Notes/Memos

Here you can find the document on notes or memos.  If you like, you can send me the texts for the tasks on page 10 before our next session.

Here is an another model for a memo.

Collocate dictionary

Here you can find an online collocate dictionary.  There you have the option of comparing collocations in Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), Corpus of Historical American English (COHA), Time Magazine Corpus (TIME), British National Corpus (BNC) and Google.

Mandatory, obligatory and compulsory

These words can indeed be used as synonyms in most contexts.  I also like the first response in the forum at the following link:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080507075259AAR2USG

Here is a link for another forum which can be useful, as well:
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/2902/mandatory-obligatory-compulsory

Quotations and sources

Commission English Style Guide
In Section 9 (entitled "Footnotes, citations and references") of the English Style Guide published by the Directorate-General for Translation you can find the information and relevant links on providing sources in your documents.  Sections 14, 15 and 17 of the Guide can also be useful if you need to refer to an official EU document as your source.  Subsection 2.3 provides you with information on the use of quotation marks when you provide quotations.

Interinstitutional Style Guide
You can also refer to the relevant sections and subsections of the Interinstitutional Style Guide,  especially 5.5.4 entitled "Bibliographies" and 8 entitled "Footnotes and their references". Subsection 5.10 entitled "Quotations" provides you with the official house rules for quotations, especially in reference to the use of quotation marks and ellipses.

MLA style list of works cited
Here you can find a short overview for how to provide different types of sources in your list of works cited in the MLA style from the Seventh Edition of MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. At the bottom of the page there is a link for some of the other styles.
Here you can find a more in-dept coverage of the same issue from the Sixth Edition of MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.  You will have to download the document to see its content, since it is a sizable file.
Please pay attention to the fact that the references to digital sources are different in the Sixth and Seventh Editions of MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. I recommend using the Seventh Edition in this regard.

Alternative citation styles

1) In-text citation
Here you can find information on citing sources in the text as it is presented in the Sixth Edition of MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.

2) Footnote and endnote citation
Here you can find information on citing sources in footnotes or endnotes as it is presented in the Sixth Edition of MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.

3) Author-date citation and references
Here you can find information on the author-date system, which is mostly used in the APA style, as it is presented in the Sixth Edition of MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.

4) Numbered citations and works cited
Here you can find information on the number system, which is used in positive sciences,  as it is presented in the Sixth Edition of MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.

5) Other styles
Here is a list of other styles that can be used as it provided in the Sixth Edition of MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.

REMEMBER TO BE CONSISTENT BY USING ONLY THE STYLE YOU CHOOSE!

Minutes

Here is a document on writing minutes.

Here you can find an example for minutes.  Source: Market Leader Upper Intermediate Business English Course Book by David Cotton, et al. 

Gender Neuturality

"English Style Guide" released by the Commission is hereby available.  On pages 48 - 49 you can find the section on gender neutrality. 

Subject-Verb Agreement

You can find a document on subject-verb agreement with exercises here.  The key for the exercises is available here.

A longer document entitled "Grammar and Punctuation for Business Communication"  is hereby available.  Please refer to pages 11 - 14 for subject-verb agreement.