(Note: To learn more about Clear Writing, you can use my free 800-plus interactive exercises with time limit and automatic scoring at
https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/)
"The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU." (Wikipedia)
(1) "EU targets jargon with clear writing campaign" at
http://www.dw.com/en/eu-targets-jargon-with-clear-writing-campaign/a-16248889Excerpts:
The European Union can seem impenetrable to outsiders. But in the past few years, the EU has taken a number of active steps to improve transparency. They’ve started by tackling the issue of jargon-heavy language.
There are 23 official languages of the European Union. But due to time and budgetary constraints, only official documents are translated into every language. For the most part, English has become the main day-to-day language of communication for the tens of thousands of civil servants working in Brussels.
For Paul Strickland, head of editing at the European Commission’s translation department, that poses a challenge.
"More and more documents in the Commission are being drafted in English by people for whom English is not their mother tongue," Strickland explains. "And this is the number one source of the Commission's communication issues."
(2) "Working on clarity at the European Commission" at
http://www.clarity-international.net/working-on-clarity-at-the-european-commission/Excerpt: "Practical steps in the Clear Writing campaign currently include: a booklet and online resources including a helpline that offers a response within the hour, 30 minutes for each new joiner telling them about the available resource, and training for the people responsible for specific documents or groups of documents."
(3) Clear Writing resources/guidelines from the European Commission at
http://ec.europa.eu/translation/index_en.htm"How to write clearly" for legislation, technical report, minutes, press release, or speech (free PDF; download from
http://bookshop.europa.eu/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/EU-Bookshop-Site/en_GB/-/EUR/ViewPublication-Start?PublicationKey=HC3212148)
"Claire's clear writing tips" practical tips in English and French, 2014 (free PDF; direct link at
http://ec.europa.eu/translation/documents/clear_writing_tips_en.pdf)
"English Style Guide" at
http://ec.europa.eu/ipg/content/tips/sources/index_en.htm or direct link at
http://ec.europa.eu/translation/english/guidelines/documents/styleguide_english_dgt_en.pdfNote: Other terms for Clear Writing are Plain English and Plain Language.
