Abstract: The present paper proposes an overview of the translation process within the European Union, of some studies in the field of legal translations, of some features of the European legal style and of the impact of the translations on the Romanian legal style and body of laws. The translations of the EU law represents a “sub-genre” of the legal style, with some particularities deriving from the necessity of legal uniformity and the constant use of the same phrases in all EU acts. Because of the necessity of implementing the directives and adapting to the member states’ legislation (Article 288 TFEU), the EU text becomes a source of national law through transposition. In the same way that the translations of the foreign legislation into Romanian represented sources for the renewal of the Romanian legal system in the 19th century, the EU acquis, through translation, represents nowadays the engine for the modernisation of the Romanian legislation and part of the cultural transfer between the Centre (the Union and its institutions) and the peripheries (the member states).
Key words: EU, legal translations, legal style, transposition, cultural transfer