Multilingual and Supranational Law in the EU: ‘United in Diversity’ or ‘Tower of Babel‘?

• Colneric, Ninon ^[1]
  1. [1] China University of Political Science and Law

     China University of Political Science and Law

     China

     
• Localización: Legal Linguistics Beyond Borders: Language and Law in a World of Media, Globalisation and Social Conflicts: Relaunching the International Language and Law Association (ILLA) / coord. por Vogel Friedemann, 2019, ISBN 978-3-428-15423-4, págs. 167-186
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto Completo Libro
• Resumen

  • In the world of international organisations, the highly developed multilinguism of the EU is unique. This contribution provides an overview of the rules about language governing the communications between the EU institutions and Member States or citizens on the one hand and the intra- and interinstitutional communications of the EU on the other. It looks at the working of this language regime in practice and at the difficulties inherent in drafting and interpreting multilingual supranational law. The status of English after the Brexit is investigated. The final part discusses a proposal to make the language spoken and understood by the greatest number of EU citizens the unique working language of EU institutions and to abandon the principle of equal authenticity of all 24 language versions of legislative acts of the EU in favour of just one authentic version (weak multilinguism).