Multilingualism Policy

The European Union is at the heart of the daily lives of some 450 million European citizens. In order to communicate with all of its citizens, and, in particular, to guarantee equal treatment, transparency and accessibility of decisions, the European Union must speak their language.

Multilingualism is a founding principle of the EU. It reflects the value of “cultural and linguistic diversity”, which is protected in the EU treaties (TEU and TFEU) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. It symbolises the EU’s aim to be “united in diversity”.

The EU promotes multilingualism in all its institutions. All EU staff must be able to speak several EU languages. Public events, such as parliamentary sessions or Court hearings, take place in any of the official EU languages with interpretation provided into many more. Legislation is published in all official languages. Any EU citizen has the right to access information, contact the institutions and receive a response in their own language, including from the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Multilingualism at the Court

The EU currently has 24 official languages: Bulgarian, Spanish, Czech, Danish, German, Estonian, Greek, English, French, Irish, Croatian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Maltese, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Finnish and Swedish.

The Court works in all 24 languages. This is something no other court in the world does. It means the Court must be able to handle a total of 552 possible linguistic-combinations, since documents in each language can be translated into 23 others.

The Court’s multilingualism policy ensures that those involved in a case can communicate with the Court in any of the EU’s official languages. It also allows everyone to read and understand the Court’s judgments.

Multilingualism is part of the DNA of the Court; it is an integral part of what the Court does and how it works.

To find out more about the multilingual aspect of the Court’s work, please visit our website dedicated to multilingualism.

Court Proceedings

The Court's multilingualism policy is applied in various ways at every stage of a case.

It can be found in the Rules of Procedure.

“Language of the case”

Cases can be brought to the Court in any of the 24 official languages.

The language of the case is determined as soon as the case reaches the Court, based on the Rules of Procedure.

It is usually the language used by the applicant bringing the case, or the one used by the national court seeking guidance on certain provisions of EU law.

Why is the language of the case important? The parties present their arguments — both written and oral — in the language of the case, and anything in another language must be translated. The Court’s legal translation service translates these pleadings into French, the language used by the judges in their deliberations.

Hearings

Hearings also take place in the language of the case.

Lawyers pleading for the parties use this language. If any Member State is submitting observations to the Court, their representatives use the language of the country.

Judges and Advocates General can ask questions in any EU language.

This is possible thanks to real-time interpretation, known as “simultaneous interpretation”, provided by the Court’s interpreters. Interpretation at hearings follows a tailor-made language regime, decided on a case-by-case basis according to several criteria – mainly who will be present in the courtroom.

However, it is always provided in French, the language of the case and the languages of any EU Member States participating in the hearing.

“Language of deliberation”

The “language of the case” varies from case to case. However, it is unrealistic to impose the language of the case as the language of deliberation. The Treaty requires that deliberations be held in secret. This means interpreters cannot take part in them. With Judges from all across the EU, the Court needs a single language of deliberation. For historical reasons, that language is usually French.  

Advocates General’s Opinions

Advocates General can use any official EU language when delivering their Opinions. Opinions are translated into all official EU languages.

Judgments

Judgments are, in principle, drafted in French. They are then translated into the language of the case. This version is the “authentic” version of the judgment. It is this version that takes priority if there are discrepancies between language versions or other ambiguities in the text.

All judgments are available on the day of delivery in the language of the case. Most are available in all EU languages. For more information on this, see Which cases are published in all languages?.

Communication policy

The Court’s commitment to multilingualism also runs through its communication policy.

All the principal pages of this website are available in all official EU languages.

Our Annual Report is available in all official EU languages.

Our Press Releases are available in a variety of languages, depending on a number of factors, including the interest in the case, the country where the case originated, and those that will be affected by the ruling.

Our page on the linguistic policy of this site provides further information.

Access to documents and information requests

Every EU citizen has the right to be able to ask EU institutions questions in any official EU language and to receive a reply in that language.

Requests for access to documents can be made in any official EU language.

Our contact form is available in all official EU languages. Any message sent using that form will receive a reply in the same EU language used in the message.

The Directorate-General for Multilingualism

The legal translation and interpretation services of the Court are managed by the Directorate-General for Multilingualism. Due to the importance of multilingualism, these staff make up over a third of all Court employees.

Here are some key roles within this department.

• Lawyer linguists are experts in translating legal documents. As their job title suggests, they have dual expertise. They hold legal qualifications and also have excellent knowledge of at least three EU languages – very often, many more. They also ensure that EU and national legal concepts are accurately conveyed in different languages.
• Interpreters work with three to six official EU languages. They are qualified conference interpreters who provide real-time interpretation during hearings.
• Proofreaders are language editors who review the linguistic quality of legal documents translated by lawyer linguists, including Opinions and judgments. They make sure that the language used in translated documents is correct and consistent.

For more information about the work of this department, see our page on the Directorate-General for Multilingualism.