HISTORIC WIN FOR THE IRISH LANGUAGE IN EUROPE THIS ST. PATRICKS DAY

Peadar Mac Fhlannchadha, Deputy General Secretary of Conradh na Gaeilge today, St. Patricks Day, 17th of March, won his language right case against the Irish Government in the European Court of Justice (ECJ). This is the first case in the Irish language to be taken to the highest court of the European Union.

EU Directive 2001/82 provides that certain information on the packaging of animal medicines be in the official language or languages of the country where they are on the market i.e. Irish and English in the case of Ireland. The Minister of Agriculture, however, allowed for such packaging to be in English only. The Minister argued in the Irish High Court that since the Directive was to cease to have effect from 28 January 2022, it was not practical to change Irish law to give it effect to the Directive in the meantime. The High Court sought the opinion of the ECJ.

The ECJ held today held that the High Court is required to make a declaration that Ireland has failed to correctly transpose EU Directive 2001/82 into Irish law in relation to bilingual labelling of animal medicines and that must take remedial steps in that regard.

Multilingual labelling is the norm in Belgium, the Nordic countries, and the Baltics, and the price of animal medicines there are not higher than in Ireland.

 

Judge Eugene Regan can be viewed reading the judgment at https://www.twuko.com/EUCourtPress.