European Union

The European Union now affects the lives of everyone in the United Kingdom. But for many people, European politics and government are a mystery - and jargon is a major cause of this confusion.

It's not just the man in the street who struggles with European Union documents. People who work in the Union's institutions have to deal with documents written in many different languages. The European Commission's translation department employs more translators than any other organisation in the world. If the original document is not written clearly, the translators can only make the best of a bad job.

We fight for plain English in European Union documents with the help of Peter Rodney, Senior Legal Draftsman for the Government of Gibraltar. His experience includes:

• putting European Commission directives into practice;
• advising the House of Commons Select Committee on European Laws; and
• advising judges at the European Free Trade Area Court in Geneva on drafting in a plain English style.

We want your examples of poorly written documents about European Union issues. You can e-mail us at europe@plainenglish.co.uk.

You can search for news stories about the European Union or examples of legal gobbledygook using the search tool on the left, or by visiting the Past newsletters section or the Golden Bulls archive.

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