Madam, - I thank Dáithí Mac Cárthaigh (January 19th) for giving us chapter and verse on the official languages of the European Union. Perhaps he could also give the regulatory basis ("status"?) on which the EU gives us Irish versions of the treaties and certain related texts, published in the Journal Officiel.
As regards translation, the very Article 4 of Council Regulation 1/1958 which he cites requires, as I pointed out in my original letter, that from the beginning of the legislative process to its end, drafts in all the official languages be produced. It is not, as I think Mr Mac Cárthaigh supposes, a matter of elaborating any particular language version just for publication in the Journal Officiel when the legislative process is over.
As for interpretation at meetings, French, German and English are, by convention, the only languages used in the deliberations of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER). This is because members of this illustrious committee are senior, experienced diplomats who can operate on this restricted basis.
In all other formal Council meetings the full regimen of the 11 official languages applies in principle. In working groups, the precise regimen depends, case by case, on requests from delegations.
In the Council itself, the complete regimen invariably applies and is fully used. The negotiation of binding legal texts is not an occasion for Ministers to disregard the risk inherent in trying to put their case in a language not their own. They do not, therefore, do so. They also wish to get a clearly intelligible interpretation in their own tongue of what other Ministers are saying.
Mr Mac Cárthaigh surely goes too far in saying that Ireland derives no benefit from the current translation regimen in the EU. We benefit from the provision to us of English versions of all legislative texts, authenticated by the Council legal and linguistic experts to ensure conformity with the originals. This is what, at present, we all pay our €2 per year for. No doubt we shall continue to derive this benefit whatever modifications may in future be made to Article 1 of Council Regulation 1/1958, as amended, - Yours, etc.,
DAVID M. NELIGAN, Glenageary, Co Dublin.
Madam, - May I suggest one more reason why Ireland should join the other official languages of the EU? Because it is one of the oldest living languages in Europe, and therefore deserves an honoured place in the new Europe. - Yours, etc.,
PADRAIG O CUANACHAIN, Sean Bóthar na hEochaille, Corcaigh