—– Original Message —–
From: F A B I O C C H I::
Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2005 12:38 AM
Subject: [ni_parolas_esperante] UE: 1 mld di euro all'anno per le traduzioni…….
EU language bills rocket
http://www.euobserver.com/?sid=9&aid=18141
14.01.2005 – 17:43 CET | By Lucia Kubosova
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The Translation bill of the enlarged EU is set to rocket to over 1 billion euro a year, while interpretors are still lacking in large numbers.
The expenditure for both translating documents and interpreting at various sessions of the European institutions has naturally risen after enlargement in May last year, with nine new languages bringing the total to 20.
In 2003, the cost of translation came to 549 million euro a year (1.45 euro per citizen), while after accession of the ten new member states, it is estimated at 807 million (1.75 euro).
Interpretation costs are predicted to reach 238 million euro between 2007 – 2010, which is equivalent to 0.50 cents per citizen a year, according to the European Commission.
The estimated expenses are based on the presumption that translators and interpreters are operating at full speed.
However, that might still take some time to achieve, given that the responsible bodies have not yet managed to gather a projected number of professionals from new member states.
Mistakes, nerves and delays
A lack of experienced linguists from the EU newcomers has caused several problems and delays in legislating.
The Commission itself wants to fill up about 90 translation posts for every new language, while none of the states has reached even a half of that number.
The EU executive has had to cut down on the length of its documents and has also hired freelancers to do the job.
That, however, has raised question marks about the actual quality of translation, again causing a slow-down in the whole law-making process.
Furthermore, the EU institutions are using a relay system in which most new languages are first interpreted, say, to English and then to all the others, which also leads to frequent misunderstandings.
Overall, the best presented language so far is Hungarian, while Maltese remains a difficulty as no single interpreter for the EU institutions has yet been recruited.
14.01.2005 – 17:43 CET | By Lucia Kubosova
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The Translation bill of the enlarged EU is set to rocket to over 1 billion euro a year, while interpretors are still lacking in large numbers.
The expenditure for both translating documents and interpreting at various sessions of the European institutions has naturally risen after enlargement in May last year, with nine new languages bringing the total to 20.
In 2003, the cost of translation came to 549 million euro a year (1.45 euro per citizen), while after accession of the ten new member states, it is estimated at 807 million (1.75 euro).
Interpretation costs are predicted to reach 238 million euro between 2007 – 2010, which is equivalent to 0.50 cents per citizen a year, according to the European Commission.
The estimated expenses are based on the presumption that translators and interpreters are operating at full speed.
However, that might still take some time to achieve, given that the responsible bodies have not yet managed to gather a projected number of professionals from new member states.
Mistakes, nerves and delays
A lack of experienced linguists from the EU newcomers has caused several problems and delays in legislating.
The Commission itself wants to fill up about 90 translation posts for every new language, while none of the states has reached even a half of that number.
The EU executive has had to cut down on the length of its documents and has also hired freelancers to do the job.
That, however, has raised question marks about the actual quality of translation, again causing a slow-down in the whole law-making process.
Furthermore, the EU institutions are using a relay system in which most new languages are first interpreted, say, to English and then to all the others, which also leads to frequent misunderstandings.
Overall, the best presented language so far is Hungarian, while Maltese remains a difficulty as no single interpreter for the EU institutions has yet been recruited.