English Style Guide
15.15Abbreviated references. Use abbreviations only in footnotes or when space is at a premium:
Reg. 1234/85, Dir. 84/321, Dec. 3289/75, Dec. 74/612
15.16Amendments. Legal acts are as a rule amended by the same institution as adopted the original act, in which case the name of the institution is not repeated in the title of the amended act. The date of the original act is also omitted, but the rest of its title is quoted in full:
Regulation (EC) No 1934/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 October 2004 amending Regulation (EC) No 1726/2000 on development cooperation with South Africa
STRUCTURE OF ACTS
15.17Opening text. The preambles to regulations, directives, and decisions start with a line in capitals identifying the institution and ending with a comma:
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
15.18Citations. The opening text is followed by the citations (FR: visas), stating the legal basis for the act and listing the procedural steps; these begin Having regard to … and also end in a comma (here for a Regulation of the Council and of the European Parliament):
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article […] thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the notification to the national Parliaments,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee, Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,
15.19Recitals. Next come the recitals (FR: considérants), stating the grounds on which the act is based. The block of recitals begins with a single Whereas followed by a colon and a new paragraph. The recitals which follow are numbered sequentially using Arabic numerals within round brackets. Each recital, including the first, begins with a leading capital and ends with a full stop, except for the last (or a sole) recital, which ends in a comma. Sentences within a given recital are separated by full stops.
15.20References to other acts. Previous acts referred to in citations and recitals must be given their full title (institution, type of instrument, number, date, title) on first occurrence and must carry a footnote with OJ reference after the descriptive title. In less formal contexts it is not necessary to give the date of
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English Style Guide
the act; this is invariably cited in French but tends to clutter up the sentence to no good purpose. There are some exceptions to the above rules:
♦ amendments to the principal acts cited (type and number only):
Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No ####/## of (date) on … as (last) amended by Regulation (EEC) No xxxx/xx, provides …
♦ where the title/content is paraphrased to shorten recitals:
Whereas the Commission has adopted, in connection with the Christmas and New Year holidays, Regulation (EEC) No 2956/84 dealing with the sale of butter from public stocks at a reduced price …
15.21Enacting formula. Preambles close with a line in capitals continuing the enacting formula, ending with a colon:
HAS/HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION/DIRECTIVE/DECISION:
Following the Treaty of Lisbon, the formula ‘has/have decided as follows’ is no longer used.
15.22Enacting terms. The French term Article premier is rendered Article 1. Certain acts have only one article, the Sole Article.
Regulations have a final article stating when they enter into force and, in some instances, the details of the date or dates from which they apply.
That final article is followed by the sentence:
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all
Member States.
Directives usually conclude with an article giving details of the arrangements for transposition followed by one stating when they enter into force and a final one stating to whom they are addressed.
Likewise, Decisions may conclude with articles giving details of their application and their addressees.
For the use of verbs in articles, see Verbs in legislation in chapter 6.
15.23Place of enactment. Legislation issued by the Commission is always Done at Brussels, [date], while in draft Council legislation the place name is left blank (Done at …) since the ministers may not be meeting in Brussels when the instrument is finally adopted.
REFERRING TO SUBDIVISIONS OF ACTS
15.24Recitals. Numbered recitals are referred to as ‘recital 1, 2, 3’, etc. Note that the numbers are not enclosed in brackets in such references. Any unnumbered recitals are cited as ‘the first, second, third recital’ and so on.
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