Preparation for 9th of June

Here you can find two articles which you can synthesize in a summary report.  The summary should be no longer than two 1.5-spaced pages. If you send me your summaries before our next session on 9th of June, we can talk about one of them during the workshop.

Apostrophes

Here you can find a quiz on apostrophes.

Searchable terminology database

Here you can find the EI searchable terminology database.

Composite nouns

Some of the issues that come up in our last session concerning composite nouns can be found here along with some exercises.

Semicolon, colon and lists

In Sections  2.5 - 2.10 of the English Style Guide published by the Directorate-General for Translation, you can find the rules on the use of colon and semicolon with the appropriate hyperlinks for other relevant issues, such as lists.

You can hereby find more information on the use of colon and semicolon as well as providing lists as it is presented in the Interinstitutional Style Guide.

Here you can find a document on the use of semicolon and colon, including the use of the latter to introduce lists.  The first rule on the use of colon in this document is at odds with what is said in the Commission's "English Style Guide" and  the "Interinstitutional Style Guide".

Here you can find a quiz on the use of colon and semicolon with the key and explanations.  In the explanation for the answer to question 21, you can find the capitalization rule in sentences after colon.

Sample listening summary

The key European institutions

The BBC report on the EU and its main institutions is presented by Mark Mardell in March 2009. Initially promoted by a former French foreign minister named Robert Schuman,  the  project leading to the creation of the European Union (EU) started after the Second World War, when six countries decided to create a coal and steel community. It then changed its name, and expanded to 27 Member States. The European Union has influence on the daily lives of its citizens, because it issues common laws in domains such as environment, transport or health policy. It also ensures the solidarity between the countries; rich countries help out poorer ones.

There are three main institutions at the EU. The first one Mardell presents is the European Commission, which is seated in the Berlaymont building. There, decisions are made by the 27 Commissioners, each one of whom is in charge of a policy area. Among the three institions, the Commission is the only one that has the right to propose new laws. Commissioners and civil servants at the Commission also see themselves as the protectors of the purpose of the EU.

The second main institution is the Council, where officials, diplomats and politicians representing national governments meet regularly. One of these meetings, the summit, which is attended by heads of state, is held at least three times a year. The Council is the institution where countries defend their national interests.

Last but not least, the third player, whose influence had been gradually growing over the years at the time this report came out, is the European Parliament. Its members are directly elected, and they are seated according to various political groups. Their role is to debate issues and to vote with the intention of approving, rejecting or amending  proposed laws. They even have the power to dismiss the Commission and reject the budget.

In conclusion, laws are proposed by the European Commission; their details are then discussed at the Council. There, the national governments have the ultimate power to accept or reject the proposals. The European Parliament also has its say, and it can fiddle with legislative details.  Thus this system of balance of powers among the three main institutions is a unique experiment with nothing like it in the world.

Preparation for 5th of May

For our next session on 5th of May 2011, please watch the BBC news report on the European Institutions once as you take notes.  Then, bring these notes to a summary report of no longer than one 1.5-spaced page.  If you can send me your summaries before our meeting, we can use one of them during our workshop.

Articles

Here you can find the document on articles along with the key for the exercises.

Sample reading summary

The trouble with Flanders

The first episode of the language war in Belgium took place in 1968, when the Francophones and the Flemish split the University of Leuven. Afterwards, several waves of separatism, initially spreading among the Catholics and then within various political parties, led Belgium to become nearly ungovernable as a federal state.

Indeed, after the election in June 2010 no federal government was formed for 230 days. This, however, had no significant consequences neither on the European scene, since Belgium performed well as the president of the EU, nor on the economy, nor on the daily lives of the Belgians themselves, i.e., the country has so many layers of administration that it continued to run.

The fact that Belgium belongs to the Eurozone enables the parties to stay strong on their position. The Belgian crisis has certain similarities with the trouble concerning the Euro, and shares the same roots, i.e., a division between the Germanic frugal North and the spend-thrift Latin South.

Compared to the previous crises in Belgium, this one has a unique element; for the first time, an openly separatist party obtained the majority in Flanders. Indeed, by 'putting the gun out of politics', the European integration has two contradictory effects. On the one hand, it helps to solve some conflicts in Europe. On the other hand, it enables the emergence of nationalist parties, for which people do not fear to vote, because they feel no sense of danger.

Within the EU the partition of Belgium will probably not be without consequences; it can pave the way towards divisions in other Member States, especially in the Eastern ex-communist Member States.

However, changing borders is not only far from being the best democratic tool to solve a conflict but also very difficult to implement (e.g., the question of splitting Brussels). This is probably a reason why the  Flemish and the Walloons will have to continue to live together.