Thread: Knowledge Updates

Making sense of the European Union: references and resources

Marie Bourke – Brussels, Belgium

The European Union has been through numerous changes — and some false starts — in recent years. Following the introduction of the euro in 2000, a wave of new members in 2004 and 2007, and the debate on a Constitution for Europe, we now have the Lisbon Treaty—or do we? And what, if anything, does it have to do with the Lisbon Strategy? Do we even know what these are? It can be difficult to keep track, and the ins and outs of EU decision making leave the best of translators and editors at a loss for answers on occasions. This presentation will briefly explain some basic processes and point to some of the publicly available sources and resources that European Commission translators use to refer to EU issues correctly. These include an in-house English Style Guide, which also covers basic terminology and background facts, the Eur-Lex database of EU legislation and the summaries of legislation provided on the ‘Europa’ website europa.eu. A resource list will be provided.

Marie Bourke is a translator and editor for the European Commission, having previously worked as a research assistant, freelance translator and journalist. She holds a BA in European Studies and a DPhil in Modern European History.