interpreters work to create language bridges

Between the walls of the European Parliament, the Tower of Babel. For the 24 official languages ​​to coexist, hundreds of interpreters take turns, like Harold Blémand. “There is a form of tension linked to the issue. If you are not aware of this issue, you can’t really do your job, but if you think about it too much you wouldn’t turn on your microphone, because that the stakes are too high“, he explains. Paid between 5,000 and 10,000 euros gross per month, interpreters work day and night, at the rate of meetings.

The same is at stake for the official texts of the European Union, rewritten in all languages. In all, 2.5 million pages pass through the hands of interpreters each year. “We may have to talk about the operation of a boiler, or a salad“Says another interpreter. While almost all texts are provided in English to deputies, the lack of multilingualism annoys. “The plenary debate is translated, but everything else is monolingual. If you are not an Anglicist, you cannot work“, emphasizes French MEP Emmanuel Maurel.