Simultaneous translation headsets are about to arrive at Congress. The reform of the regulation that supports the use of co-official languages is underway and, if the deadlines are met, the deputies will be able to speak in Catalan, Basque or Galician already in the investiture debate of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, on the 26th and 27th of this month. month. The image of the honorable Members of him with a earring in his ear will be the novelty, the photo of the day, celebrated by some, criticized by others. And, above all, it will be a demonstration of the linguistic diversity of Spain, and an opportunity to normalize what is already the daily reality in many territories of the country.
But a Congress that expresses itself in four languages entails a logistical challenge. The Board must address it once the reform of the regulations is approved, expectedly in two weeks. The deputies will be able to choose from that moment the language they want to use in all areas of their parliamentary activity, not only in oral interventions but also in the presentation of writings. The Chamber will have to organize a team of translators and interpreters and purchase simultaneous translation equipment for deputies and journalists covering the sessions.
To prepare the device in record time, Congress has asked the Senate how its translation system is organized, parliamentary sources explain. For the first plenary sessions, the solution will be transitional.
The Upper House has experience. Since 2005, the regulation allows senators to use the co-official languages in the commission of the Autonomous Communities, and since 2011 also in the plenary session, only in the debate of motions. The team of translators is made up of 25 professionals, selected after an examination in 2005. They are not staff, but provide their service externally, depending on the needs and availability. Seven people are called for a plenary session, who are organized to cover all the translation in real time from Catalan, Valencian – which are treated as different languages –, Basque and Galician into Spanish, Senate sources explain.
The interpreters work in booths that were installed at the time in the Sala Europa to cover the translation needs at international conferences and other events with attendees from other countries. The room that was set up for foreign languages is the one used for the Spanish co-official languages.
For this year, the Senate, on a budget of 64 million, has planned 280,000 euros for the translation service, but the expense will be lower, since there has been less activity. For each plenary session – they last two days – the budget is 12,000 euros.
The Upper House has been run in four languages for years, but the main example of multilingualism is, without a doubt, the European Parliament, since the first session, held in Strasbourg on March 19, 1958. The official languages then were Dutch, French, German and Italian –those of the founding members–, and currently there are 24, since the list has been growing with the incorporation of new states to the European Union.
A plenary session in Strasbourg or Brussels requires the work of 72 interpreters, since each language can be translated into 23 others. There are 552 possible combinations. To do this, the European Parliament has 270 official interpreters and can draw on a list of more than 1,500 accredited freelancers. The latter also work for the Commission and the Council and earn around 500 euros per work day, which can be seven hours, spread over morning, afternoon or night.
One of these professionals is Patrícia Lluch, who has worked for the European Parliament since January 1994. She translates into Spanish from German, English, French, Italian, Swedish and Turkish. “On a work day the shifts are variable, they are assigned the day before and there may be changes on the fly. If there are group or committee meetings it is more stable but on a full day you can work until midnight,” she points out.
Lluch explains that for a meeting with 24 active languages, three interpreters per booth are required, in his case the Spanish one. If a deputy speaks a language that he does not know and neither does his cabin mates, for example Croatian, he will have to connect to another cabin that is translating from that language to another that he does know, for example French, and translate into Spanish from that version.
They have it so close at hand that everything is very agile, say sources from the European Parliament. And that they can touch any subject, either in meetings or in plenary sessions or commissions. “When I started working, half an hour before the meeting, an usher would bring us a file of the meeting and you would look at what you could. Now, I can consult the documentation and I study it. Before we were very sold,” he states.
To translate written communication, there are 660 official translators and 500 assistants and collaborators. Translating 100 pages of legislation is a 30-day job. A team of 75 legal-linguists verifies the linguistic and legislative quality of the texts throughout the translation process. Legislation must be identical and as clear as possible in all EU languages.
