other languages.
Here is a summary of the latest entries:
Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: EU Single Market Act: Disappointing start? (10 December 2010). Should we be impressed by the substance of the proposals or by the launch of a wide discussion with possible action in the future?
Grahnlaw Suomi Finland (in Finnish): Saako kelkasta pudonnut Eurooppa sisämarkkinat heräämään? (12 December 2010). Asian nations are forging ahead and surpassing Europe in several fields, but are we experiencing any urgency with regard to the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020) for growth and jobs, or concerning internal market reform?
Grahnlaw Suomi Finland (in Finnish): EU:n sisämarkkinoiden toimenpidepaketti (Single Market Act) (12 December 2010). Since the Commission has launched (only) a wide discussion, we don't really know where the Single Market Act is going to lead – that is if the discussion is real and not an exercise in manipulation. Reference to the proposal COM(2010) 608.
Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish): EU:n 'Single Market Act' on käännösongelma (13 December 2010). The entry describes how the terminology has developed from the common market to the internal market, without forgetting the aspirational single market. However, elements of the Single Market Act are lost in translation into Swedish and especially Finnish. On the other hand, the Finnish description is probably the most realistic of four language versions compared. How should linguistic choices be made?
Single Market Act corrigendum or corrigenda
Beware, if you search for the communication from the Commission COM(2010) 608 or read the bibliographic notice on Eur-Lex (with 22 existing language versions), you are not warned that at least the English language version has been revised, and the text you choose has not been corrected.
If you know to look for one or more corrigenda, you could try Council search, but I cannot vouch for it, because the pages were down due to maintenance when I tried to test it.
Update 13 December 2010: ”Delegations will find attached a new version of Commission document COM (2010) 608 final”, says Council document 13977/1/10 REV 1 (en), but I still don't know about other language versions.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. On the multilingual aggregator Bloggingportal.eu you can now find the post from 716 Euroblogs. The European online public space keeps growing, but enough to keep Europe from shrinking in the world?
Showing posts with label translation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label translation. Show all posts
Monday, 13 December 2010
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
EU: lawyer-linguists Estonian Slovenian Czech Latvian
The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is organising open competitions, based on qualifications and tests, to constitute a reserve from which to recruit lawyer-linguists.
The notices have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 25.2.2009 C 46 A/1 with regard to applicants with Estonian or Slovenian as their main language and (page 14) concerning Czech or Latvian language hopefuls.
The main requirements are the following:
“The European institutions recruit highly qualified lawyers, who must be able to translate often complex legal/legislative texts into the language of the competition from at least two languages and check such texts. The work will involve use of standard IT and other office-technology tools.”
The purpose of the competitions is to draw up reserve lists from which to fill vacant posts in the European institutions, in particular the Court of Justice, the Parliament and the Council.
Ralf Grahn
The notices have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 25.2.2009 C 46 A/1 with regard to applicants with Estonian or Slovenian as their main language and (page 14) concerning Czech or Latvian language hopefuls.
The main requirements are the following:
“The European institutions recruit highly qualified lawyers, who must be able to translate often complex legal/legislative texts into the language of the competition from at least two languages and check such texts. The work will involve use of standard IT and other office-technology tools.”
The purpose of the competitions is to draw up reserve lists from which to fill vacant posts in the European institutions, in particular the Court of Justice, the Parliament and the Council.
Ralf Grahn
Sunday, 11 January 2009
EU Law in Russian
Political and economic relations between Russia and the European Union are a permanent fixture, with challenges and opportunities. Russia and the EU have common borders and neighbours, where Russian is spoken or known as a second language. Even within the European Union there are sizable Russian minorities, but Russian is not among the official languages of the EU.
In other words, there is potentially a huge “market” for factual and updated information about the European Union in Russian. There is now a new web site “EU Law” in Russian beginning to offer materials and articles in translation.
Students, businesses, politicians and citizens in Russia, the EU and in partner countries can find information here:
http://new.eulaw.ru
I wish the new “EU Law” site in Russian success in bridging the information gap.
Ralf Grahn
In other words, there is potentially a huge “market” for factual and updated information about the European Union in Russian. There is now a new web site “EU Law” in Russian beginning to offer materials and articles in translation.
Students, businesses, politicians and citizens in Russia, the EU and in partner countries can find information here:
http://new.eulaw.ru
I wish the new “EU Law” site in Russian success in bridging the information gap.
Ralf Grahn
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
European Union: Social partners and Tripartite Social Summit
Sometimes the EU Treaty of Lisbon introduces new elements to ordinary ‘Community’ policy areas. The social partners are recognised and the Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment is consecrated at treaty level.
We ask our readers to reflect upon a translation issue: The English treaty uses different terms in two places where five other language versions stay on track.
Some policy oriented materials are indicated for further reading.
***
Current TEC
Yesterday’s post looked at the social policy objectives of the European Community (European Union), mentioned in Article 136 TEC (ex Article 117), in the latest consolidated version of the treaties, OJ 29.12.2006 C 321 E/103:
– promotion of employment
– improved and harmonised living and working conditions
– social protection
– dialogue between management and labour
– development of human resources
– combating exclusion.
***
Management and labour or social partners?
In the blog post ‘European Union: Employment Committee’ we discussed the differences between the English terminology and five other language versions in the context of Article 130 TEC and Article 150 TFEU:
Management and labour
The English version of the treaties refers to consulting ‘management and labour’. We look at the wording of the sentence, first in English:
In fulfilling its mandate, the Committee shall consult management and labour.
Management and labour seem to be given more exact contours, when we turn to the German version:
Bei der Erfüllung seines Auftrags hört der Ausschuss die Sozialpartner.
The French words, likewise, gives management and labour a more precise meaning than the English treaty text:
Dans l'accomplissement de son mandat, le comité consulte les partenaires sociaux.
The Spanish treaty text catches another nuance of the parties or partners to be consulted:
Para llevar a cabo su mandato, el Comité deberá consultar a los interlocutores sociales.
The Finnish treaty text uses (almost) the same terminology as the German and the French, although the customary term evokes contracting parties (collective agreements) as much as partners in a dialogue:
Tehtäväänsä toteuttaessaan komitea kuulee työmarkkinaosapuolia.
The Swedish text uses the term ’arbetsmarknadens parter’ identical with the Finnish concept:
Kommittén ska när den utför sitt uppdrag höra arbetsmarknadens parter.
We can conclude that the drafters of the treaties have had organised employers and organised labour in mind and that national systems of collective bargaining and traditions of dialogue between management and employee interests are reflected in the various terms used. Anyway, the English version seems to be less exact than the other language versions. (The Title Social policy is imbued with references to the social partners.)
***
Social partners
Even if Article 130 TEC and Article 150 TFEU used ‘management and labour’ in the English treaty versions, ‘social partners’ is a recurring term in eurospeak or euro jargon.
The Europa Glossary outlines the meaning of ‘social partners’ in the following way (although it leans heavily on Article 138 TEC, in the current Title XI Social policy, education, vocational training and youth):
Social partners
The glossary is being updated given the recent signing of the Treaty of Lisbon.
The Commission is required to consult various social partners when it wishes to submit proposals in this field (article 138 of the EC Treaty). This social dialogue occurs via the three main cross-industry organisations representing the social partners at European level:
the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC);
the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe (BUSINESSEUROPE);
the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation (CEEP).
In addition to these three European cross-industry organisations, there are many other socio-professional groups representing specific or sectoral interests.
It is the Commission's task to promote consultation of the social partners and take any relevant measures to facilitate their dialogue by ensuring balanced support for the parties.
Before submitting proposals in the field of social policy, the Commission consults the social partners on the possible direction of EU action.
The social partners also play an important role in the European Economic and Social Committee, where they sit alongside other representatives of civil society.
***
Original Lisbon Treaty (ToL)
The Treaty of Lisbon (ToL) is still on its rocky road to possible entry into force. Agreed and signed between 27 member state governments, it has by now been approved by the national parliaments in 25 member states ahead of the original target date for entry into force (1 January 2009). Among the parliamentary ratifiers, only the holder of the next Council Presidency, the Czech Republic, looks certain to miss the agreed target date.
In addition, Ireland is pondering its European future following the negative outcome of the 12 June 2008 referendum. (You can find updated references to materials of general European interest on the debate in the posts ‘Ireland and Lisbon Treaty’ and ‘UCD Dublin European Institute: Irleand’s Future in Europe’.)
Anyway, in some instances the Lisbon Treaty is the most up-to-date manifestation of what the member state governments want the treaties to say.
On the other hand, the treaty reform process, at least since the Treaty of Nice, has been focused on so called institutional innovations. With a few notable exceptions, most areas of Community policy have only been updated and adjusted technically to the different reform treaty versions: the draft Constitution, the Constitutional Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty.
After moving Title IX Common commercial policy and Title X Customs cooperation, employment, social policy and the European Social Fund (ESF) would follow each other in a more logical order when the Lisbon Treaty is in force.
In addition, Title XI Social policy, education, vocational training and youth is divided into separate Titles, which makes the treaty easier to read.
Although the bulk of the Treaty establishing the European Community undergoes technical adjustments, Article 2, point 115 of the original Treaty of Lisbon (ToL) makes en exception by introducing a new Article (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/81):
115) The following new Article 136a shall be inserted:
‘Article 136a
The Union recognises and promotes the role of the social partners at its level, taking into account the diversity of national systems. It shall facilitate dialogue between the social partners, respecting their autonomy.
The Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment shall contribute to social dialogue.’.
***
Renumbering ToL
The Table of equivalences of the original Treaty of Lisbon tells us that the social policy title was to be renumbered Title X and that the new Article 136a TFEU (ToL) was to be renumbered Article 152 TFEU in the consolidated version of the amending treaties (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/214).
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
The new Article 152 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), in the consolidated TFEU, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, OJ 9.5.2008 C 115/114, looks like this:
(TITLE X
SOCIAL POLICY)
Article 152 TFEU
The Union recognises and promotes the role of the social partners at its level, taking into account the diversity of national systems. It shall facilitate dialogue between the social partners, respecting their autonomy.
The Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment shall contribute to social dialogue.
***
Article 152 TFEU background
The intergovernmental conference (IGC 2007) did very little creative or innovative work. Its objective was to salvage the essential ‘institutional innovations’ of the Constitutional Treaty in the form of an amending treaty. Some reform provisions were watered down, but in the end the bulk of the Lisbon Treaty far exceeded the initial notion of a ‘mini treaty’.
In other words, we have to look at the draft Constitution and the Constitutional Treaty if we want to know how we ended up with Article 152 TFEU.
***
Draft Constitution I-47
The European Convention included a new Article I-47 on the social partners and autonomous social dialogue, under Title VI The democratic life of the Union (OJ 18.7.2003 C 169/20):
Article I-47 Draft Constitution
The social partners and autonomous social dialogue
The European Union recognises and promotes the role of the social partners at Union level, taking into account the diversity of national systems; it shall facilitate dialogue between the social partners, respecting their autonomy.
***
de Poncins
Étienne de Poncins offered the following comment on the new Article I-47 in Vers une Constitution européenne (Éditions 10/18, 2003), on page 215:
« Point à relever : reconnaissance du dialogue social
Le contenu de cet article doit beaucoup aux partenaires sociaux ainsi qu’aux Conventionnels membres du Comité économique et social et bénéfiant du statut d’observateurs au sein de la Convention. La Convention reconnaît le rôle et la place du dialogue social en l’inscrivant dans la Partie I de la Constitution. »
***
Constitutional Treaty I-48
This is one of the instances where the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2003–2004) actually added something to the draft Constitution.
Article I-48 of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe retained the text of Article I-47 proposed by the European Convention and the provision’s location in the ‘constitutional’ first part, but the IGC also added a second paragraph on the Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment (OJ 16.12.2004 C 310/35):
Article I-48 Constitution
The social partners and autonomous social dialogue
The Union recognises and promotes the role of the social partners at its level, taking into account the diversity of national systems. It shall facilitate dialogue between the social partners, respecting their autonomy.
The Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment shall contribute to social dialogue.
***
From the Constitution to the Lisbon Treaty
We notice that Article 152 TFEU takes over the wording of Article I-48 Constitution without change, but the location is shifted from the lofty first part of the Constitution to the more commonplace Title on social policy.
***
Translation again
Above we noted that the English language version of the treaty employed the non-distinct term ‘management and labour’ in Article 130 TEC and Article 150 TFEU, where five other language versions evoked ‘social partners’ or something close to it.
But in Article 152 TFEU the English treaty text adopts the term ‘social partners’ and speaks of ‘social dialogue’.
The five other language versions continue to employ the customary concepts: German (Sozialpartner, soziale Dialog), French (partenaires sociaux, dialogue social), Spanish (interlocutores sociales, diálogo social), Finnish (työmarkkinaosapuolet, työmarkkinaosapuolten välinen vuoropuhelu) and Swedish (arbetsmarknadsparter, dialog mellan arbetsmarknadens parter).
***
Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment
Although the consecration of the Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment at treaty level is a novelty, this institutionalised dialogue exists informally since 2000 and formally pursuant to Council Decision 2003/174/CE of 6 March 2003 establishing a Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment (OJ 14.3.2003 L 70/31:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:070:0031:0033:EN:PDF
The Commission’s SCADPlus web page Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment offers an overview:
http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/cha/c10715.htm
Ahead of the 2008 spring European Council the Slovenian Council Presidency informed about the traditional upcoming Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment:
http://www.eu2008.si/si/News_and_Documents/Fact/March/0313_EC-SOCTripart.pdf
The current French Council Presidency is not known for being averse to summits. The latest tripartite summit was held 15 October 2008:
http://www.eu2008.fr/PFUE/site/PFUE/lang/en/sommet_social_tripartite
Ralf Grahn
We ask our readers to reflect upon a translation issue: The English treaty uses different terms in two places where five other language versions stay on track.
Some policy oriented materials are indicated for further reading.
***
Current TEC
Yesterday’s post looked at the social policy objectives of the European Community (European Union), mentioned in Article 136 TEC (ex Article 117), in the latest consolidated version of the treaties, OJ 29.12.2006 C 321 E/103:
– promotion of employment
– improved and harmonised living and working conditions
– social protection
– dialogue between management and labour
– development of human resources
– combating exclusion.
***
Management and labour or social partners?
In the blog post ‘European Union: Employment Committee’ we discussed the differences between the English terminology and five other language versions in the context of Article 130 TEC and Article 150 TFEU:
Management and labour
The English version of the treaties refers to consulting ‘management and labour’. We look at the wording of the sentence, first in English:
In fulfilling its mandate, the Committee shall consult management and labour.
Management and labour seem to be given more exact contours, when we turn to the German version:
Bei der Erfüllung seines Auftrags hört der Ausschuss die Sozialpartner.
The French words, likewise, gives management and labour a more precise meaning than the English treaty text:
Dans l'accomplissement de son mandat, le comité consulte les partenaires sociaux.
The Spanish treaty text catches another nuance of the parties or partners to be consulted:
Para llevar a cabo su mandato, el Comité deberá consultar a los interlocutores sociales.
The Finnish treaty text uses (almost) the same terminology as the German and the French, although the customary term evokes contracting parties (collective agreements) as much as partners in a dialogue:
Tehtäväänsä toteuttaessaan komitea kuulee työmarkkinaosapuolia.
The Swedish text uses the term ’arbetsmarknadens parter’ identical with the Finnish concept:
Kommittén ska när den utför sitt uppdrag höra arbetsmarknadens parter.
We can conclude that the drafters of the treaties have had organised employers and organised labour in mind and that national systems of collective bargaining and traditions of dialogue between management and employee interests are reflected in the various terms used. Anyway, the English version seems to be less exact than the other language versions. (The Title Social policy is imbued with references to the social partners.)
***
Social partners
Even if Article 130 TEC and Article 150 TFEU used ‘management and labour’ in the English treaty versions, ‘social partners’ is a recurring term in eurospeak or euro jargon.
The Europa Glossary outlines the meaning of ‘social partners’ in the following way (although it leans heavily on Article 138 TEC, in the current Title XI Social policy, education, vocational training and youth):
Social partners
The glossary is being updated given the recent signing of the Treaty of Lisbon.
The Commission is required to consult various social partners when it wishes to submit proposals in this field (article 138 of the EC Treaty). This social dialogue occurs via the three main cross-industry organisations representing the social partners at European level:
the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC);
the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe (BUSINESSEUROPE);
the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation (CEEP).
In addition to these three European cross-industry organisations, there are many other socio-professional groups representing specific or sectoral interests.
It is the Commission's task to promote consultation of the social partners and take any relevant measures to facilitate their dialogue by ensuring balanced support for the parties.
Before submitting proposals in the field of social policy, the Commission consults the social partners on the possible direction of EU action.
The social partners also play an important role in the European Economic and Social Committee, where they sit alongside other representatives of civil society.
***
Original Lisbon Treaty (ToL)
The Treaty of Lisbon (ToL) is still on its rocky road to possible entry into force. Agreed and signed between 27 member state governments, it has by now been approved by the national parliaments in 25 member states ahead of the original target date for entry into force (1 January 2009). Among the parliamentary ratifiers, only the holder of the next Council Presidency, the Czech Republic, looks certain to miss the agreed target date.
In addition, Ireland is pondering its European future following the negative outcome of the 12 June 2008 referendum. (You can find updated references to materials of general European interest on the debate in the posts ‘Ireland and Lisbon Treaty’ and ‘UCD Dublin European Institute: Irleand’s Future in Europe’.)
Anyway, in some instances the Lisbon Treaty is the most up-to-date manifestation of what the member state governments want the treaties to say.
On the other hand, the treaty reform process, at least since the Treaty of Nice, has been focused on so called institutional innovations. With a few notable exceptions, most areas of Community policy have only been updated and adjusted technically to the different reform treaty versions: the draft Constitution, the Constitutional Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty.
After moving Title IX Common commercial policy and Title X Customs cooperation, employment, social policy and the European Social Fund (ESF) would follow each other in a more logical order when the Lisbon Treaty is in force.
In addition, Title XI Social policy, education, vocational training and youth is divided into separate Titles, which makes the treaty easier to read.
Although the bulk of the Treaty establishing the European Community undergoes technical adjustments, Article 2, point 115 of the original Treaty of Lisbon (ToL) makes en exception by introducing a new Article (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/81):
115) The following new Article 136a shall be inserted:
‘Article 136a
The Union recognises and promotes the role of the social partners at its level, taking into account the diversity of national systems. It shall facilitate dialogue between the social partners, respecting their autonomy.
The Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment shall contribute to social dialogue.’.
***
Renumbering ToL
The Table of equivalences of the original Treaty of Lisbon tells us that the social policy title was to be renumbered Title X and that the new Article 136a TFEU (ToL) was to be renumbered Article 152 TFEU in the consolidated version of the amending treaties (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/214).
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
The new Article 152 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), in the consolidated TFEU, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, OJ 9.5.2008 C 115/114, looks like this:
(TITLE X
SOCIAL POLICY)
Article 152 TFEU
The Union recognises and promotes the role of the social partners at its level, taking into account the diversity of national systems. It shall facilitate dialogue between the social partners, respecting their autonomy.
The Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment shall contribute to social dialogue.
***
Article 152 TFEU background
The intergovernmental conference (IGC 2007) did very little creative or innovative work. Its objective was to salvage the essential ‘institutional innovations’ of the Constitutional Treaty in the form of an amending treaty. Some reform provisions were watered down, but in the end the bulk of the Lisbon Treaty far exceeded the initial notion of a ‘mini treaty’.
In other words, we have to look at the draft Constitution and the Constitutional Treaty if we want to know how we ended up with Article 152 TFEU.
***
Draft Constitution I-47
The European Convention included a new Article I-47 on the social partners and autonomous social dialogue, under Title VI The democratic life of the Union (OJ 18.7.2003 C 169/20):
Article I-47 Draft Constitution
The social partners and autonomous social dialogue
The European Union recognises and promotes the role of the social partners at Union level, taking into account the diversity of national systems; it shall facilitate dialogue between the social partners, respecting their autonomy.
***
de Poncins
Étienne de Poncins offered the following comment on the new Article I-47 in Vers une Constitution européenne (Éditions 10/18, 2003), on page 215:
« Point à relever : reconnaissance du dialogue social
Le contenu de cet article doit beaucoup aux partenaires sociaux ainsi qu’aux Conventionnels membres du Comité économique et social et bénéfiant du statut d’observateurs au sein de la Convention. La Convention reconnaît le rôle et la place du dialogue social en l’inscrivant dans la Partie I de la Constitution. »
***
Constitutional Treaty I-48
This is one of the instances where the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2003–2004) actually added something to the draft Constitution.
Article I-48 of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe retained the text of Article I-47 proposed by the European Convention and the provision’s location in the ‘constitutional’ first part, but the IGC also added a second paragraph on the Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment (OJ 16.12.2004 C 310/35):
Article I-48 Constitution
The social partners and autonomous social dialogue
The Union recognises and promotes the role of the social partners at its level, taking into account the diversity of national systems. It shall facilitate dialogue between the social partners, respecting their autonomy.
The Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment shall contribute to social dialogue.
***
From the Constitution to the Lisbon Treaty
We notice that Article 152 TFEU takes over the wording of Article I-48 Constitution without change, but the location is shifted from the lofty first part of the Constitution to the more commonplace Title on social policy.
***
Translation again
Above we noted that the English language version of the treaty employed the non-distinct term ‘management and labour’ in Article 130 TEC and Article 150 TFEU, where five other language versions evoked ‘social partners’ or something close to it.
But in Article 152 TFEU the English treaty text adopts the term ‘social partners’ and speaks of ‘social dialogue’.
The five other language versions continue to employ the customary concepts: German (Sozialpartner, soziale Dialog), French (partenaires sociaux, dialogue social), Spanish (interlocutores sociales, diálogo social), Finnish (työmarkkinaosapuolet, työmarkkinaosapuolten välinen vuoropuhelu) and Swedish (arbetsmarknadsparter, dialog mellan arbetsmarknadens parter).
***
Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment
Although the consecration of the Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment at treaty level is a novelty, this institutionalised dialogue exists informally since 2000 and formally pursuant to Council Decision 2003/174/CE of 6 March 2003 establishing a Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment (OJ 14.3.2003 L 70/31:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:070:0031:0033:EN:PDF
The Commission’s SCADPlus web page Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment offers an overview:
http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/cha/c10715.htm
Ahead of the 2008 spring European Council the Slovenian Council Presidency informed about the traditional upcoming Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment:
http://www.eu2008.si/si/News_and_Documents/Fact/March/0313_EC-SOCTripart.pdf
The current French Council Presidency is not known for being averse to summits. The latest tripartite summit was held 15 October 2008:
http://www.eu2008.fr/PFUE/site/PFUE/lang/en/sommet_social_tripartite
Ralf Grahn
Wednesday, 2 April 2008
EU TFEU: Exchange of young workers
Free movement of workers within the European Community (European Union) includes the idea to promote the mobility of young workers. We look at how this idea is expressed in the EU Treaty of Lisbon.
With 23 different treaty languages, we look at some questions concerning translation of both treaties and other texts within the context of the European Union.
Finally, we are left wondering if the provision we are about to discuss has been left hanging in the air, because the actions seem to be carried out in another context.
***
Article 41 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) is one of the provisions bypassed silently by the intergovernmental conference in the Treaty of Lisbon (ToL). Cf. OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/54.
We turn to the latest consolidated version of the treaties, TEU and TEC, in OJ 29.12.2006 C 321 E/58 for the current Article:
Article 41 TEC
Member States shall, within the framework of a joint programme, encourage the exchange of young workers.
***
There are no express amendments, and there seem to be no horizontal amendments to take into account either (cf. OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/41-44). We add the location of the provision and the future renumbering with the help of the annexed Tables of equivalences referred to in Article 5 of the Treaty of Lisbon (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/207-208) to arrive at the Article according to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU):
Part Three ‘Policies and internal actions of the Union’
Title III (renumbered Title IV) ‘Free movement of persons, services and capital’
Chapter 1 ‘Workers’
Article 41 TFEU (ToL), renumbered Article 47 TFEU
Member States shall, within the framework of a joint programme, encourage the exchange of young workers.
***
There was no change of wording in the English language version of Article III-20 of the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (OJ 18.7.2003 C 169/31).
In English, Article III-135 of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was unchanged, too (OJ 16.12.2004 C 310/60).
***
Translation
Translating is a necessary activity within the European Community (European Union), and dealing with translated texts is unavoidable if Community legislation and other written information is part of your work or studies.
Just as an illustration of the complexity with several treaty languages (now 23), I offer you two examples I stumbled upon while looking at this provision, as well as an added comparison.
***
Spanish
Article 41 “TEC”
Artículo 41
Los Estados miembros facilitarán, en el marco de un programa común, el intercambio de trabajadores jóvenes.
Article III-20 “Draft Treaty”
Artículo III-20
Los Estados miembros facilitarán, en el marco de un programa común, el intercambio de trabajadores jóvenes.
Article III-135 “Constitution”
Artículo III-135
Los Estados miembros propiciarán, en el marco de un programa común, el intercambio de trabajadores jóvenes.
“ToL TFEU”
Silence
We notice that nothing is said in the Lisbon Treaty, so its wording is the same as the current TEC. Still, between the draft Constitution and the Constitutional Treaty ‘facilitarán’ became ‘propiciarán’ before reverting to the existing wording. In other words, during the IGC 2004 someone made a decision to express the meaning by a different word.
***
German
Article 41 “TEC”
Artikel 41
Die Mitgliedstaaten fördern den Austausch junger Arbeitskräfte im Rahmen eines gemeinsamen Programms.
Article III-20 ”Draft Treaty”
Artikel III-20
Die Mitgliedstaaten fördern den Austausch junger Arbeitnehmer im Rahmen eines gemeinsamen Programms.
Article III-135 “Constitution”
Artikel III-135
Die Mitgliedstaaten fördern den Austausch junger Arbeitnehmer im Rahmen eines gemeinsamen Programms.
“ToL TFEU”
Silence
‘Of young workers’ is rendered as ‘junger Arbeitskräfte’ in the current TEC and the coming Lisbon Treaty, but both the draft Constitution and the Constitutional Treaty used the expression ‘junger Arbeitnehmer’, which could have a more restrictive meaning.
***
French
Article 41 “TEC”
Article 41
Les États membres favorisent, dans le cadre d’un programme commun, l’échange de jeunes travailleurs.
Article III-20 “Draft Treaty”
Article III-20
Les États membres favorisent, dans le cadre d'un programme commun, l'échange de jeunes travailleurs.
Article III-135 “Constitution”
Article III-135
Les États membres favorisent, dans le cadre d'un programme commun, l'échange de jeunes travailleurs.
“ToL TFEU”
Silence
In the French version neither the verb ‘favorisent’ nor the ‘jeunes travailleurs’ have changed along the way. Earlier we saw that the English version remained the same throughout.
***
There are certainly people more competent than I am to discuss the difficulties of presenting the intended meaning in different languages, but I mention a few questions for thought and comment:
We have noted that the French and English language versions have remained unchanged, but how well do ‘favorisent’ and ‘encourage’ express the same meaning?
How much should be read into a change of expression, like ‘propiciarán’ instead of ‘facilitarán’ or ‘junger Arbeitnehmer’ instead of ‘junger Arbeitskräfte’, in isolation from other (unchanged) language versions?
If in doubt, should other language versions be consulted?
If each treaty language is equally authentic, which of them should be compared if you want to get the exact meaning?
If the treaties – arguably the most important documents of the European Union – are given meticulous care, how much more differences are there in day to day texts, say press releases from the European Parliament?
***
The discussion above was academic in the sense that the current and the coming treaty provisions remain the same in the four languages mentioned. Insofar as they express the same meaning now, they will continue to do so.
***
Back to the contents of the Article.
Article 41 TFEU (ToL), renumbered Article 47 TFEU, is interesting in that it does not clearly address the question who should carry on the joint programme. Is it intended to be an activity of the European Community (European Union), or does it invite the governments of the member states to agree on and administer such a programme separately?
The second observation is that currently there seems to be no specific programme based on this Article, especially if by ‘young workers’ one means people employed (‘Arbeitnehmer’).
Within the context of vocational training there have been Leonardo da Vinci programmes, with the current one as one of four sectoral programmes under the heading of the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007 – 2013:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/newprog/index_en.html
Decision No. 1720/2006/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 15 November 2006, establishing an action programme in the field of lifelong learning (OJ 24.11.2006 L 327/45) does not mention Article 41 TEC as a legal basis.
Article 3 of the Decision mentions the sectoral sub-programmes, including the Leonardo da Vinci programme:
Article 3
Sub-programmes
1. The sectoral sub-programmes shall be the following:
---
(c) the Leonardo da Vinci programme, which shall address the teaching and learning needs of all those in vocational education and training, other than at tertiary level, as well as the institutions and organisations providing or facilitating such education and training;
---
Chapter III of the Decision (Articles 24 to 27) deals with access to, objectives and actions of as well as amounts allocated to the Leonardo da Vinci programme. The programme is aimed at, among others, people learning in all forms of vocational training and training (except at tertiary level) and people in the labour market. One of the objectives is to enhance the attractiveness of vocational education and training and mobility for employers and individuals and to facilitate the mobility of working trainees. An operational objective is to increase placements in enterprises to at least 80000 per year by the end of the Lifelong Learning Programme.
Ralf Grahn
With 23 different treaty languages, we look at some questions concerning translation of both treaties and other texts within the context of the European Union.
Finally, we are left wondering if the provision we are about to discuss has been left hanging in the air, because the actions seem to be carried out in another context.
***
Article 41 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) is one of the provisions bypassed silently by the intergovernmental conference in the Treaty of Lisbon (ToL). Cf. OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/54.
We turn to the latest consolidated version of the treaties, TEU and TEC, in OJ 29.12.2006 C 321 E/58 for the current Article:
Article 41 TEC
Member States shall, within the framework of a joint programme, encourage the exchange of young workers.
***
There are no express amendments, and there seem to be no horizontal amendments to take into account either (cf. OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/41-44). We add the location of the provision and the future renumbering with the help of the annexed Tables of equivalences referred to in Article 5 of the Treaty of Lisbon (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/207-208) to arrive at the Article according to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU):
Part Three ‘Policies and internal actions of the Union’
Title III (renumbered Title IV) ‘Free movement of persons, services and capital’
Chapter 1 ‘Workers’
Article 41 TFEU (ToL), renumbered Article 47 TFEU
Member States shall, within the framework of a joint programme, encourage the exchange of young workers.
***
There was no change of wording in the English language version of Article III-20 of the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (OJ 18.7.2003 C 169/31).
In English, Article III-135 of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was unchanged, too (OJ 16.12.2004 C 310/60).
***
Translation
Translating is a necessary activity within the European Community (European Union), and dealing with translated texts is unavoidable if Community legislation and other written information is part of your work or studies.
Just as an illustration of the complexity with several treaty languages (now 23), I offer you two examples I stumbled upon while looking at this provision, as well as an added comparison.
***
Spanish
Article 41 “TEC”
Artículo 41
Los Estados miembros facilitarán, en el marco de un programa común, el intercambio de trabajadores jóvenes.
Article III-20 “Draft Treaty”
Artículo III-20
Los Estados miembros facilitarán, en el marco de un programa común, el intercambio de trabajadores jóvenes.
Article III-135 “Constitution”
Artículo III-135
Los Estados miembros propiciarán, en el marco de un programa común, el intercambio de trabajadores jóvenes.
“ToL TFEU”
Silence
We notice that nothing is said in the Lisbon Treaty, so its wording is the same as the current TEC. Still, between the draft Constitution and the Constitutional Treaty ‘facilitarán’ became ‘propiciarán’ before reverting to the existing wording. In other words, during the IGC 2004 someone made a decision to express the meaning by a different word.
***
German
Article 41 “TEC”
Artikel 41
Die Mitgliedstaaten fördern den Austausch junger Arbeitskräfte im Rahmen eines gemeinsamen Programms.
Article III-20 ”Draft Treaty”
Artikel III-20
Die Mitgliedstaaten fördern den Austausch junger Arbeitnehmer im Rahmen eines gemeinsamen Programms.
Article III-135 “Constitution”
Artikel III-135
Die Mitgliedstaaten fördern den Austausch junger Arbeitnehmer im Rahmen eines gemeinsamen Programms.
“ToL TFEU”
Silence
‘Of young workers’ is rendered as ‘junger Arbeitskräfte’ in the current TEC and the coming Lisbon Treaty, but both the draft Constitution and the Constitutional Treaty used the expression ‘junger Arbeitnehmer’, which could have a more restrictive meaning.
***
French
Article 41 “TEC”
Article 41
Les États membres favorisent, dans le cadre d’un programme commun, l’échange de jeunes travailleurs.
Article III-20 “Draft Treaty”
Article III-20
Les États membres favorisent, dans le cadre d'un programme commun, l'échange de jeunes travailleurs.
Article III-135 “Constitution”
Article III-135
Les États membres favorisent, dans le cadre d'un programme commun, l'échange de jeunes travailleurs.
“ToL TFEU”
Silence
In the French version neither the verb ‘favorisent’ nor the ‘jeunes travailleurs’ have changed along the way. Earlier we saw that the English version remained the same throughout.
***
There are certainly people more competent than I am to discuss the difficulties of presenting the intended meaning in different languages, but I mention a few questions for thought and comment:
We have noted that the French and English language versions have remained unchanged, but how well do ‘favorisent’ and ‘encourage’ express the same meaning?
How much should be read into a change of expression, like ‘propiciarán’ instead of ‘facilitarán’ or ‘junger Arbeitnehmer’ instead of ‘junger Arbeitskräfte’, in isolation from other (unchanged) language versions?
If in doubt, should other language versions be consulted?
If each treaty language is equally authentic, which of them should be compared if you want to get the exact meaning?
If the treaties – arguably the most important documents of the European Union – are given meticulous care, how much more differences are there in day to day texts, say press releases from the European Parliament?
***
The discussion above was academic in the sense that the current and the coming treaty provisions remain the same in the four languages mentioned. Insofar as they express the same meaning now, they will continue to do so.
***
Back to the contents of the Article.
Article 41 TFEU (ToL), renumbered Article 47 TFEU, is interesting in that it does not clearly address the question who should carry on the joint programme. Is it intended to be an activity of the European Community (European Union), or does it invite the governments of the member states to agree on and administer such a programme separately?
The second observation is that currently there seems to be no specific programme based on this Article, especially if by ‘young workers’ one means people employed (‘Arbeitnehmer’).
Within the context of vocational training there have been Leonardo da Vinci programmes, with the current one as one of four sectoral programmes under the heading of the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007 – 2013:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/newprog/index_en.html
Decision No. 1720/2006/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 15 November 2006, establishing an action programme in the field of lifelong learning (OJ 24.11.2006 L 327/45) does not mention Article 41 TEC as a legal basis.
Article 3 of the Decision mentions the sectoral sub-programmes, including the Leonardo da Vinci programme:
Article 3
Sub-programmes
1. The sectoral sub-programmes shall be the following:
---
(c) the Leonardo da Vinci programme, which shall address the teaching and learning needs of all those in vocational education and training, other than at tertiary level, as well as the institutions and organisations providing or facilitating such education and training;
---
Chapter III of the Decision (Articles 24 to 27) deals with access to, objectives and actions of as well as amounts allocated to the Leonardo da Vinci programme. The programme is aimed at, among others, people learning in all forms of vocational training and training (except at tertiary level) and people in the labour market. One of the objectives is to enhance the attractiveness of vocational education and training and mobility for employers and individuals and to facilitate the mobility of working trainees. An operational objective is to increase placements in enterprises to at least 80000 per year by the end of the Lifelong Learning Programme.
Ralf Grahn
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
EU Treaty of Lisbon: Official languages
The expansion of the European Communities and later the European Union are reflected in the growing number of Treaty languages, although the Treaty of the first community, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), was drafted in an official version only in French, still the chosen language of European diplomacy during the first half of the 20th century.
The Treaties of Rome, on the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), were drawn up in the four languages of the six founding members: Dutch, French, German and Italian.
The successive Accession Treaties have been concluded in new languages, leading to corresponding adaptations of the Treaty languages.
The Lisbon Treaty reflects the linguistic diversity of the European Union, and it adapts the Treaties to take account of 23 equally authentic Treaty languages. In addition, the reform treaty encourages official translations by the member states of the Treaties into other official languages, i.e. regional and minority languages.
***
Speaking about languages: You can use natural, human language, or you can form part of an august body such as an intergovernmental conference and distance yourself from humanity. The IGC 2007 communicated its agreement like this in Article 53 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/40):
61) Article 53 shall be amended as follows:
(a) the first paragraph shall be numbered 1, the languages listed in the second paragraph of the current Article 53 of the Treaty on European Union shall be added to the list in this paragraph and the second paragraph shall be deleted;
(b) the following new paragraph 2 shall be added:
‘2. This Treaty may also be translated into any other languages as determined by Member States among those which, in accordance with their constitutional order, enjoy official status in all or part of their territory. A certified copy of such translations shall be provided by the Member States concerned to be deposited in the archives of the Council.’.
***
The language regime of the European Union is hardly a secret, or a novelty, so why not let a reader of the Treaty of Lisbon understand the contents at one go?
RESOLVED to speak a little closer to the citizen, I
HAVE DECIDED to present the readable and consolidated text of Article 53 TEU here:
Article 53
1. This Treaty, drawn up in a single original in the Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish languages, the texts in each of these languages being equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the Italian Republic, which will transmit a certified copy to each of the governments of the other signatory States.
2. This Treaty may also be translated into any other languages as determined by Member States among those which, in accordance with their constitutional order, enjoy official status in all or part of their territory. A certified copy of such translations shall be provided by the Member States concerned to be deposited in the archives of the Council.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned Plenipotentiaries have signed this Treaty.
***
The corresponding provision in the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), to be renamed the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), is Article 314. The original Treaty languages are mentioned in the first paragraph, the languages added by the Accession Treaties in the second paragraph and the latest additions, Bulgarian and Romanian, referred to in the Appendix, when we look at the latest consolidated version of the current TEC, in OJ 29.12.2006 C 321 E/180.
The unified draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe naturally needed only one provision on the then 21 languages, Article IV-10 Languages, to be adjusted in accordance with the Act of Accession (OJ 18.7.2003 C 169/93).
In the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe Article IV-448 Authentic texts and translations included the same 21 languages, in a numbered paragraph 1, and added a paragraph 2 on the translation of the Treaty into other official languages of the member states (OJ 16.12.2004 C 310/191).
The other novelty of the Constitutional Treaty was Declaration number 29 on linguistic diversity.
Looking at Article 53 TEU and Article 314 TFEU, to be adapted by the Treaty of Lisbon, we can see that the novelties of the Constitutional Treaty have been adopted, adding Bulgarian and Romanian.
***
The Declaration, too, has been adopted, with the number 16 (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/254):
16. Declaration on Article 53(2) of the Treaty on European Union
The Conference considers that the possibility of producing translations of the Treaties in the languages mentioned in Article 53(2) contributes to fulfilling the objective of respecting the Union's rich cultural and linguistic diversity as set forth in the fourth subparagraph of Article 2(3). In this context, the Conference confirms the attachment of the Union to the cultural diversity of Europe and the special attention it will continue to pay to these and other languages.
The Conference recommends that those Member States wishing to avail themselves of the possibility
recognised in Article 53(2) communicate to the Council, within six months from the date of the signature of the Treaty of Lisbon, the language or languages into which translations of the Treaties will be made.
***
To complete the presentation of authentic Treaty languages, we turn our attention to Article 7 of the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2007), which states that the Treaty of Lisbon itself has been drawn up in the 23 languages mentioned above (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/134).
***
The Treaty languages have both symbolic and practical importance, but the everyday use of these languages is crucial for the citizens of the European Union. The existing Article 290 TEC offers us the barest outline:
Article 290 TEC
The rules governing the languages of the institutions of the Community shall, without prejudice to the provisions contained in the Statute of the Court of Justice, be determined by the Council, acting unanimously.
The IGC 2007 adds the words ‘by means of regulations’ and adapts the names of the institutions, leading to the following new wording in the Lisbon Treaty:
Article 290 TFEU
The rules governing the languages of the institutions of the Union shall, without prejudice to the provisions contained in the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, be determined by the Council, acting unanimously by the means of regulations.
***
Here are some hints for further reading:
For the official language regime of the EU, go to Regulation No 1 determining the languages to be used by the European Economic Community (originally OJ L 17, 6.10.1958, p. 385, but with several amendments and therefore best read in the consolidated version):
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1958R0001:20070101:EN:PDF
Wikipedia offers an overview (in need of some updating) in the article Languages of the European Union:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_European_Union
***
The European Union is unique among international organisations in involving not only states but directly applicable legislation concerning private firms and individuals, as well as offering incipient democratic rules of governance and citizenship. In my view, the language regime of the European Union has to reflect the linguistic diversity of the EU and its citizens, including the novelties introduced by the Lisbon Treaty to accommodate the regional and minority languages.
Ralf Grahn
The Treaties of Rome, on the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), were drawn up in the four languages of the six founding members: Dutch, French, German and Italian.
The successive Accession Treaties have been concluded in new languages, leading to corresponding adaptations of the Treaty languages.
The Lisbon Treaty reflects the linguistic diversity of the European Union, and it adapts the Treaties to take account of 23 equally authentic Treaty languages. In addition, the reform treaty encourages official translations by the member states of the Treaties into other official languages, i.e. regional and minority languages.
***
Speaking about languages: You can use natural, human language, or you can form part of an august body such as an intergovernmental conference and distance yourself from humanity. The IGC 2007 communicated its agreement like this in Article 53 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/40):
61) Article 53 shall be amended as follows:
(a) the first paragraph shall be numbered 1, the languages listed in the second paragraph of the current Article 53 of the Treaty on European Union shall be added to the list in this paragraph and the second paragraph shall be deleted;
(b) the following new paragraph 2 shall be added:
‘2. This Treaty may also be translated into any other languages as determined by Member States among those which, in accordance with their constitutional order, enjoy official status in all or part of their territory. A certified copy of such translations shall be provided by the Member States concerned to be deposited in the archives of the Council.’.
***
The language regime of the European Union is hardly a secret, or a novelty, so why not let a reader of the Treaty of Lisbon understand the contents at one go?
RESOLVED to speak a little closer to the citizen, I
HAVE DECIDED to present the readable and consolidated text of Article 53 TEU here:
Article 53
1. This Treaty, drawn up in a single original in the Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish languages, the texts in each of these languages being equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the Italian Republic, which will transmit a certified copy to each of the governments of the other signatory States.
2. This Treaty may also be translated into any other languages as determined by Member States among those which, in accordance with their constitutional order, enjoy official status in all or part of their territory. A certified copy of such translations shall be provided by the Member States concerned to be deposited in the archives of the Council.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned Plenipotentiaries have signed this Treaty.
***
The corresponding provision in the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), to be renamed the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), is Article 314. The original Treaty languages are mentioned in the first paragraph, the languages added by the Accession Treaties in the second paragraph and the latest additions, Bulgarian and Romanian, referred to in the Appendix, when we look at the latest consolidated version of the current TEC, in OJ 29.12.2006 C 321 E/180.
The unified draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe naturally needed only one provision on the then 21 languages, Article IV-10 Languages, to be adjusted in accordance with the Act of Accession (OJ 18.7.2003 C 169/93).
In the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe Article IV-448 Authentic texts and translations included the same 21 languages, in a numbered paragraph 1, and added a paragraph 2 on the translation of the Treaty into other official languages of the member states (OJ 16.12.2004 C 310/191).
The other novelty of the Constitutional Treaty was Declaration number 29 on linguistic diversity.
Looking at Article 53 TEU and Article 314 TFEU, to be adapted by the Treaty of Lisbon, we can see that the novelties of the Constitutional Treaty have been adopted, adding Bulgarian and Romanian.
***
The Declaration, too, has been adopted, with the number 16 (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/254):
16. Declaration on Article 53(2) of the Treaty on European Union
The Conference considers that the possibility of producing translations of the Treaties in the languages mentioned in Article 53(2) contributes to fulfilling the objective of respecting the Union's rich cultural and linguistic diversity as set forth in the fourth subparagraph of Article 2(3). In this context, the Conference confirms the attachment of the Union to the cultural diversity of Europe and the special attention it will continue to pay to these and other languages.
The Conference recommends that those Member States wishing to avail themselves of the possibility
recognised in Article 53(2) communicate to the Council, within six months from the date of the signature of the Treaty of Lisbon, the language or languages into which translations of the Treaties will be made.
***
To complete the presentation of authentic Treaty languages, we turn our attention to Article 7 of the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2007), which states that the Treaty of Lisbon itself has been drawn up in the 23 languages mentioned above (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/134).
***
The Treaty languages have both symbolic and practical importance, but the everyday use of these languages is crucial for the citizens of the European Union. The existing Article 290 TEC offers us the barest outline:
Article 290 TEC
The rules governing the languages of the institutions of the Community shall, without prejudice to the provisions contained in the Statute of the Court of Justice, be determined by the Council, acting unanimously.
The IGC 2007 adds the words ‘by means of regulations’ and adapts the names of the institutions, leading to the following new wording in the Lisbon Treaty:
Article 290 TFEU
The rules governing the languages of the institutions of the Union shall, without prejudice to the provisions contained in the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, be determined by the Council, acting unanimously by the means of regulations.
***
Here are some hints for further reading:
For the official language regime of the EU, go to Regulation No 1 determining the languages to be used by the European Economic Community (originally OJ L 17, 6.10.1958, p. 385, but with several amendments and therefore best read in the consolidated version):
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1958R0001:20070101:EN:PDF
Wikipedia offers an overview (in need of some updating) in the article Languages of the European Union:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_European_Union
***
The European Union is unique among international organisations in involving not only states but directly applicable legislation concerning private firms and individuals, as well as offering incipient democratic rules of governance and citizenship. In my view, the language regime of the European Union has to reflect the linguistic diversity of the EU and its citizens, including the novelties introduced by the Lisbon Treaty to accommodate the regional and minority languages.
Ralf Grahn
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