EU warns Malta over translators

The European Commission has warned the government that unless more translaters are found, it would have to extend its three-year exemption from its obligation to translate all documents into Maltese.

The head of the Commission's Translation Directorate General, Juhani Lonnroth, told The Times that if the situation remains as it is at present, the exemption, known as a transitional period, will stretch beyond the three-year period.

The exemption was agreed between the EU and the government last year even though the Union has an obligation to translate documents into all its official languages, including Maltese. The position is due to be reviewed in November, 2007.

Given the lack of qualified translators, the exemption has eased the pressure on the EU to translate all texts into Maltese and at the same time has given some breathing space to the Maltese authorities to prepare the necessary human resources.

The temporary exemption, however, was also a source of controversy, with many Maltese translation companies accusing the government of compromising their services to the Commission.

Both the government and the Commission have repeatedly declared that the exemption did not mean less "outsourcing of work" to Malta as it covered only texts that could be translated exclusively by the EU.

Mr Lonnroth said that during the first year of accession, the Maltese Unit of the Commission, based in Luxembourg, had only half as much work of the other new language units.

"During the first year, the Maltese unit translated only 22,000 pages of which 10,000 were outsourced to third parties outside the Commission including Maltese translation companies. In the case of the other languages, during the same period, we translated 40,000 pages."

He added that initially it seemed that Maltese companies were over-estimating the amount of outsourced work available. The situation was recently discussed with the companies involved and the position was now understood, he added.

The real problem related to translation services is the lack of trained Maltese human resources. Mr Lonnroth said that although over the past two years the Commission had made many attempts to find enough people to employ as Maltese language translators, it had not succeeded.

"During the last open competition held last year, only seven Maltese candidates passed. We need 135 in order to be capable of doing our job suitably.

"I hope that by November 2007, when the (temporary) derogation is up for review, the situation will change because if it remains as it is, it will be impossible for us to provide a full service in the Maltese language".

Asked whether the Commission will consider extending the present temporary derogation after 2007, the Commission's director general was blunt: If there were not enough people there would be no alternative.

The responsibility of training and providing a good supply of Maltese translators lies with the government, although the Commission is assisting in various ways, particularly with regard to the University of Malta. Mr Lonnroth said the Commission has made available funds so that the university can start organising the necessary courses to prepare translators.

A few weeks ago, the Commission issued another call for applications to hire more translators and Mr Lonnroth said it was hoping to attract a good number of candidates.

"We need the necessary manpower and this call is crucial for us. If we don't get good results, I'm afraid we won't be able to deliver."