# The use of official EU languages when communicating with the public - Practical recommendations for the EU administration
- Author: European Ombudsman
- Date: 2020-07-02T00:00+02:00[Europe/Paris]
- [URL](https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/doc/correspondence/en/129519)
- [PDF](https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/pdf/en/129519)
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These practical recommendations serve to guide the EU administration on the use of the 24 official EU languages when communicating with the public. They result from a public consultation carried out by the European Ombudsman and reflect comments received from EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies on a draft of the recommendations.

**Each EU institution, body, office and agency should**:

**1.** Establish a **clear policy on the use of official EU languages**, setting out which languages are used in which type of situation (for example, in public consultations, administrative procedures, press relations, or the use of social media).

**2.** **Publish this policy** on its website in all official languages in an easily accessible format.

**3.** See to it that the policy is complied with and **applied consistently** throughout the organisation, for example, by assigning this task to a unit or team, creating a designated 'language officer' or through a dedicated section in the annual report.

**4.** Ensure that **any restrictions** on the use of official languages are **objective, proportionate and transparent.** Language restrictions should not be imposed *exclusively* due to cost or time issues, but primarily following an assessment of the impact and relevance of the information for specific stakeholder groups and the public.

**5.** Publish **summaries of key issues in all or as many official languages as possible**, if language restrictions are applied.

**6.** Make available in all official languages those **parts of its websites that are of particular interest to the public**. This should include, at least, the homepage and pages giving information about its role and contact details.

**7.** Ensure that **citizens** , who write to the EU administration in the official language of their choice, **receive a reply in the same language** within a reasonable time frame.

**8.** Aim to make **public consultations available in all official languages** at the beginning of the consultation process. If it is not possible to publish all consultation documents in all official languages, make clear that contributions are accepted in all official languages.

**9.** **Pool translation resources**, where possible, to reduce costs and ensure that citizens receive more information in more languages.

**10.** Make **maximum use of all available translation tools** and technologies.