Plenary Lectures (28.06.2021, 9:00 – 11:00 CEST)

Chair: Prof. Dr. Réka Somssich

Speakers: Mónica Fuentes García and Roberto Spadaro (Council of the European Union),
Kinga Wynands-Szentmáry (European Parliament)

1. Abstract

The EU is unique in legislating in 24 languages. As the different language versions of the EU acts are equally authentic, the legislative procedure is not only a legal but also a linguistic challenge characterized by the continuous striving for quality. Within this process some actors behind the scenes do play a major role in ensuring coherence between the different language versions and consistency at the level of the legal terminology in the respective languages. In this panel, three lawyer linguists working at the two legislative institutions of the EU, the Council and the European Parliament, will give an overview on how legal revision is ensured in the legislative procedure and when drafting EU acts in general, why the right choice of legal and technical terms matters, how they meet terminology choices and in what way the lawyer linguists of the two institutions cooperate with each other. The presentations will be accompanied by illustrative practical examples.

2. Recommended literature:

Ruiz-Cortés, JLL 8 (2019): 34–49, DOI: 10.14762/jll.2019.034

Roberston, Colin (2013): How the European Union functions in 23 languages. SYNAPS - A Journal of Professional Communication 28, pp. 14-32.