Eurospeak

There is UK, US, Australian, Indian, South African & many more "Englishes". There is also EU English ("Eurospeak"). This is a special English used by a special body: the European Union. Let's explore it!

English as a drafting language of EU texts is supposedly a neutral English, distinct from the common law systems and from the cultural constraints of countries using English as a national language. However, it is a contaminated English, bearing traces of foreign influence. Over the years, the European institutions have developed a vocabulary that differs from that of any recognised form of English. It includes words that do not exist or are relatively unknown outside the EU institutions. Here are some examples, all taken form EU documents.

The issue of vacancies mainly concerns contract agents; it is not the high turnover as such but rather a matter of finding staff with the appropriate expertise.

An agent is someone who works for a government intelligence agency, or a person who represents another person or company. The EU uses it to refer to their staff in general.

The breakdown of staff by the executive agencies was as follows: Temporary agents (officials seconded by the Commission and agents recruited by the agency) | Contractual agents | Seconded national experts | Total.

Again, a reference to staff, this time using contractual, which normally refers to something laid down in a contract (its terms), rather than somebody being under contract.

In order to respect the delay for transmission, the Commission can make small changes to the notification provided that they are agreed with the notifying member prior to transmission.

Respect the delay? Can you do that? Quite a common EU use: delay in terms of a deadline or time limit. Maybe the train is delayed, or you face a delay in delivery or payment. In any case, you are late, or you take longer than necessary. Thus, respecting a delay is linguistic nonsense. One might see French influence here (délai = deadline), which was the preferred drafting language until the early 1990's. Since then, English has become the prevailing language, but French is still the language of deliberation of the Courts of the European Union. Moreover, the word transmission (and the verb transmit) often pop up in EU documents where they simply mean send, submit or forward. To most people, transmission works with radio, television or data, but not with letters, reports or e-mails.

The European Parliament acknowledges and welcomes the success of state-building efforts by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, which have been supported by the EU and endorsed by various international actors.

We have actors in plays and film, also in real life when someone puts on a false manner in order to deceive others. In EU usage, actors are often simply people who perform actions.

The Commission shall, on the basis of the information provided by the Member States, publish on its website the details of the provisions approved by each Member State which transpose Directive 2006/112/EC.

What a strange word! Rarely used in mainstream English. It has a clear meaning in Eurospeak: to incorporate the provisions of a Directive into national legislation.

During the reporting phase the Agency shall establish a final inspection report containing details of the conduct of the inspection.

You can establish contact, criteria, facts, relations, schools or companies. You can even establish yourself as a pivotal figure in language learning. Here we have another common EU use: draw up or draft (a report etc).

Such activities shall not incite consumers to buy a product due to its particular origin.

Wow. The meaning here is to make or encourage someone to buy something – but not by exercising violence other unlawful behaviour as incite suggests. How inciting!

Fees and charges imposed by the customs authorities, including fees and charges for tasks undertaken by another instance on behalf of the said authorities. A certain percentage of cases cannot be signposted to another instance.

Here we have instance in terms of a decision-making body or authority. Sorry, folks, this meaning does not exist in English.

The audit of recruitment procedures showed that the selection of applicants invited for an interview — about 80 % of applicants are rejected at this stage — was made by only one member of the jury. 

Are we in court here? No! In a talent show maybe? No! A jury might assess your singing or dancing skills, and in law, it is a group of people sworn to deliver a verdict in a criminal case. In the context of recruitment, we have boards or panels.

As this hypothesis was not retained by the social partners, the conclusion will differ.

Quite simply: retain = keep (English) — select/choose/adopt (Eurospeak)

It is also part of ERA’s effort to provide to its stakeholders a thorough overview of the development of railway safety in the European Union.

Do you provide something to someone, or someone with something? The latter.

A few preferences

• employee/staff member: worker
• business(wo)man: entrepreneur
• application/petition: request
• shareholder: equity holder
• share: interest
• claim: entitlement
• remedy: appeal
• management: directors

Special note on REQUEST

In Eurospeak, request is often used instead of ask. While there is nothing wrong with ask, it might not be posh enough. So here we go:

The European Parliament requested the Commission to clarify the Court’s right of access.

Even worse, you will come across a lot of (incorrect) request for wordings.

In some cases, request is also used for applications. When you seek patent protection, for instance, you file a request for the grant of a patent with the European Patent Office.

Special note on OF

The most popular preposition in Eurospeak, often replacing others:

• previous reports of the Court
• communication of the Commission
• EC reports of the projects

Moreover, phrases with of are often used instead of possessive -s constructions or noun-noun compounds:

• the reports of the Court | the Court’s reports
• communications of the Commission | Commission communications

This can lead to ambiguity:

The system of control of the Commission.

Is the Commission being controlled or audited here? Or is it doing the controlling? Who knows.

Special note on SHALL

Shall has sparkled much debate everywhere. It is without a doubt the most overused, misused and abused word in legal English. For proponents of plain English, it should be thrown into a dungeon and never see the light of day again. Others are fine with it if used correctly. It is used big time in legislation and contracts, as well as in direct quotes from them. In Eurospeak, it also works with paraphrasing and indirect quotes:

Competent authority: The central authority of a Member State competent for the organisation of official controls, or any other authority to which that competence has been conferred. It shall also include, where appropriate, the corresponding authority of a third country.

Shall is a real dogma in the legal arena. There are plenty of alternatives in the toolbox — you just have to open it: must, have to, is, is to, is obliged to, is under an obligation to, will, or simply the present tense of the main verb (as appropriate). Unfortunately, that would be a topic for another article, which I may or may not write.

C'est la vie.

Credits to Jeremy Gardner who collected many of these examples in the European Court of Auditors 2016 guide "Misused English words and expressions in EU publications".