European Union law is created in 24 official languages ​​that interpenetrate and influence each other. As a result, European law may be understood differently in Paris and differently in Warsaw or Helsinki. The linguistic differences were examined by Dr Agnieszka Doczekalska from the Department of International Law and European Union Law at the Kozminski University in Warsaw, author of the book “Legal language in the creation and transposition of European Union law. Hybridization processes”.

Dr Doczekalska’s research shows that the barrier to creating a common law is the use of expressions not found in other languages.

It may even happen that a citizen who follows the law in the native version, in the case of differences between the language versions, in fact, violates EU law – explains the researcher from KU and gives an example: If the EU act contains the term “actually”, Polish interpreters will translate it as “in fact” or “really”. But in other Polish translations, we can find it as “currently”, “now”. Even one word can change the understanding of the legal act, and thus the implementation of the law, – emphasizes Dr Doczekalska.