The Commission of the European Communities is striving to ensure that Community legislation is “… worded clearly, consistently and unambiguously … so that it will be easier to understand …” ²¹ Also, the Interinstitutional Agreement of 22 December 1998 on Common Guidelines for the Quality of Drafting of Community Legislation,²² together with the Joint Practical Guide on how to Draft Community Legislation, stresses that Community Legislation should be clear, simple, precise "readily understandable by the public and economic operators".

Much progress has been made in Sweden where the government has been pushing for plain language since the early 1970's. The Swedish Ministry of Justice has 6 language experts who work to ensure legislation, and other government documents, are clear.

As part of Sweden's presidency of the European Commission in 2001, Sweden hosted the European Laws Conference in Stockholm in June 2001. The conference included a daylong session on "The need for clarity and public access: Bridging the gap between the Union and its citizens". At the Conference, Martin Cutts of the UK based Plain Language Commission²³, released his report Clarifying Eurolaw which includes a rewrite of a European Council Directive.

The Conference, and Sweden's ongoing support of various plainlanguage related proposals, has boosted clear communication in the European Union. Indeed, at the so-called Laeken meeting in December 2001, the European Council announced that it welcomed the plainlanguage proposals and expects to receive a practical plan from the European Commission.²⁴

5.6 What next for plain language?

It seems clear that the so-called plain-language movement is a movement no more. Yet many key decision-makers in business and government see plain language as a sub-branch of the consumer movement. This misconception impedes plain-language progress. For this reason, plain-language