Administrative arrangement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Council of the European Union
Date: 2008-07-31
Institutions: Council of the European Union, Ireland, United Kingdom
Subjects: EU institution, United Kingdom, administrative cooperation, exchange of information, official language, use of languages

31.7.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 194/7

IV

(Notices)

NOTICES FROM EUROPEAN UNION INSTITUTIONS AND BODIES

COUNCIL

Administrative arrangement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland and the Council of the European Union

(2008/C 194/04)

The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland (‘The United Kingdom’), of the one part, and
the Council of the European Union, of the other part,

Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland and/or legislative acts of the appropriate
legislative body:

Having regard to the conclusions adopted by the Council on
13 June 2005 on the official use of additional languages within
the Council and possibly other Institutions and bodies of the
European Union,

Whereas there are languages within the Union other than those
referred to in Council Regulation No 1/1958 whose status is
recognised by the Constitution of a Member State in all or part
of its territory or the use of which as a national language is
authorised by law,

Whereas, in the framework of efforts being made to bring the
Union closer to all its citizens, the richness of its linguistic diver-
sity must be taken more into consideration, and whereas
allowing citizens the possibility of using these other languages
in their relations with the Institutions is an important factor in
strengthening their identification with the European Union's
political project,

to

decided

conclude

this ADMINISTRATIVE
Have
ARRANGEMENT to allow the official use at the Council of the
languages other than those referred to in Regulation No 1/1958
and whose status is recognised, in the United Kingdom's consti-
tutional system, by Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and/or legislative acts of
the appropriate legislative body.

Written communications to the Council of the European
Union

1. Where, in application of United Kingdom law, a citizen of
the United Kingdom wishes to send the Council a commu-
nication written in a language other than those referred to
in Regulation No 1/1958 and whose status is recognised, in
the United Kingdom's constitutional system, by Acts of

(a) He will send the communication to the competent
the United
body designated by the Government of
Kingdom for that purpose, which will forward it to the
General Secretariat of the Council with a translation of
the communication into English; the date of receipt of
the communication, particularly in cases where the
Council has a fixed period of time in which to reply to
the citizen, will be the date on which the Council
receives the translation from that body.

tasked by the Government of

The Council will send its reply in English to the said
body,
the United
Kingdom with providing the citizen with a translation
of the reply in the language of the communication.

(b) In no case is the Council's responsibility engaged by
these translations; a specific reference to this will be
made in the text of the translations.

2. Where the citizen who wrote the communication has a
fixed period of time in which to act on the Council's reply,
and by derogation from paragraph 1(a), the Council will
send its reply in English directly to the citizen at the same
time as to the competent body. In that reply, the Council
will draw the citizen's attention to the fact that the fixed
period of time in which he has to act on that reply will
commence from the date on which the reply is received in
English. The Council will send a copy of its reply to the
competent body tasked by the Government of the United
Kingdom with providing the citizen with a translation of
the reply in the language of
the communication. The
Council will inform the citizen in question of such dispatch.
In no case is the Council's responsibility engaged by these
translations; a specific reference to this will be made in the
text of the translations.

C 194/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

31.7.2008

3. If a citizen of the United Kingdom sends a communication
directly to the Council in one of the languages referred to
in paragraph 1, the Council will return the communication
to the sender, informing him of the possibility of addressing
the communication to the Council in that language via the
competent body designated for
that purpose by the
Government of the United Kingdom.

4. The participants to this administrative arrangement will
adopt the necessary measures to maintain standards for the
confidentiality of
the communications covered by this
arrangement at every stage, particularly as regards the trans-
lation made by the competent body designated by the
Government of the United Kingdom.

Speeches to a meeting of the Council

5. The use, where necessary, by a representative of the United
Kingdom at a Council meeting of one of those languages,
other than those referred to in Regulation No 1/1958 and
whose status is recognised, in the United Kingdom's consti-
tutional system, by Acts of Parliament of
the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and/or
legislative acts of the appropriate legislative body:

(a) At the beginning of each six-month period, the Perma-
nent Representation of the United Kingdom will send
the General Secretariat of the Council an indicative list
of those Council meetings where a request to use one
of the above languages is likely to be made.

(b) At least seven weeks before the Council meeting, the
Permanent Representation of United Kingdom will send
the General Secretariat of the Council the request for a
representative of the United Kingdom to use one of the
above languages during his speeches (passive interpreta-
tion); definite confirmation of the request will be made
at
the latest 14 calendar days before the Council
meeting.

(c) In principle the request will be acceded to, unless the
General Secretariat of
the Council, having consulted
DG SCIC, informs the Permanent Representation of the
United Kingdom that the necessary staff and equipment
are not available.

6. The direct and indirect costs of passive interpretation,
including in the case of cancellation, as invoiced to the
Council by DG SCIC, will be met by the Permanent Repre-
sentation of the United Kingdom in accordance with para-
graphs 11 and 12 below.

Making public of acts adopted in codecision

7. The United Kingdom Government, or the body which it
designates for the purpose, may make certified translations

into the above languages of acts of the European Union
adopted in codecision, as published in the Official Journal of
the European Union, and forward them to the General Secre-
tariat of the Council by electronic means.

8. The Council will add those certified translations to its
archives and will provide copies on request to any citizen
of the Union, as far as possible by electronic means.

9. The Council will establish a link from its Internet site to the
United Kingdom Government website or websites offering
such translations. A mention of the fact that those transla-
tions do not engage the responsibility of the Institutions of
the Union and have no legal value will also appear on the
Council's Internet site in the official and working languages.

10. In each certified translation, attention will be drawn to the
fact that the translation does not engage the responsibility
of the Institutions of the Union and has no legal value. A
statement
in the language
concerned, on the first page of each certified translation
and as a header on each of the following pages, as well as
on the home page of
the United
Kingdom's Internet site or sites on which they are available.

to that effect will be made,

the Government of

Costs

11. The United Kingdom Government will assume the direct or
indirect costs resulting from implementation of this admin-
istrative arrangement as regards the Council.

12. To this end, the General Secretariat of the Council will
the
present a note to the Permanent Representation of
United Kingdom setting out the above costs in detail every
six months. This sum must be reimbursed by the Perma-
nent Representation of the United Kingdom within one
month from the date of notification.

Final provisions

13. This arrangement will apply from the date on which the
Government of the United Kingdom informs the General
Secretariat of the Council of the body which it has desig-
nated to make the translations referred to in paragraphs 1,
2 and 7, subject to the General Secretariat of the Council
having informed the Government of the United Kingdom
that the measures necessary for the implementation of this
arrangement by the General Secretariat of the Council have
been put in place.

14. The participants may decide to by common accord to
revise or terminate this administrative arrangement. The
participants will examine its implementation one year after
its entry into force.