Brussels, 09/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Commission adopted two communications putting forward a strategy allowing for its translation and interpreting services meet the challenges of enlargement. The translation service estimates that it will need 110 full-time post for each new language, with an increase in its costs of between 8 % and 10% (for each new language) during the year before enlargement. Commission translation costs could increase by 80% with ten new languages, from EUR 76 to EUR 396 million (6% of administrative costs excluding pensions if we take into account the budget for 2001). Human resources in the interpreting service, 40 full-time interpreters for each new language.
In order to meet the needs of enlargement, the translations service is called on to use external translation services to a maximum for less important documents (30% between now and the end of 2005, as opposed to the current rate of 20%), to create at the latest with the signing of accession acts local antennas in candidate countries to avoid recruitment problems, simplify procedures (to reduce the volume of translation and length of documents), create a "permanent group" (composed of representatives from the translation services and director generals of the operational services to control the distribution, allocation and use of translation resources, and create an internal billing system between now and the 2003 budgetary exercise, and define a three year innovation investment plan In interpreting, emphasis is on cost management (continuing with attempts to select and train and use new technologies for organising meetings). It is also suggested that new infrastructures at Berlaymont and Charlemagne in Brussels be used for finding new rooms that can be equipped with a sufficient number of interpreting booths.