Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union
The Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union is an EU agency based in Luxembourg City. Its primary role is to cater for the diverse multilingual communication needs of the EU agencies and other EU bodies. In addition, it may be called upon by the EU institutions to absorb any surplus work they may have. The Centre also contributes to interinstitutional cooperation between the EU’s various translation services with the aim of promoting the use of EU terminology and the sharing of best practices and tools in the language field. The Centre provides services in the 24 official EU languages and in various non-EU languages, involving over 700 language combinations in total.
Mission
The Centre has a two-fold mission. The first one is to provide language services to the decentralised EU bodies, as well as to the EU institutions whenever necessary, on the basis of a cooperation agreement signed with each client. The Centre’s second mission is to contribute to interinstitutional cooperation between the EU’s various translation services with the aim of rationalising working methods and harmonising procedures.
InterActive Terminology for Europe (IATE)
As part of its second mission, the Centre manages IATE, the largest terminology database in the world, on behalf of the EU institutions.
Legal background
The Regulation establishing the Centre was adopted by the Council of the European Union in November 1994. It was revised on two occasions: firstly, in 1995, to extend the Centre’s activities to those institutions and bodies that have a translation service and to strengthen interinstitutional cooperation in the field of translation; and, secondly, in 2003, to bring certain provisions into line with the Council Regulation on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities.
Governance
The Centre is governed by a Management Board with representatives from the Member States, its clients and two representatives from the European Commission. The Chairman of the Management Board is Rytis Martikonis, Director-General of the Directorate-General for Translation of the European Commission. The Centre’s legal representative is the Director, Máire Killoran, who is responsible for its day-to-day administration and who reports to the Centre’s Management Board.
The Translation Centre is a member of the EU Agencies Network. The EU Agencies were set up by the EU Member States and the EU institutions to provide services to industries and citizens and carry out specific legal, technical or scientific tasks under EU law.
