The task that EU Translation needs to accomplish originates from the combined policy objectives of legal integration and language diversity, which in turn rest on two EU fundamental principles: the advancement of a European Internal Market and the respect and protection of Europe’s cultural diversity, respectively. However, a comparison of language versions of EU legislation in the field of consumer contract law illustrates the ways in which the multilingual character of EU legislation might hamper the uniform interpretation and application of EU law. It articulates why pursuing effective legal integration and protecting language diversity requires EU translators and lawyer–linguists to accomplish absolute concordance between language versions.
