EUROPEAN COMMISSION: LIMITED MULTI-LINGUALISM TO BE PRESERVED IN SPITE OF ENLARGEMENT.

Under the guise of the status quo, the Commission has in reality opted for the strict maintenance of limited linguistic diversification, following the row that erupted over the first version of the proposal which envisaged aligning "written procedure" with the simplified linguistic regime for "oral procedure". This would inevitably have led to the progressive domination of English, it was feared (see European Report 2614 for further details). This solution, guaranteeing the survival of French and German, including in "oral procedure", secured a broad consensus within the College, though Vice-President Loyola de Palacio called in the meeting for the number of working languages to be expanded to include Spanish.This conservative provision concerns the preparatory phase of College decisions. It is however accompanied by a series of measures aiming to safeguard multi-lingualism by ensuring that costs are kept under control despite the foreseen arrival of up to ten new languages as of 2004.Examples include: Improvements in working methods to increase efficiency: use of information technology could imply that secretaries now shift from purely mechanical tasks to the editing and preparation of texts to be translated; some translators could move on from translating solely into their mother tongue to translating into "relay languages" (English, French and German); tele-work experiments in 2002 will be tested to see if they can provide added efficiency. In the field of interpretation, different types of language coverage, focusing on the real needs of the delegates, allowing for optimal use of limited human resources (for example assymetrical interpretation where many languages are interpreted into only a few).In the field of interpretation, last-minute requests implying the contracting of expensive external interpreters, or the late cancellation of meetings, both imply high costs. These could be avoided through a variety of measures, including the appointment in each Service of a person responsible for co-ordination with the Interpreting Service (SCIC), the definition of user profiles enabling the SCIC to better foresee the needs for each type of meeting and the use of web-based meeting request forms.The SCIC bills the other EU Institutions for its interpreters. A system of "internal billing", currently in an experimental phase, could be extended to the Commission services to make them more aware of costs and to improve planning and...