From The Wall Street Journal today:
The European Union has passed a law requiring all EU-based companies to publish quarterly reports — a measure that is meant to force firms to share uncomfortable truths. At the announcement of the so-called transparency law Monday, Brussels had its own confession. This law can’t be formally adopted until October because it will take five months, instead of the usual two, to translate it into the new EU’s 20 official languages.
The process has stalled on a 5,000-page backlog in converting existing EU laws into mother tongues. It will take several months to catch up. “All houses occasionally experience delays with translation,” EU spokesman Reijo Kemppinen said. “And this one is no different.”