The European Union should use clearer and simpler language to help people understand what the EU does, participants in a seminar hosted by the Swedish presidency of the bloc said.
 
Work on improving access to official documents should continue, they said, according to a Swedish presidency media statement on the seminar, held in Stockholm on September 8 2009.
 
The seminar, entitled Transparency and Clear Legal Language in the EU, brought together about 100 participants.
 
These included Swedish justice minister Beatrice Ask and First Vice President of the European Commission Margot Wallström.
 
Ask said that openness and plain language were interconnected - if EU documents were too complicated to understand, then accessibility was of little significance.
 
"Don’t get me wrong. The law is complicated – especially at EU level. Sometimes legal texts need to be complex. But complexity doesn’t preclude clarity. Clear language benefits everyone," Ask said.
 
"If people understand the law, it is easier for them to do the right thing," she said.
 
The statement said that Wallström, responsible for communication, has over the past few years worked to bridge the gap between the EU and its citizens.
 
Speaking at the seminar in Stockholm, Wallström noted the European Commission’s initiative that all major legislative proposals and reports must be accompanied by brief, easily comprehensible summaries.
 
"There was some resistance at first, as with many new ideas. But now the word is spreading – the clear word is spreading. And many have realised that the benefits extend far beyond strategic and priority initiatives," Wallström said.
 
Ask and Wallström emphasised that much has changed for the better in the EU system, but that much remains to be done.
 
Ask said that informative leaflets could never replace access to documents for journalists, for example. EU websites can be improved and simplified.
 
EU Multilingualism Commissioner Leonard Orban told the seminar: "In the EU institutions, economists and lawyers abound, well known for their fondness of jargon. EU institutions need to make a conscious effort to cut this jargon, and speak the language of the citizens".