How
can the European Union create laws that are uniform in a multitude of
languages? Specifically, how can it attain both legal integration and
language diversity simultaneously, without the latter compromising the
former? C.J.W. Baaij argues that the answer lies in the domain of
translation. A uniform interpretation and application of EU law begins
with the ways in which translators and jurist-linguists of the EU
legislative bodies translate the original legislative draft texts into
the various language versions. In the European Union, law and language
are inherently connected. The EU pursues legal integration, i.e. the
incremental harmonization and unification of its Member States' laws,
for the purpose of reducing national regulatory differences between
Member States. However, in its commitment to the diversity of European
languages, its legislative institutions enact legislative instruments in
24 languages. Language Diversity and Legal Integration assesses these
seemingly incompatible policy objectives and contemporary translation
practices in the EU legislative procedure, and proposes an alternative,
source-oriented approach that better serves EU policy objectives.
Contrary to the orthodox view in academic literature and to the current
policies of the EU, this book suggests that the English language version
should serve as the original and only authentic legislative text.
Translation into the other language versions should furthermore avoid
prioritizing clarity and fluency over syntactic correspondence and
employ neologisms for distinctly EU legal concepts. Ultimately, Baaij
provides practical solutions to the conflict between the equality of all
language versions, and the need for uniform interpretation and
application of EU law.
