 The European Commission confirmed in a written reply to the European Parliament in 2003 that Jersey was within the Union as a European Territory for whose external relationships the UK is responsible.Jersey was not fully part of the European Union but had a special relationship with it, notably being treated as within the European Community for the purposes of free trade in goods.British cultural influence on the island is evident in its use of English as the main language and the British pound as its primary currency, even if some people still speak or understand Jèrriais, the local form of the Norman language, and place names with French or Norman origins abound.