| Author (Person) | McLauchlin, Anna |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.10, No.34, 7.10.04 |
| Publication Date | 07/10/2004 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Anna McLauchlin Date: 07/10/04 LITHUANIA, backed by Latvia, Slovenia, Hungary and Malta, has threatened that it will not sign the EU constitution this month unless it can keep its national spelling of 'euro' in the treaty. At the Council of Ministers an official described the move as "blackmail". Council officials there are trying to find a solution before the signing date, 29 October, after the countries concerned rejected a compromise proposed yesterday (6 October). Government leaders in 1995 agreed that 'euro' was the name to be given to the common currency and that it must be spelt the same in all countries apart from Greece, because its alphabet is different. EU finance ministers backed this decision in a statement on 10 September this year. But in both the accession treaties and the constitution, the new member states have translated the word 'euro' into their own language - 'euras' in Lithuanian, 'eiro' in Latvian, 'evro' in Slovenian, 'ewro' in Maltese - and they want to keep it that way. In a letter sent to the Dutch presidency on 30 September, Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas demanded that his country's translation of the constitution keep its spelling of euro. In Lithuanian, noun spellings change depending on the grammatical case, so 'euras' can become 'euro', 'eurui' or 'eura' depending on the sentence. Not only would the legal certainty of the Lithuanian constitution be challenged by a grammatically incorrect use of the word 'euro', it would also be seen as "an attempt to exert political influence on the natural process of the Lithuanian language", Brazauskas' letter reads. The Dutch presidency yesterday suggested that where the constitution and other regulations concerning the single currency mention the euro by name, they could use their national spelling but put 'euro' in brackets afterwards. But this solution failed to satisfy. "That means 'of euro' in Lithuanian," explained a Lithuanian diplomat. The government in Vilnius is threatening not to sign the treaty unless the matter is cleared up. "In informal talks, that is what has been said," confirmed the diplomat. A Council official commenting on the issue said: "There is a word for that - it's blackmail. But people often threaten to do or not to do things in this sort of situation. We consider this to be a technical problem which requires a solution and we will find it." A Dutch presidency spokesman explained that it was important to find an agreement "that means the word 'euro' appears uniformly in the treaty". But the five new member states are determined to fight for national 'euro' spellings. "It's a very serious issue for us," a Latvian official told European Voice. "We regard language as a very important part of our national identity, so as far as we are concerned we are standing very firm." Lithuania, backed by Latvia, Slovenia, Hungary and Malta, has threatened on 6 October 2004 that it will not sign the EU constitution unless it can keep its national spelling of 'euro' in the Treaty. EU government leaders had agreed in 1995 that the currency's name was to be 'euro', spelt in the same way in all countries apart from Greece which uses a different alphabet. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Culture, Education and Research, Economic and Financial Affairs |
| Countries / Regions | Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovenia |
