Mutual understanding essential” “

“Linguistic diversity is considered a “patrimony” of the culture of the old continent, so much so that in 2001 the Council of Europe decided to emphasize this specific feature by introducing an annual “Day” in celebration of it at the end of September. The EU is also committed to linguistic diversity. Following its enlargement on 1st May 2004, the European Union decided to increase its official languages to 20, so as to give all its citizens the chance to read EU documents in their “mother tongue” and communicate with the institutions of Strasbourg, Brussels and Luxembourg in them. In this case too, the principle of “unity in diversity”, sanctioned by the Constitutional Treaty (pending its ratification by the 25), holds good. TOWARDS A “COMMON VOCABULARY”. It is essential to understand each other in an ever-larger Europe, a Europe that will soon open its doors to Bulgaria (where a Cyrillic script is used) and could in the not too distant future even embrace Turkey. Yet it is becoming ever more difficult to do so. So while attempts continue to preserve and foster the multiplicity of languages, the European Union, in its bid not to create a new “Babel”, is investing ever more money in the sector of translations and interpreting. It is also trying to compile an “essential minimum vocabulary”, a core of words, acronyms and names that immediately bring to mind a familiar reality, albeit adapted to the different languages. For example: the much-used French expression “acquis communautaire” means the common patrimony of rights and obligations that are binding for all member states and its citizens in the context of the EU. At any latitude of European territory, the meaning of “acquis communautaire” does not change and does not give rise to misunderstandings. KEYWORDS OF INTEGRATION. Then there are those words that, although differently translated and pronounced, convey the same concept. Thus the English term “enlargement” connotes the progressive expansion of the EU through a precise political, legal and institutional process. The same reality is expressed with the French word “élargissement”, while in Italian it is “allargamento”, in Spanish “ampliación”, in German “erweiterung”, in Dutch “uitbreiding” or in Finnish “laajentuminen”. Another essential term in the process of integration is “citizenship of the Union”, in Italian “cittadinanza dell’Unione”, in Spanish “ciudadanía de la Unión”, in French “citoyenneté de l’Union”, and in Germany “Unionsbürgerschaft”. EUROPE “À LA CARTE” AND A THOUSAND ACRONYMS. In this “glossary” of united Europe other key terms can be found, such as “founding fathers” (to indicate the statesmen who were the pioneers of the initial stages in the creation of the European Community after the Second World War), Europe “à la carte”, “white paper” and “green paper”, “directive”, “farm surpluses”, “social charter”. They are “keywords” entered in the EU dictionary or consolidated juridical terms; they are used by anyone who wants to touch on European questions with whatever interlocutor. The same goes for the many acronyms that characterize life in the EU: for instance, EEC (the former European Economic Community), CAP (Common Agricultural Policy), ESA (European Space Agency), and ECHO (the EU humanitarian aid office). WHO DOESN’T KNOW ERASMUS? The names of various EU projects and programmes are well known among the 450 million citizens of the Union. We may cite at least Erasmus (the student exchange programme that enables young university students to spend some months studying abroad and deepen their knowledge in universities in other countries) and Socrates (cooperation in the field of education). Equally well known are the names (and the advantages) of the various European “funds” for cohesion, regional development, the realization of infrastructures or the support of economically depressed areas. FACES, PLACES AND SYMBOLS OF THE EU. The European vocabulary does not ignore names, faces and places that have become “milestones” on the road of integration. Thus Maastricht, Nice and Amsterdam are cities that have given their names to fundamental Treaties of the EU. Fontainebleau, Lisbon and Milan in turn were the sites of “historic” summits (due to the decisions taken at them) of heads of state and of government of member states. And if the names of Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer, Alcide De Gasperi, Paul-Henri Spaak and Jean Monnet bulk large among the afore-mentioned “founding fathers”, no less importance is commonly attached to more recent figures, including Simone Veil, Helmut Kohl, Jacques Delors and others. Nor should the five symbols of the EU be omitted from our vocabulary. They are indicated in the Constitution itself: the blue flag with 12 stars, the “hymn of joy”, the annual day of celebration (9 May), the single currency and the motto “unity in diversity”.