Little use is bad news for Maltese

Despite the small number of Maltese translators working with EU institutions, the European Commission feels it is capable of translating all the correspondence it receives in Maltese.

The reason it cites is that almost no one in Malta communicates with the EU in Maltese but prefers English. Since EU accession, Maltese has become one of the EU 23 official languages. Yet, a recent internal call by the Commission offering its translators intensive learning courses in EU languages, excluded Maltese and Irish.

Contacted by The Times, the EU director general responsible for the translation services, Karl-Johan Lonnroth, said this follows an internal study showing that the Commission is already capable of translating all the correspondence it receives in Maltese.

"We feel that Maltese is already covered and we don't want additional resources. The amount of letters and other correspondence received in the Maltese language is so low we are more than capable of translating it into English or other main EU languages using our current workforce."

According to EU rules, Maltese citizens, organisations and institutions have the right to write to the EU institutions in their mother tongue and receive a reply in Maltese. Although the question of translation from Maltese into other EU language seems to be solved, the same cannot be said for the translation of EU documents into Maltese. Mr Lonnroth acknowledges that in this sector there is still need for recruitment of Maltese staff.

"We still need more Maltese translators. When it comes to translating documents into Maltese we are still understaffed and more Maltese translators need to be recruited."

The EU produces hundreds of pages of documents, laws and correspondence every day, many of which have to be translated into 23 EU languages, including Maltese. Commission sources said no study has been done on what level of readership these documents have but it is an open secret that almost no one reads EU stuff in Maltese.

The number of Maltese translators employed by the EU is over 70, but the EU estimates it needs about 120 to be able to meet its requirements. Translation business in the EU does not come cheap. Last year, the cost of translation in all EU institutions was estimated at about €800 million.