Next time you are tempted to bemoan the fact of how difficult your job is, think of Karl-Johan Lönnroth and his challenges at the European Commission: 380 (!) possible language combinations, text that can literally be on any subject that you can think of, a quickly dwindling supply of professionals who can perform the work required, a majority of content creators who do not work in their native language, etc. etc.

Here are some other facts and figures to help readers put into perspective the challenges faced by Lönnroth and his team at the Directorate-General for Translation (DGT) of the European Commission:

• In 2004, the Commission translated more than 1,200,000 pages.
• With the addition of ten new Member States as of 1 May 2004, the number of official languages almost doubled, from 11 to 20.
• The additional staff required at the DGT after this enlargement was, on average, 60 translators per language. By the end of June 2005, DGT had already recruited 429 translators. It also has some 660 contractors available, including 220 for the nine new languages, for outsourcing work to freelance translators and translation agencies.

The modus operandi is for documents for Commission meetings to always be made available in English, French and German (plus the language of any individual directly concerned by the decision, e.g., parties to competition cases). The final versions are translated into the other official languages immediately afterwards, before being sent to other EU Institutions for debate and approval, in particular to the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament. In the Commission, the common practice has been to use predominantly English and French in internal meetings. Internal documents sent by the administration to the staff are, in most cases, distributed in English, French and German.

Source:
“Translation in the Commission: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the Strategy to Match Supply and Demand,” 20 July 2005.

However, as with any true leader, Lönnroth doesn’t see the above as insurmountable tasks, but rather as hills and (sometimes) mountains to be scaled in the daily delivery of local content that enables the EU to remain transparent and democratic for its citizens. Read on to find out how Lönnroth and his team are actually making progress.