The language policy of the EEAS website is based on the following 3 criteria:
- content published in all 24 official EU languages, e.g. Statements on behalf of the EU, Council Conclusions, the “About us” section
- content published only in English and French, e.g. Statements by the High Representative / Vice-President and by the Spokespersons
- content published in English and any other relevant languages, e.g. Press releases, press statements, speeches and remarks, blog posts by the HR/VP, selected web features
- The webpages of the EEAS Delegations to third countries, Military and Civilian missions and operations and Electoral Observation missions, hosted on the EEAS website, provide information in English and the local language(s) of the respective countries. Local press statements are normally in one EU official language and the local language.
- The EEAS also operates a Russian-language website.
- The language in which users are viewing the website is indicated at the top of each webpage. Clicking on the icon allows users to switch to another language. The language in which a webpage is available is specified.
- New content is continually being added and updated on this website. This means that if a translation is not available, it might simply still be going through the translation process. We publish translations as they become available.
- The EEAS website will progressively take the following approach:
- Straightforward information with a long time span for the general public will be gradually offered in all EU official languages, besides other relevant language(s) depending on the readership.
- The use of machine translation for EU official languages will be considered for informative texts as long as the user is duly informed of the process.
- Short-lived or very specialised information will generally appear in a few languages – or even just one – depending on the audience.