EU translation policy 'here to stay'

[Harold Schiffman]

EU translation policy 'here to stay'
Published: Monday 25 February 2008

The multilingual nature of the EU institutions is "too politically
sensitive" an issue to be dramatically reformed and is thus "here to
stay", according to the Commission's translation chief, Juhani
Lönnroth. The Union will "just have to cope" with increased linguistic
pressures brought on by future enlargements because "no decision-maker
would dare to touch the main principles" of the policy, said DG
Translation Director-General Lönnroth, speaking at a debate hosted by
the Centre for European Policy Studies on 22 February. Rising costs
mean EU language policy is becoming increasingly controversial. The
present 23 official languages constitute 506 translation and
interpreting combinations, said Lönnroth, a figure which would
increase significantly if Croatia, Serbia and Turkey join the bloc.

Conceding that he is not a "language fanatic", the director-general
claimed he thinks "about how to reduce [the workload] every day,"
stating that it was "not in the taxpayer's interest" to provide every
language combination. "It would be easier if everybody accepted that
English and French were the main EU languages," he said.  But Lönnroth
cannot see how the Commission's language policy can change
significantly as, politically, it is a "sensitive subject". Language
policy is not a "supply and demand issue" because EU citizens have the
right to address the bloc's institutions in their own language no
matter the number of speakers, he said.

Instead, less voluminous production may be one way to reduce the
workload, said Lönnroth, calling for future EU language policy to
focus on "less but better" translation. Indeed, this trend is already
evident, he noted, highlighting that the average length of a
Commission document is now 15 pages, while prior to enlargement it was
37. While it is "a mistake to believe that English is enough," it is
"rapidly becoming the lingua franca" of the EU institutions, said
Lönnroth. This is an issue of practicality, he explained, because many
people work on EU draft legislation before it becomes law. If every
amendment had to be translated along the way, then "costs would
explode," he added. He further predicted that the EU would see a
"proliferation of languages" while experiencing a "reduction of those
actually in use," but admitted that finding the right mix would be a
"difficult job".

72% of EU documents are originally drafted in English, 12% in French
and just 3% in German. Meanwhile, 88% of the users of the Commission's
Europa website speak English. Thus providing documents in English,
French, German, Spanish and Italian would cover close to 100% of their
linguistic needs, said the director-general. Despite this, last year
the EU institutions spent around €1 billion on translation and
interpreting, said Lönnroth, representing around 1% of the EU budget
or €2.50 per citizen. 2,500 staff would translate two million pages in
2008, he said, predicting that this figure would continue to rise by
5% annually.

The Commission will address the sustainability of its language policy
when it proposes its new multilingualism strategy in September 2008
(see EurActiv 19/02/08).


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