Signifi cance of Translation of EU’s Legislative Acts to Polish Cultural Context and Sociopolitical Discourse

Abstract

The present article discusses the cultural significance of translation of EU’s legislative acts into Polish. The article is divided into two sections. The first section titled “Acquis communautaire in the Polish cultural context” presents legal and social aspects of translation of EU-law into Polish and explains the value of translation of acquis communautaire as an important means of the European integration. The second section with the title “The Polish language of EU’s legal acts” presents an analysis of selected fragments of an EU-recommendation in two language versions (Polish and English) and identifies various linguistic problems connected with translation of EU- -law into Polish. One of the main conclusions is that translation of EU’s legislative acts not only facilitates implementation of acquis communautaire in Poland and provides every Polish citizen with access to European law but also enables our national language – and thus our culture – to remain present in the European context. Another important conclusion is that the quality of translation of EU-law into Polish, especially such prominent documents as the Treaty establishing Constitution for Europe, can seriously influence our language and determine its development.