Reader J.W.J. sent in a link to "A brief list of misused English terminology in EU publications", a document to be found on the web site of the European Commission under the heading of "Translation and Drafting Resources". Though perhaps "brief" by the standards of the European Commission, this remarkable document is in fact 33 pages long. Its Introduction begins:
Over the years, the European institutions have developed a vocabulary that differs from that of any recognised form of English. It includes words that do not exist or are relatively unknown to native English speakers outside the EU institutions (‘planification’, ‘to precise’ or ‘telematics’ for example) and words that are used with a meaning, often derived from other languages, that is not usually found in English dictionaries (‘coherent’ being a case in point). Some words are used with more or less the correct meaning, but in contexts where they would not be used by native speakers (‘homogenise’, for example).
The body of the document includes footnoted examples, with explanations and suggested alternatives. For example:
Planification
Explanation: ‘Planification’ does not exist in English, but it comes up quite regularly. The example below comes from a published Court report.
Example: ‘Simplified procedures and better planification should make it possible to even out the caseload under FP6, improving internal control and speeding up processes83.’
Alternative: planning.
Footnote 83 leads here, though unfortunately I get a "504 Gateway Time-out" error for that link. However, a web search for {"simplified procedures and better planification"} locates this alternative link.
Among the many lovely examples of Eurenglish (Euroglish?) on display, there are some for which Brussels bears at most secondary responsibility:
Comitology
Explanation: There are 1 253 instances of the word ‘comitology’ in EUR-Lex. However, not only does the word not exist outside the EU institutions, but it is formed from a misspelt stem (committee has two ‘m’s and two ‘t’s) and a suffix that means something quite different (-ology/-logy means ‘the science of’ or ‘the study of’. It is therefore highly unlikely that an outsider would be able to deduce its meaning, even in context.
Example: ‘The Commission must draft new rules setting out the powers and workings of the bodies replacing the Committees in the framework of the now-abolished comitology procedure, to ensure that the new system operates properly32.’
Alternative: The official term is ‘committee procedure’.
"Comitology" actually has an OED entry, with the first citations well before the 1993 Maastricht Treaty established the European Union:
Originally: the study of the organization and functions of committees. In later use also: committees and their practices considered collectively, now esp. in the context of the implementation of European Union legislation and policy.
1956 C. N. Parkinson in Economist 3 Nov. 395/1 The Life cycle of the committee is so basic to our knowledge of current affairs that it is surprising that more attention has not been paid to the science of comitology.
1966 Times 15 Sept. 1/4 Comitology (the Science of Committee-sitting) is an old method of playing for time.
1974 Amer. Speech 49 215 We need a term for the study of committees, their structure and functioning. How about commitology?
And the (entirely straight-faced) Wikipedia article suggests that even the OED's gloss is too limited:
Comitology in the European Union refers to a process by which EU law is modified or adjusted and takes place within "comitology committees" chaired by the European Commission. Comitology committees are part of the EU's broader system of committees that assist in the making, adoption, and implementation of EU laws.
Anyhow, although the misused-terminology memo seems a bit fussy in spots, it includes many lovely quotations:
‘In case of pigs and poultry, at least 20 % of the feed shall come from the farm unit itself.’
‘The rights of the operators should be guaranteed through a contradictory procedure with its Flag State, the criteria for the listing should be clear, objective and transparent, and the de-listing process when the criteria are not met any longer should also be foreseen.’
‘An alert mechanism that allows competent authorities to warn other Member States of a serious risk caused by an economic operator to the proper and secure functioning of the Single Market.’
‘This proposal for a new basic regulation is justified because there is a need to precise the objectives of the CFP.’
‘Whereas Article 4 (a) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1164/89 (3), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2095/93 (4), lays down, inter alia, that the aid is to be granted only in respect of areas harvested, on condition that normal cultivation work has been carried out; whereas, if the aid scheme is to operate properly, a definition should be given of what is meant by harvest, on the one hand, and on the other only those cultivation practices which seek to valorize almost the whole of the product cultivated should be accepted.’
‘An important part of the system is the role played by the Control and Finance Section which has to visa all transactions before they can be authorised.’
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