With different words

“We must support the linguistic heritage of European countries, but we must also understand each other within the Eu and understand our neighbours”, declared LEONARD ORBAN who assumed the post of European Commissioner for Multilingualism on 1st January. This is a branch of Community policy that hitherto has had no portfolio of its own. For this reason the Barroso Executive has defined a specific “political agenda” for multilingualism that was presented in Brussels last week. 23 LANGUAGES AND tHREE ALPHABETS. Just as Orban was settling into his office as Commissioner, the EU embraced three new languages – Romanian, Bulgarian and Gaelic (spoken in Ireland) -, thus raising to 23 the official languages within the Community and to three the alphabets in use: Latin, Greek and Cyrillic. It’s a complex situation to manage. It’s enough to think of the increased workload of the service of translation and interpreting, which requires additional personnel and economic resources to prevent the European Union being transformed into a “modern Babel”. Leonard Orban would seem the right person to head the sector: young (he’s 46 years’ old), trained in economics and engineering, with eclectic personal interests (music, literature, cinema…), he knows various languages: Romanian is his mother tongue, but he also speaks fluent English and French, the working languages of the EU, as well as Italian. “To work together – he explains – Europeans cannot do without languages; they touch the very essence of unity in diversity that characterises the Union”. THREE TASKS FOR ORBAN. “Linguistic diversity is a daily reality of the EU”, says the multilingual strategy adopted by the EU, which underlines its importance “for education, ongoing learning, economic competitiveness, employment, justice and the freedom of citizens”. “The Commission is engaged in promoting this fundamental characteristic. The mandate of Commissioner Orban will have as its main objective the definition of the contribution of multilingualism” in three particular directions: economic competitiveness and the creation of jobs; ongoing learning and intercultural dialogue; the “promotion of a space for political dialogue through multilingual communication with citizens”. LANGUAGES AND BUSINESS. The first consideration underlined by the Executive is that “today the importance of languages in production and trade is increasing pari passu with the globalization of the economy”. According to a study carried out on behalf of the Commission by CILT (British National Centre for Languages), “each year thousands of European businesses lose opportunities and contracts due to lack of language skills”. CILT’s conclusion is that “small firms would have enormous possibilities of increasing their exports if they were to invest more in languages”. In fact the firms able to strengthen this asset “are better able to exploit the commercial opportunities provided by the EU’s single market”, and by the international market. A Business Forum will be set up in the second semester of 2007 to examine the relation between multilingualism and economic competitiveness. Moreover – adds Orban – the EU needs to encourage “research on the new technologies for the learning of languages and the use of artificial intelligence as a tool for translation and interpretation”. THE NEXT MOVES. The second field of activity will concern teaching and ongoing learning and, linked to this, intercultural dialogue. So projects to involve schools and universities, as well as schools for interpreters and translators, are being planned. But the EU is also considering the possible role of the mass media and in particular television (subtitled films in their original language) and Internet. Specific initiatives will be examined in view of the fact that 2008 will be European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. It is also essential – says Orban – that multilingualism “places itself at the service of European democracy”: access to common law, activities in progress and the decision-making process of the EU ought to become a cornerstone of a Community that “is born from below”, permitting citizens to participate in the political debate. “With a view to improving communication with citizens, the Commission will try to increase the multilingual cover of its websites”. It will also try to provide a series of more sophisticated services, useful for businesses, research centres and universities. Lastly, given that the multilingualism portfolio has a “horizontal dimension, since it closely interacts with the other policies of the European Union”, a high-level workgroup has been set up; it will present its conclusions on 26 September. Early in 2008 a ministerial conference on multilingualism will be held, followed by a “Communication” of the Executive that should outline the strategy pursued by the EU in this sphere.