European Commission
Directorate-General for Translation
English
Style Guide
A handbook for authors and translators in the European Commission
Seventh edition: August 2011
Last updated: March 2012
The English Style Guide is updated regularly. For the latest version, see http://ec.europa.eu/translation/english/guidelines/documents/styleguide_english_dgt_en.pdf
For what’s new, see http://ec.europa.eu/translation/english/guidelines/documents/whats_new_style_guide_en.pdf
English Style Guide
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CONTENTS |
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Introduction................................................................................ |
1 |
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Part I |
Writing English .................................................................... |
3 |
1 |
SPELLING......................................................................................................... |
5 |
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CONVENTIONS .............................................................................................. |
5 |
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INTERFERENCE EFFECTS............................................................................ |
7 |
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CAPITAL LETTERS........................................................................................ |
8 |
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GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES........................................................................... |
10 |
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HYPHENS AND COMPOUND WORDS ..................................................... |
12 |
2 |
PUNCTUATION ............................................................................................. |
15 |
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FULL STOP.................................................................................................... |
15 |
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COLON ........................................................................................................... |
15 |
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SEMICOLON ................................................................................................. |
16 |
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COMMA ......................................................................................................... |
16 |
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DASHES ......................................................................................................... |
18 |
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BRACKETS.................................................................................................... |
19 |
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QUESTION MARK........................................................................................ |
19 |
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EXCLAMATION MARK .............................................................................. |
20 |
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QUOTATION MARKS.................................................................................. |
20 |
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APOSTROPHE............................................................................................... |
21 |
3 |
NUMBERS....................................................................................................... |
22 |
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WRITING OUT NUMBERS.......................................................................... |
23 |
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FRACTIONS................................................................................................... |
24 |
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RANGES......................................................................................................... |
24 |
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DATES AND TIMES ..................................................................................... |
25 |
4 |
ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS ................................................................ |
26 |
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ABBREVIATIONS......................................................................................... |
26 |
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MATHEMATICAL SYMBOLS .................................................................... |
29 |
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SCIENTIFIC SYMBOLS AND UNITS OF MEASUREMENT ................... |
29 |
5 |
FOREIGN IMPORTS ...................................................................................... |
31 |
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FOREIGN WORDS AND PHRASES IN ENGLISH TEXT ......................... |
31 |
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ROMANISATION SYSTEMS....................................................................... |
31 |
6 |
VERBS ............................................................................................................. |
32 |
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SINGULAR OR PLURAL AGREEMENT.................................................... |
32 |
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PRESENT PERFECT/SIMPLE PAST ........................................................... |
33 |
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TENSES IN MINUTES .................................................................................. |
33 |
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VERBS IN LEGISLATION ........................................................................... |
34 |
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English Style Guide
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SPLIT INFINITIVE........................................................................................ |
36 |
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THE GERUND AND THE POSSESSIVE..................................................... |
37 |
7 |
LISTS............................................................................................................... |
38 |
8 |
SCIENCE GUIDE ........................................................................................... |
39 |
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SCIENTIFIC NAMES .................................................................................... |
39 |
9 |
FOOTNOTES, CITATIONS AND REFERENCES.......................................... |
41 |
10 |
CORRESPONDENCE..................................................................................... |
42 |
11 |
NAMES AND TITLES ..................................................................................... |
44 |
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PERSONAL NAMES AND TITLES ............................................................. |
44 |
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NAMES OF BODIES ..................................................................................... |
45 |
12 |
GENDER-NEUTRAL LANGUAGE ................................................................ |
46 |
Part II |
About the European Union ................................................... |
49 |
13 |
THE EUROPEAN UNION .............................................................................. |
51 |
14 |
PRIMARY LEGISLATION .............................................................................. |
52 |
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THE TREATIES — AN OVERVIEW........................................................... |
52 |
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THE TREATIES IN DETAIL ........................................................................ |
53 |
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TREATY CITATIONS................................................................................... |
55 |
15 |
SECONDARY LEGISLATION ........................................................................ |
56 |
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LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURES.................................................................... |
57 |
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TITLES AND NUMBERING ........................................................................ |
57 |
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STRUCTURE OF ACTS ................................................................................ |
60 |
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REFERRING TO SUBDIVISIONS OF ACTS .............................................. |
61 |
16 |
THE EU INSTITUTIONS ................................................................................ |
62 |
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COMMISSION ............................................................................................... |
62 |
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COUNCIL....................................................................................................... |
63 |
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EUROPEAN COUNCIL................................................................................. |
64 |
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EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT......................................................................... |
64 |
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COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION ................................. |
65 |
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COURT OF AUDITORS................................................................................ |
67 |
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EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE ........................... |
67 |
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COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS................................................................ |
67 |
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EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK.................................................................... |
67 |
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OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ........................................................ |
68 |
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AGENCIES..................................................................................................... |
68 |
17 |
REFERENCES TO OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS........................................... |
68 |
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THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL........................................................................... |
68 |
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BULLETIN AND GENERAL REPORT ....................................................... |
69 |
18 |
EU FINANCES................................................................................................ |
69 |
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BUDGET ........................................................................................................ |
70 |
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English Style Guide
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FUNDS FINANCED FROM THE BUDGET ................................................ |
71 |
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OTHER FUNDS ............................................................................................. |
71 |
19 |
MEMBER STATES .......................................................................................... |
72 |
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PERMANENT REPRESENTATIONS/REPRESENTATIVES .................... |
72 |
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NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS ....................................................................... |
73 |
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NATIONAL JUDICIAL BODIES .................................................................. |
73 |
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NATIONAL LEGISLATION ......................................................................... |
73 |
20 OFFICIAL LANGUAGES AND CURRENCIES ............................................. |
74 |
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OFFICIAL LANGUAGES ............................................................................. |
74 |
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CURRENCIES ................................................................................................ |
75 |
21 |
EXTERNAL RELATIONS ................................................................................ |
75 |
Annexes |
.................................................................................... |
79 |
Annex 1 TRANSLITERATION TABLE FOR GREEK ............................................... |
81 |
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Annex ...........................................2 TRANSLITERATION TABLE FOR CYRILLIC |
85 |
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Annex ...............................................................................3 FORMS OF ADDRESS |
87 |
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Companion volume: |
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|
Country Compendium |
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English Style Guide
Introduction
This Style Guide is intended primarily for English-language authors and translators, both in-house and freelance, working for the European Commission. But now that so many texts in and around the EU institutions are drafted in English by native and nonnative speakers alike, its rules, reminders and handy references aim to serve a wider readership as well.
In this Guide, ‘style’ is synonymous with a set of accepted linguistic conventions; it therefore refers to recommended in-house usage, not to literary style. Excellent advice on how to improve writing style is given in The Plain English Guide by Martin Cutts (Oxford University Press, 1999) and Style: Towards Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams (University of Chicago Press, 1995), and the European Commission’s own How to write clearly, all of which encourage the use of good plain English. For reasons of stylistic consistency, the variety of English on which this Guide bases its instructions and advice is the standard usage of Britain and Ireland (for the sake of convenience, called ‘British usage’ or ‘British English’ in this Guide).
The Guide is divided into two clearly distinct parts, the first dealing with linguistic conventions applicable in all contexts and the second with the workings of the European Union — and with how those workings are expressed and reflected in English. This should not be taken to imply that ‘EU English’ is different from ‘real English’; it is simply a reflection of the fact that the European Union as a unique body has had to invent a terminology to describe itself. However, the overriding aim in both parts of the Guide is to facilitate and encourage the writing of clear and reader-friendly English.
Writing in clear language can be difficult at the Commission, since much of the subject matter is complex and more and more is written in English by (and for) non-native speakers, or by native speakers who are beginning to lose touch with their language after years of working in a multilingual environment. We must nevertheless try to set an example by using language that is as clear, simple, and accessible as possible, out of courtesy to our readers and consideration for the image of the Commission.
In legislative texts, accuracy and clarity are of course paramount. But legal or bureaucratic language that we might regard as pompous elsewhere has its place in both legislation and preparatory drafting, though the specialist terms must be embedded in rock-solid, straightforward English syntax. In some cases — departmental memos or papers for specialist committees — we may regard ‘Eurospeak’ as acceptable professional shorthand; searching here for ‘plain English’ periphrases wastes time and simply irritates readers.
By contrast, in-house jargon is not appropriate in documents addressing the general public such as leaflets or web pages. Information of practical use, e.g. on rights, applying for jobs or accessing funding, must be immediately understandable even to those unfamiliar with the workings and vocabulary of the EU. This also means, for example, using short paragraphs, simple syntax and highlighting devices such as bullets.
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For more information on writing web pages in particular, see the ‘Writing for the web’ section of the Commission’s Information Provider’s Guide.
So ‘style’ is a matter of everyday concern to both authors and translators, for whom we hope this Guide will be a practical source of information and an aid to consistency. We have tried to bring together much that is available disparately in publications such as the Interinstitutional Style Guide published by the EU Publications Office, the Commission’s Legislative Drafting Manual and the interinstitutionally produced Joint Practical Guide for the drafting of EU legislation. Needless to say, our Guide does not in any way aim to replace these publications, which are well worth consulting in their own right.
The English Style Guide’s current Editorial Committee is:
Tim Cooper
John Fallas
Francis Flaherty
John Jones
Tim Martin
Jonathan Stockwell
Julia Townsend
Peter Workman
All work for the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation.
Many others have contributed their time and expertise over the years, and even though they remain nameless here, they are not forgotten.
The current edition of the Guide is the seventh. The first was published back in 1982. This seventh edition has been slimmed down considerably, since nearly all the annexes have been removed. Most of the information they contained is now set out more clearly and logically by country in an accompanying document called the ‘Country Compendium: A companion to the English Style Guide’.
While we have done our best to ensure that the information set out in this Guide is relevant, correct and up to date, errors and omissions are inevitable. If you have any comments on the content of the Guide, please send them by email to DGT-EN- TERM@ec.europa.eu.
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English Style Guide
Part I
Writing English
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English Style Guide
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