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5/3/06

Gulf Times: The hunt for interpreters, translators in Brussels still ongoing

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The hunt for interpreters, translators in Brussels still ongoing

BRUSSELS: Two years after the European Union’s “big bang” expansion to the east, the search is still on to find interpreters and translators specialising in the bloc’s new official languages. Recruiting Bulgarian and Romanian interpreters – the two countries which are expected to join the EU in January 2007 – is proving to be even more of a bureaucratic headache. The hunt for interpreters and translators who are fluent in central and eastern European languages is urgent given the EU institutions’ multinational character. Although a great deal of administrative work is conducted in English, French and German, the bloc now boasts 20 official languages which are used at all high-level meetings.

With nine new official EU languages, translation costs have spiralled from 541mn euros in 2003 to around 800mn euros (US $1 billion) this year. In 2005, some 176mn euros were spent on interpretation.

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