Courses

Our course is designed to respond to communication needs generated by accession to the European Union. The course will help you upgrade your proficiency and ability to communicate in English by learning and using words, collocations, phrasal verbs and idioms specific to the language of European Union institutions and policies.

The course is targeted to students whose English language proficiency is at intermediate level and above. If there is an interest in learning materials for students at lower-intermediate level, we can design a course and deliver it in weekly batches.

The course material can be studied entirely by distance but can be also taught by a teacher to groups of 6-8 students, or through a combination of self-study and contact hours. It contains the following units:

  1. European Union Institutions
  2. Internal Market
  3. Enterprise and Industry
  4. Competition Policy
  5. Employment and social affairs
  6. Free Movement in Europe
  7. European Structural Funds
  8. Economic and Monetary Union
  9. A Constitution for Europe
  10. The Lisbon Strategy

The material will be delivered to individual users in printed copies. The course is flexible as it can be supplemented with learning activities relevant to your specific domain of interest.

Our suggestion is that each unit is supplemented by a 2-hour taught session in order to practice spoken communication skills in small groups. Depending on the number of students, we can organise such sessions in Bucharest and other locations in the country.

If you find our proposal of interest, please contact us. Please find below a sample of activities from the course.

Sample 1:


English for European Affairs - Enterprise and Industry

Information box
The new Community policy on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) aims to unlock the vast unexploited potential of SMEs to create growth and employment within the European Union. SMEs make up a large part of Europe’s economy and industry. The EU’s 23 million SMEs account for 99% of all businesses and contribute up to 80% of employment in some industrial sectors, such as textiles. European SMEs are thus an essential source of growth, employment, innovation, economic and social cohesion. It is therefore essential to improve the environment in which they operate and to enable them to become more competitive.

Section 1: Definition

Task 1: Read the text below and find words that mean the following:

  • the total amount of goods or services sold by a company during a particular period of time
  • the level at which sth starts to happen, change or have an effect
  • a written statement that indicates the financial state of a company (assets and liabilities) at a particular time
  • to obey a rule/an order
  • the top limit
  • to make it possible for something to be done (about legislation or rules)

On 6 May 2003 the Commission adopted a new definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. The definition maintains the different staff thresholds which define the categories of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. However, it provides for a substantial increase of the financial ceilings (turnover or balance sheet total), in particular as a result of inflation and productivity increases. To be recognised as an SME, a business must comply with the staff thresholds and the thresholds for either the balance sheet total or the turnover.


Vocabulary box

Here you can find some more expressions with the words you identified in the text

to place/put/set/impose a ceiling on sth (eg. They have put a ceiling on price increase for oil.)
to hit/reach/exceed a ceiling
a price/production/wage ceiling

tax threshold – the level of income above which a company or person starts to pay income tax. (eg The tax threshold for small businesses is to be raised to Euro 500,000).

to fall below a threshold (eg. Assets have fallen below a key threshold)
to reach a threshold

annual/daily/yearly turnover

staff turnover – the rate at which staff leave a company and are replaced

a high/low turnover

to provide for sth – eg. The clause provides for a possible extension of the project.

to provide for retirement (to prepare for something that will happen or might happen in the future)

a healthy/strong balance sheet
to improve the balance sheet
eg There is zero debt on the company’s balance sheet.



Task 2: Fill in the following text with the right figures

50 million       249       10 million       10       2 million

Medium-sized enterprises have between 50 and ………. staff. The turnover threshold will be raised to …………………… and the threshold for the balance- sheet total to 43 million.

Small enterprises have between …….. and 49 staff and the turnover threshold and the balance sheet total will be raised to ………………………..

Micro-enterprises have fewer than 10 members of staff and a threshold of ……………….. for the turnover. The balance sheet total will be introduced.



Answer key

Task 1

  • turnover - the total amount of goods or services sold by a company during a particular period of time
  • threshold - the level at which sth starts to happen, change or have an effect
  • balance sheet total - a written statement that indicates the financial state of a company (assets and liabilities) at a particular time
  • comply with - to obey a rule/an order
  • ceiling - the top limit
  • provide for - to make it possible for something to be done (about legislation or rules)

Task 2

Medium-sized enterprises have between 50 and 249 staff. The turnover threshold will be raised to 50 million and the threshold for the balance-sheet total to 43 million.

Small enterprises have between 10 and 49 staff and the turnover threshold and the balance sheet total will be raised to 10 million.

Micro-enterprises have fewer than 10 members of staff and a threshold of 2 million for the turnover. The balance sheet total will be introduced.