Brussels, 21/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - Last week, during plenary session voting in the European Parliament (EP) in Strasbourg, French MEP Jean-Pierre Audy (EPP) was critical that no translated versions of certain documents were available in some official languages. He used Articles 146 and 148 of the EP rules of procedure as the grounds for his intervention. Article 146 relates to working languages within the EP (where there are 23 official languages) and Article 148 relates to the distribution of documents which form the basis for debates and decisions taken. Audy was unhappy the working papers in relation to the vote on the European Commission's work programme for 2011 were not available in French. The situation, he said, is not new and is one which reveals “serious deterioration in multilingualism in the European Parliament” when the EP website highlights multilingualism as “the guarantee that it is working democratically and transparently”. (I.L./transl.rt)