Interpreting for the

European Union
Working for the

European Commission
Interpretation

Interpreting at the European Commission

International conferences are attended by

people from different backgrounds and cultures,
and speaking different languages. Conference
interpreters help them to communicate with each
other, not by translating every word they utter, but
by conveying the ideas which they express. They
maintain complete confidentiality concerning what
they hear and see.

The Directorate General for Interpretation (DG

Interpretation) is part of the European Commission.
DG Interpretation provides quality interpretation
in meetings organised by the Commission and the
other Institutions it serves, and is also a conference
organiser for Commission services.

There are two main techniques. The first is

consecutive interpreting, where the interpreter
uses a special form of note-taking while the
speaker is speaking and then gives back the
speech in another language as soon as the
speaker has finished. The second, which accounts
for over 90% of all conference interpreting, is
simultaneous interpreting, where the interpreter
will listen to the speaker and interpret at the
same time whilst keeping pace with the speaker.
This form of interpreting requires meeting rooms
specially equipped with soundproof booths for the
interpreters and electronic equipment for sound
amplification, transmission and recording.

How is interpretation organised?

The language arrangements for EU meetings
vary considerably from consecutive interpretation
between two languages, for which only one
interpreter may be required, to simultaneous
interpretation into and out of 24 or more
languages, which requires at least 72 interpreters.

Who are the interpreters?

The three EU Interpreting Services employ more
than 1000 full-time staff interpreters, plus a
variable number of freelances each day. Freelance
interpreters who wish to work for the EU must first
pass an accreditation test. There are currently
around 3000 accredited EU-interpreters.
Many people believe that to be an interpreter, you
need to be fluent in half a dozen languages. This
is a myth: the majority of conference interpreters
interpret only into their mother tongue! If you would

like to know more about what it takes to be an

interpreter, please look at http://bit.ly/QqLVJo

Interpreter training
A postgraduatetype programme is considered to
be the most appropriate way to train high-quality
conference interpreters. The benchmark is the
European Masters in Conference Interpreting.
See EMCI: http://www.emcinterpreting.org
All new Member States and Candidate Countries
now have postgraduate programmes, often as a
direct result of assistance from the EU interpreting
services.

Internal training efforts

The three EU interpreting services devote
considerable resources to helping their staff and
freelance interpreters acquire new languages, not
only those of the existing Member States but also
the languages of the countries in line to join the EU.
The study programmes last several years and may
end with a total-immersion stay of up to 3 months
in the country in question.

The European Council, The Council of the Union,

The Committee of the Regions, The European
Economic and Social Committee, The European
Investment Bank, and the agencies and offices in
the Member States all get their interpreters from
DG Interpretation. The European Commission
aims to serve the actual need for interpreters and
provides interpreters worldwide. Long-standing
training schemes are in place with universities and
authorities of Member States and Non-Member
States (e.g. Turkey, USA, Russia, China, Vietnam ).
See: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/scic/cooperationwith-universities/index_en.htm

In recent years, thanks to the African Project, a

number of centres of excellence providing training
in interpreting and translation have established
themselves in Africa. They provide a two-year
course at Masters-level leading to a Pan-African
Masters in Conference Interpreting and Translation.
This initiative aims to help meet the demand in
Africa for professionals in these fields. See: http://

ec.europa.eu/dgs/scic/international-cooperation/
interpreting-for-africa/index_en.htm

DG Interpretation provides interpreters for some 50

60 meetings per day in Brussels and elsewhere.
Different institutions have widely different needs.
As a rule of thumb, elected representatives (i.e.,
ministers in formal meetings, plenary meetings of
the Committee of the Regions or of the Economic
and Social Committee) get full, symmetric
language coverage, while officials and experts get a
whole range of different arrangements, depending
on their real needs and the resources available.
See: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/scic/what-isconference-interpreting/index_en.htm

DG Interpretation manages the allocation

of Commission meeting rooms and provides
support for the smooth running of meetings
in many languages that are held there. It also
organises conferences for Directorates-General
and departments of the Commission, typically in
the range of over 40 main events per year. DG
Interpretation is happy to share its very extensive
experience in construction and renovation of
meeting and conference facilities with installations
for simultaneous interpretation with architects,
builders or promoters of public as well as private
conference rooms or convention centres. See:
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/scic/organisation-ofconferences/consultancy-on-facility-design/
index_en.htm

The European Parliament has its own interpreting

service. For more information, please see:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/interpretation

The Court of Justice of the European Union has

its own interpreting service. For more information,
please see: http://curia.europa.eu

Interpreting for the

What is conference interpretation?

European Union

What is the cost of interpretation to the

EU budget?
Why are all those languages important?
The EU has 24 official languages and all of them
(and sometimes others too) are used on a daily
basis. This multilingual arrangement is unique
in the world, and to some people the extra work
it creates for the Institutions may seem, at first
sight, to outweigh the advantages. But there are
special reasons for it. The Union passes laws
directly binding on its citizens and companies,
and as a matter of fairness and simple natural
justice, they and their courts must have a version
of the laws they have to comply with or enforce
in a language they can understand.
Giving everyone at the table a voice in their own
language is a fundamental requirement of the
democratic legitimacy of the European Union.
There should be no obstacle to those attending
meetings understanding what is being said and
putting forward their views. You should be able to
be represented by your best experts in Brussels,
not necessarily by those who happen to speak
foreign languages. The interpreting services will
make sure they understand each other at EU
meetings.

Freelance interpreters
Many of the conference interpreters working
for the European Institutions are freelances on
contract. There is no nationality requirement for
freelance interpreters; all languages worldwide
may be considered. To work for the European
Institutions as a freelance interpreter you need
to be registered on the joint freelance list after
passing an accreditation test. These are held
regularly in Brussels, in Member States or in
Acceding and Candidate Countries.

If you wish to register for an accreditation test, please follow the

link below for further information and registration forms:
http://bit.ly/QqLVJo
See our videos on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/DGInterpretation
See Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/Interpreting.for.Europe.SCIC

In 2011, the total cost of the interpreting

services for all EU institutions for almost
18,000 meetings was 240 million euro, which
works out at less than 50 cents per citizen per
year.
All translation and interpretation in the
European Union institutions cost a little more
than 2 per citizen in 2011 the cost of a
cappuccino.

Staff positions
In order to guarantee equal access for all
citizens of the Union, recruitment is based on
a selection process of open competitions run
by EPSO, the European Personnel Selection
Office (see http://europa.eu/epso), which lead
to reserve lists of successful candidates.
Permanent interpreters and administrative staff
are recruited from these lists.
The open competitions for conference
interpreters are organised according to staffing
needs in the individual interpreting units of
the three institutions (European Commission,
Court of Justice of the EU and the European
Parliament). In order to qualify, candidates must
meet a number of conditions relating to their
qualifications and language knowledge.
Following a pre-selection process, candidates
will be invited to an assessment centre where
their general competencies and interpretation
skills in consecutive and simultaneous
interpretation are tested.
Under certain circumstances, interpreters may
be recruited as temporary staff on a fixed-term
contract.

EU Interpretation in figures
1100
500-600
3,000
18,000
270,000

staff interpreters
freelance interpreters / day
accredited freelance interpreters
meetings/year
interpreter days/year

Total operating cost 2011:

240 million
Cost :
0.48 / European citizen / year

Working for the

European Commission
The European Union, bringing together 28 Member States and some
500 million people, has always seen its great diversity of cultures and
languages as an asset. Language is one of the key features of cultural
identity and from the outset, the Institutions of the EU have sought to
reflect the Europe they serve by being diverse and multilingual.
Multilingualism is a policy firmly rooted in the EU Treaties and it has
very practical implications. It allows the citizens of Europe to address
the Institutions in any of the 24 official languages. It makes legislation
directly accessible to all, in a language they can understand. It means
that debate and decision-making can be followed by all, irrespective of
nationality and language knowledge.
Interpreters are at the front line of multilingualism, working to
ensure that language is no barrier to understanding in Europe. The
3 interpreting services of the EU from the European Parliament, the
European Commission and the Court of Justice are the worlds largest
employer of conference interpreters. Whereas translators deal with the
written word, interpreters make sense of the spoken word.
They understand what is being said in one language and render that
same message accurately and almost instantly in another. Enabling
communication and facilitating dialogue, interpreters act as a bridge
between cultures and often find themselves at the very heart of the
decision-making process.
The Interpreting Service of the European Commission ensures that the
people working in the Institutions can communicate with each other
and with the citizens of Europe. Working in Brussels and Luxembourg,
and everywhere else meetings are held, the interpreters bring the
policy of multilingualism to life and thus play an essential role in
guaranteeing the accessibility and transparency of the EU.

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