In Europe, there was a proposal to replace some gender terms with more politically correct words. Christian names were discussed, as well as the word «Christmas».

A communication and writing guideline has been issued for the staff of the European Commission, according to which gender-neutral and LGBT-friendly words and phrases must be used in speech.

The new directive is 30 pages long. The drafters suggest not using the usual «ladies and gentlemen», but replacing it with «distinguished colleagues». «Misses, Mrs.» is also supposed to be dropped from use. Instead it is recommended to use Mr., which will be more neutral.

Also according to the draft, so-called «gender words» are being dropped from speech. For example, the popular term «artificial» literally translated from English means «man-made». The drafters call for replacing it with the similar word «synthetic».

Christian names are also affected by the innovations. If Mary and John are to be mentioned, it is more correct to replace them with the conditionally neutral pair Malika and Julio. This is because Malika is a Middle Eastern name with Arabic roots.

Not all people identify themselves as Christians. Also, not everyone who belongs to the Christian faith celebrates the holidays on the same days. For this reason they decided to replace the word «Christmas» with the neutral «holidays».

The changes listed apply to the staff of the European Commission. The draft came out under the title «European Commission Guidelines on Inclusive Communication». Members of the European Commission regularly raise the issue of equal treatment and correct expressions.

The drafters do not call for a person to be judged on the basis of gender, religious beliefs, origin, age or sexual orientation. The European Parliament supported its colleagues from the EC. They also believe that the staff of European institutions must observe strict neutrality.