The European Commission's translation service (DG Translation) outsources part of its translation work to private contractors. The links and guidelines listed here help them to produce high-quality translations on EU matters.

General EU information

EU institutions

• Names of institutions, bodies and agencies of the European Union
• List of directorates-general and departments of the European Commission
• List of EU Commissioners

European legislation

• EU legislation — databases and information about legislative procedures
• EUR-Lex — EU law currently in force
• PreLex
• Official documents from EU institutions

 

Contractor guides

Guidelines

• Guide for contractors translating for the European Commission [391 KB]
• Translation checklist [207 KB]

EU terminology

• IATE — EU terminology database
• TARIC codes — online customs tariff database
• EU Budget online
• RAMON — Eurostat's statistical metadata website (including combined nomenclature)

Style guides

• English Style Guide [543 KB] — DG Translation in-house style guide
  • What's new? [88 KB]
  • Country Compendium [498 KB] — a companion to the English Style Guide
• Interinstitutional Style Guide — for English 
  • List of countries, territories and currencies
• Joint practical guide for EU legislative drafting — for English

Language-specific information

Terminology and glossaries

• EU glossaries [56 KB] — available on EUROPA (the EU's website)

Models and templates

• European law — multilingual translation memory (DG Translation)

Useful links (national legislation / authorities / expert bodies)

• N-Lex — official databases of national laws in 23 EU countries (experimental)
• see also Language resources and useful links for English