From the Guardian:
German president Joachim Gauck's cost-cutting proposal has been welcomed – but not by all
A translator's
headphones. It is estimated the EU produces 1.76m pages of
translation work each year. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian
Money talks, especially in Brussels. A billion euros are "um bilhão de euros" in Portuguese. The Spanish word for "billion" is "billón", but "a billion euros" is "mil millones de euros". Confusingly, "billion" translates as "milijarde" into Croatian, or "miljard" into Dutch. When the French talk of "un billion", however, they are referring to what English people would call a trillion. Oh, and a German "Billiarde" is a French "quadrillion". Of course.
Translation in the EU's headquarters is a complicated – and often costly – business. The European commission has three official "procedural languages": German, French and English. But with 23 languages spoken in member states, there are 506 possible combinations that can require translators fluent in those two languages. As the union has expanded over the years, the number of translators has ballooned from 200-300 to 2,000-3,000. It is estimated that the EU produces 1.76m pages of translation work every year, costing €300m (£257m). As of 1 July, when Croatia joins the EU, there will be one more language to add to the pile.
In these austere times, national governments are eager to trim the EU budget, which is one reason why a recent speech by the German president was welcomed with such enthusiasm. In a keynote speech on the future of European integration in February, Joachim Gauck suggested that English should become the official language of the EU: "It is true to say that young people are growing up with English as the lingua franca. However, I feel that we should not simply let things take their course when it comes to linguistic integration." Music to the ears of federalists and fiscal hawks: with English spoken in the corridors of Brussels, the EU would become more streamlined and more efficient....MORE
