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Action(s)
Explanatio n
In EU texts, the word ‘action’ is used countably (see introduction) with a meaning akin to ‘scheme’, ‘measure’ or ‘project’
(actually, a number of terms, some incorrect, are used in this connection, although the exact relationship between
them
8
is unclear). Although native speakers are usually convinced that this use is wrong, it is actually quite dicult to
identify exactly why it sounds so peculiar. One reason is certainly the fact that, in this meaning (‘the fact or process of
doing something, typically to achieve an aim’
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), ‘action’ is uncountable in English and therefore does not take a plural.
In addition to this, apart from a number of very specic cases (a lawsuit, an armed conict, a mechanism etc.), it just
means a ‘deed’ or ‘a thing done’. The awkward nature of the EU use is shown, among other things, by the fact that authors
seem uncertain as to which verb to use with it, so in EU English, ‘actions’ (meaning projects) are ‘taken’, ‘implemented’,
‘executed’, ‘performed’ and even ‘pursued’, none of which manages to sound quite right. Generally speaking, there is a
certain amount of confusion as to whether actions are sub-measures, measures are sub-actions or the two terms are
synonymous.
Examples
Compare: ‘Measures may include specic actions for the development of e-Government’
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with ‘Action 1 Measure 1.1 - Town
twinning citizens’ meetings - EUR 5896000’
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. In the former, actions are sub-measures, whereas, in the latter, measures are
sub-actions.
Alternatives
Alternatives: Where ‘action’ is used countably as a synonym for ‘scheme’, ‘project’ or ‘measure’, the latter are preferable.
Generally speaking, there is a certain amount of confusion as to the terminology in this eld and it would be useful if the
EU institutions were more consistent.
Actor
Explanatio n
The Collins English dictionary denes an actor as ‘a person who acts in a play, lm, broadcast, etc.’ or ‘a person who puts
on a false manner in order to deceive others (often in the phrase bad actor)’. However, in EU usage, ‘actors’ are often
simply people who perform actions, or ‘the people and/or organisations involved in doing something’. As this meaning
is also found in US English, it also occurs in some sectors of international relations (mostly in the phrase ‘state actors’).
However, ‘actor’ is not normally used in this way in either the United Kingdom or Ireland, and is best avoided. My research
in the UK shows that, in this meaning, it is either not understood by the general public or, where understood, is perceived
as ‘a poor translation’. In the second example below, respondents understood the ‘actors’ in question to be internationally
known lm stars.
8 EU funded activities (‘interventions’) in the member states and elsewhere are broken down into a number of sub-categories, called ‘regimes’,
‘interventions’, ‘axes’, ‘projects’, ‘measures’, ‘actions’ and even ‘sub-programmes’ and ‘sub-measures’. Unfortunately, it is not very clear what the exact
hierarchy among these various categories is and, in particular, whether ‘actions’ and ‘measures’ (and, for that matter, ‘projects’) are synonymous
or whether one is a sub-category of the other(s). Occasionally (the rst example), it is fairly clear that ‘actions’ are indeed a subset of ‘measures’.
Elsewhere, however, measures are clearly sub-actions; in other cases, the two words appear to be synonyms and are often used together (‘actions and
measures’ or ‘measures and actions’) in a redundant repetitive rhetorical reiteration that does little to help the reader. Finally, there are cases where
the reader is left with the feeling that some obscure but presumably important distinction is being made between the two.
9 http://oxforddictionaries.com/denition/english/action
10 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52011SA0009:EN:NOT
11 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:C2012/377/06:EN:NOT