Regime of official language of the European Union

Abstract

The institutions of the European Union work in 24 official languages in order to ensure that all citizens, regardless of whether they speak one of the major European languages or the lesser-used ones, have equal access to policies and legislation. There are 24 official languages of the European Union. When a new country joins the EU, the national language of the country usually becomes the official language of the EU. The decision is taken by the Council of Ministers. This allows citizens to use, when dealing with the EU and its institutions, the same language they use in dealing with national authorities at home.
Likewise, all of new rules adopted by the EU are translated into all official languages so that every concerned citizen of the Union knows what they contain and how they should be applied as soon as possible. All language versions of EU law have the same legal force. In this way the absence of discrimination between citizens is ensured, the language spoken by a large group of people and other citizens who use lesser-used languages. For example, in the European Parliament Members may speak at meetings in the language of the nations they represent. Slovenian MPs have exactly the same rights as German to use the language of their constituents.