The institutions of the European Union employ hundreds of translators

Chapter 1 - Why we translate

Multilingualism: the principle
Equality before the law
Citizenship of the Union
Legal basis of multilingualism
Language versions or translations?
Three common myths about multilingualism
Exercises for students

Chapter 2 - The EU institutions: their roles and their translation services

How the EU institutions interact
The European Council
The European Parliament
The Council of the European Union
The European Commission
The Court of Justice of the European Union
The European Court of Auditors
The European Central Bank
The European Ombudsman
The European Data Protection Supervisor
Financial bodies
The European Investment Bank
The European Investment Fund
Advisory bodies
The Economic and Social Committee
The Committee of the Regions
Joint Services of the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions
Interinstitutional bodies
European External Action service (EEAS)
Publications Office of the European Union
European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO)
Eurostat
European Administrative School
Agencies
Common Security and Defence Policy Agencies
Police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters
Other policy areas ('Community' agencies)
Executive agencies
EURATOM agencies and bodies 28
European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) 28
The Translation Centre
An afterthought
Exercises for students

Chapter 3 - How to get in

Working in-house for the EU institutions
Recruitment
EPSO recruitment competitions for permanent translators
Competition in two phases
General conditions of eligibility for permanent translators
Success rates in recent translators' competitions
Non-permanent staff: Temporary translators and contract agents
Working for the EU institutions as a freelance translator
'Calls for tender' and 'calls for expressions of interest'
Calls for tender - more details
Freelance translation in practice: the steps involved
Rapid post-editing by freelance post-editors
Working for the EU institutions as a trainee (intern)
Paid and unpaid traineeships
Cooperation with universities training translators
Visits to the EU institutions
European Master's in Translation (EMT)
Visiting translator scheme (VTS)
A final idea: translators as guinea pigs
Exercises for students

Chapter 4 - What we translate

Treaties
Legislation involving several institutions
The preparatory stages
Legislation issued by a single institution
Political scrutiny
Judicial scrutiny
Public scrutiny and administration
Information for the public
"We never translate alone!"
A footnote: Language range
Exercises for students

Chapter 5 - Problems

Untranslatability
Non-transferability of concepts
Supranational concepts and Eurospeak
Slogans and puns - mission impossible
Crossing cultural barriers
Translating for in-house readers
Translating for readers outside the EU institutions
Translating for ... who knows?
Quality of originals and the effect on translations
Drafting by non-native speakers
Collective drafting
New drafting guidelines for legislation, clear writing campaigns
Interinstitutional Agreement on the quality of legal drafting
Fight the FOG campaign
Citizens' summaries
Clear Writing campaign
Editing of originals
Interference
Interference between languages
Interference between registers
Interference by non-translators
Deadlines
Exercises for students

Chapter 6 - What the job involves

Day-to-day
Organisation of work
Interaction with clients
Translation tools and aids used in the EU institutions
Inputting translations
Online teamwork
Research
Full-text databases and document collections
Translation memories
Machine translation
In-house training
On-the-job training
Language training
Subject training
Job prospects for in-house translators
Career development
Teleworking
Alternatives to translation
The future
Interinstitutional cooperation
Decentralised translation
Exercises for students

Chapter 7 - EU enlargement and its impact on translation

Enlargement: translation facts and figures
Defending multilingualism
Enlargement dates
Pre-accession and post-accession needs
Translation of the acquis communautaire (EU legislation in force)
Revising the translations of primary and secondary legislation
In-house preparation for enlargement
Recruitment
A virtual accession: Newland joins the EU
Translation of the acquis into Newlish
Translation out of Newlish: training of in-house staff
Translation into Newlish: training of future translators in Newland
Translation into Newlish: recruitment to the EU institutions
Public reactions in Newland to EU translations
Exercises for students

Chapter 8 - Translator profiles

Angelika Vaasa, translator at the European Parliament
José Cuenda Guijarro, translator at the Council of the European Union
Wanda Vrbata-Gr?plowska, Polish translator and terminologist at the European Commission
David Monkcom, editor and former translator at the European Commission
Simon Bartolo, translator in the Web Translation Unit at the European Commission
Simona Pe?nik Krzi?, Slovenian translator at the European Court of Auditors

Annex 1

The Treaties
The Constitutional Treaty and the Treaty of Lisbon

Annex 2

A brief guide to European Union legislation
1. Types of instrument
2. The anatomy of an instrument