EPSO Lawyer-Linguist cheat sheet

In EU legal texts, 'shall' creates a binding obligation; 'may' confers discretion; 'should' is non-binding recommendation - preserve the modal force of the source in the target.

Directives are binding as to the result to be achieved (Art. 288 TFEU); translations must preserve the distinction between 'directive', 'regulation' and 'decision' rather than using generic 'law'.

Recitals ('whereas' clauses) are interpretive aids, not operative provisions; keep their prefatory form and do not merge them with the enacting terms.

Numbering, cross-references and defined terms must be mirrored exactly; a defined term in the source (e.g. 'controller') must receive one consistent target-language equivalent throughout.

Latin expressions (in casu, mutatis mutandis, inter alia) are retained in many EU languages but must follow target-language convention; never invent a literal translation of a fixed Latin phrase.

In English-language EU drafting, 'Member State' is capitalised as a defined term; in French 'État membre', in German 'Mitgliedstaat' - capitalisation and gender must follow target usage.

Legal translation prioritises legal effect over surface form: where a literal rendering would alter the scope of an obligation, restructure the sentence while preserving the norm.

Titles of EU instruments follow a fixed pattern ('Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of ...'); reproduce the pattern in the target language rather than translating word-for-word.

Ambiguity in the source is not resolved silently: where a term is genuinely indeterminate, keep the indeterminacy or flag it, rather than choosing one reading.

Art. 288 TFEU: regulation = general application, directly applicable in all Member States; directive = binding as to result, leaves choice of form and methods; decision = binding on those to whom it is addressed.

Art. 267 TFEU preliminary ruling: national courts may refer questions on interpretation/validity; courts of last instance must refer (except acte clair/acte éclairé).

Art. 263 TFEU annulment: standing for privileged applicants (Member States, Parliament, Council, Commission), and for natural/legal persons under the Plaumann test (direct and individual concern).

Art. 258 TFEU infringement: Commission sends letter of formal notice, then reasoned opinion, then may bring the case to the Court of Justice.

Supremacy (Costa v ENEL, 1964) and direct effect (Van Gend en Loos, 1963) are judge-made principles; the Treaties do not expressly state supremacy.

Acquis communautaire = the body of EU law, obligations and objectives binding on Member States; 'acquis' alone in translation must not be rendered as 'achievements' in legal contexts.

Subsidiarity (Art. 5(3) TEU) applies only to areas of non-exclusive competence; proportionality (Art. 5(4) TEU) applies to all EU action.

Charter of Fundamental Rights has the same legal value as the Treaties (Art. 6(1) TEU); the ECHR accession is provided for in Art. 6(2) TEU but is not completed.

Terminology sources for EU law: IATE for terms, EUR-Lex for authentic texts, and the Interinstitutional Style Guide for drafting conventions - cite by instrument number, not by popular name alone.

EU drafting favours one sentence per idea; split source sentences when the target language cannot carry the same subordinate structure without loss of clarity.

Use the active voice for obligations where the target permits ('the Commission shall adopt'), reserving passive for cases where the actor is irrelevant or unknown.

Avoid 'shall' for future reference in English EU drafting; use 'will' for futurity and 'shall' only for obligation.

Punctuation follows target-language convention: English uses the serial comma sparingly, French uses a space before ':' and ';', German capitalises all nouns.

Quotation marks in EU English are double curly (“ ”); in French « »; in German „ “ - do not carry source punctuation into the target.

Gender-neutral drafting: use 'they' or repeat the noun in English; in French use 'le/la' forms or 'la personne' rather than defaulting to masculine when the referent is unspecified.

Numbers, dates and currency follow target convention: '1 January 2020' (EN), '1er janvier 2020' (FR), '1. Januar 2020' (DE); decimals use point in EN, comma in FR/DE.

Consistency of terminology within a single text outranks elegance: a term introduced once must be repeated, not varied for stylistic reasons.

Verbal reasoning: each item gives a short passage and a statement; decide whether the statement is true, false, or cannot be determined from the passage alone - never from outside knowledge.

Verbal: 'cannot be determined' is correct when the passage neither supports nor contradicts the statement; do not infer from plausibility.

Verbal: watch for quantifier shifts (all/some/none), scope shifts (only X does Y vs X only does Y) and modal shifts (must/may) - these are the standard traps.

Numerical reasoning: percentage change = (new − old) / old × 100; percentage points measure the difference between two percentages, not a relative change.

Numerical: compound growth over n periods = P × (1 + r)^n; simple growth = P × (1 + n·r); identify which the question asks for before computing.

Numerical: ratios and proportions - if a:b = 2:3 and a + b = 50, then a = 20, b = 30; scale both parts by the same factor.

Numerical: averages - mean = sum / count; weighted mean = Σ(value × weight) / Σweight; median is the middle value after sorting, not the mean.

Time management: EPSO numerical items are typically 20 questions in 20 minutes (approx. 1 min each); skip and return rather than over-invest in one item.

Units and currency: convert to a common unit before comparing; a 5% rise in euros is not the same as a 5% rise in another currency if exchange rates moved.