Directorate-General for Translation

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Translating for the English Translating for the English Department of DGTDepartment of DGT

Edinburgh, 10 February 2010

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Why are we there?

Council Regulation No 1/58:• Regulations and other documents of general

application shall be drafted in the official languages Treaty establishing the European Community:

• Citizens have a right toaddress the official EU bodies in any of the EU’s official languages and to receive a reply in that language

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Why do we translate?

To enable citizens of the EU Member States to:• understand the laws that they have to comply with;• play a full part in EU activities;• make their contributions to the work of the EU

institutions without having to learn a foreign language for the purpose

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We translate from all the official languages of the EU…

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…and on all subject areas

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Categories of documents translated

Legislation Consultation Information Administration Other

Pages translated by category

30 %30 %

4 %

33 %

8 %25 %

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DGT’s staff

Some 1 750 translators and 600 support staff

110 translators in the English Department

40% in Luxembourg

60% in Brussels

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Electronic translation tools

Terminology• Electronic dictionaries,

glossaries, etc.• IATE• EUR-Lex• Quest Metasearch • Web search engines• DGT Vista + SG Vista

Translation tools• Translator's

Workbench/Euramis• Machine translation• Voice recognition

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Translation…and more besides

Editing

Web translation

EMT

VTS Terminology

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Competitions - Terms and conditions

You must be an EU citizen

You must have a full university degree in languages or another field

No professional experience is required

No age limit

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The competition process

• Apply online

• Pre-selection test (numerical & verbal reasoning)

• Translation test, group exercise, oral presentation

• Interview

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Traineeships (stages)

• Duration: 5 months• Two rounds per year (starting in March and

October)• For university graduates only • Trainees must be able to translate from two

EU languages into their main language• Monthly grant• Any nationality

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What can DGT offer you?

€48 000 starting salary Generous leave entitlements Varied, challenging work Excellent language learning opportunities Job security Multicultural environment

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What’s next?

Check out the EPSO website at

www.eu-careers.eu

or visit the DGT website at

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/translation/index_en.htm

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Thank you for your attention!