Often compared to the tower of Babel, the European Union represents the triumph over the biblical myth of the curse of speaking in different languages as a punishment for human pride. A complex administrative framework made up of specialized services and thousands of translators and interpreters makes it possible, from the very beginning, for community institutions to work and communicate in different languages.
"Multilingualism is the language of the Union", says a recent study by the European Parliament, which estimates the cost of putting it into practice at around 1,000 million euros per year (10% of the total administrative cost of the institutions) . With each expansion, the challenge – and the price – of the political commitment that aims to reflect the multicultural identity of the project and preserve values such as democracy and transparency.
To enter into force, all new legislation must first be translated into the 24 official languages of the EU. When interpreting them, for example during a plenary session of the European Parliament, a meeting of the Committee of the Regions or a Council, the number produces 552 language combinations. The solution to this gibberish comes from the microphones of the interpretation booths, where teams of two or three manage to get everyone to understand each other.
Each institution has its own language policy. Only three – English, French and German – are recognized as working languages in the Commission and the Council, with the former clearly dominating all the others, even after Brexit. Parliament, internally, also follows this regime, but MEPs have the right to speak in the official EU language of their choice. Politics, added to the vocation to communicate directly with citizens, implies that a greater volume of information is translated and interpreted than other institutions. Therefore, the Chamber has 250 interpreters of its own and regularly employs 1,500 external interpreters (interpreting a plenary session requires between 700 and 900). 70% of the texts they translate are done in-house, with the 600 translators, the rest is outsourced.
The arrival of new countries, languages and the growing legislative activity have increased the needs. The Commission translated 2.5 million in 2022, 28% more than a decade ago. The Council's 509 translators, on the other hand, translate a million every year. The use of systems based on artificial intelligence is still marginal.
As a result of the administrative agreements signed by Spain since 2005 with all EU institutions (except the Eurochamber), interpretation in Catalan, Galician and Basque can be incorporated in certain meetings. Now the Spanish Government proposes to make a qualitative leap so that they are on an equal footing with the 24 officers.
