Catherine,
When EU legislation is final and published in the Official Journal, all
language versions are published simultaneously, i.e. the same day. All
language versions are official. Translation nuances are supposed to be
worked out by the Council's legal linquists prior to publication.
Obviously, problems can come up when trying to get one phrase to come out
exactly the same in 11 languages.
When legislation is in progress, there could be any number of language
permutations. Generally, the Commission services will draft preliminary
documents in either English or French but when the Commission issues a
proposal it comes out in all 11 official languages at the same time. In
Council working parties there may be variations but any delegation can
insist on having a copy in its own language. Certainly, when it comes close
to adoption, there is a version in each official language.
So, there is no standard rule for French except in the Court of Justice.
There the rule is French and the language of the plaintiff for filings and
pleadings and the language of the Advocate General for the AG opinion. All
deliberations and documents exchanged among the Court members are in French
only. Only after the judgement is made are translations done for all other
languages.
-----Original Message-----
From: Felgate, Catherine [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2001 10:58 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: EU Legislation
Dear Colleagues,
Please could someone clear up a couple of queries that i have. The first is
whether or not pieces of EU legislation are first published in French before
they are translated in other languages? Alternatively, is it the case that
they are first published in the language of the country of presidency and
then other languages?
On the same lines, i have been asked to find out whether the French
translation of Directive 96/92/EC concerning common rules for the internal
market in electricity is the official version or if the English version is
of equal authority. It is specifically regarding article 7 of this
directive. I have been told that article 7 of the French version has been
translated differently than the English version?
Many thanks for your help for you help with this.
Regards,
Catherine Felgate
Information Officer
Norton Rose
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