European gobbledygook

'The complementarity between the Agenda and both the mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy and the sustainable development strategy makes it necessary to ensure close dovetailing with other Community policies on the internal market, industry, competition and trade. This approach implies taking full account of social and employment dimensions in other Community policies, and vice versa. The integrated Impact Assessment tool developed by the Commission provides a valuable methodological contribution. Accordingly, the Agenda draws its inspiration from the Constitutional Treaty, which proclaims the importance of an integrated approach.'

(From a 'Communication from the European Commission' on the Social Agenda)

'Whereas, to facilitate proof of conformity with the essential requirements, it is necessary to have harmonized standards at European level which concern, in particular, the design and composition of toys so that products complying with them may be assumed to conform to the essential requirements; whereas these standards harmonized at European level are drawn up by private bodies and must remain non-mandatory texts; whereas for that puprose the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) are recognized as the competent bodies for the adoption of harmonized standards in accordance with the general guidelines for cooperation between the Commission and those two bodies signed on 13 November 1984; whereas, for the purposes of this Directive, a harmonized standard is a technical specification (European standard or harmonization document) adopted by one or both of those bodies upon a remit from the Comomission in accordance with the provisions of Council Directive 83/189/EEC of 28 March 1983 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations (5) as last amended by the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal, and on the basis of the general guidelines;'

(From the Official Journal of the European Communities)

'Simplified amendment procedure
41.1 In accordance with Article 106(5) of this Treaty, Articles 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 17, 18, 19.1, 22, 23, 24, 26, 32.2, 32.3, 32.4, 32.6, 33.1(a) and 36 of this Statute may be amended by the Council, acting either by a qualified majority on a recommendation for the ECB and after consulting the Commission, or unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the ECB.'

(From the English version of the Maastricht treaty Article 41)

'Where a modification proposed by the European Parliament does not have the effect of increasing the total amount of expenditure of an institution, owing in particulare to the fact that the increase in expenditure which it would involve would be expressly compensated by one or more proposed modifications correspondingly reducing expenditure, the Council may, acting by a qualified majority, reject the proposed modification. In the absence of a decision to reject it, the proposed modification shall stand as accepted.'

(From Article 272.5b of the Treaty establishing the European Communities)