The rules and standards that apply to conference interpreting
Legislation anchoring multilingualism in international organisations
The multilingual character of the EU and its institutions is guaranteed by Council Regulation 1/58. Article 1 sets out that the official languages of the EU are those of the Member States.
However, more widely, respect for linguistic diversity is a fundamental value of the EU, as are respect for the person and openness towards other cultures. This is incorporated into the preamble to the Treaty on European Union, which refers to ‘drawing inspiration from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe […] confirming [the] attachment to the principles of liberty, democracy and respect for human rights’. In Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union great importance is given to respect for human rights and non-discrimination, while Article 3 states that the EU ‘shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity’.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, adopted in 2000 and made legally binding by the Treaty of Lisbon, prohibits discrimination on grounds of language (Article 21) and places an obligation on the EU to respect linguistic diversity (Article 22).
While the EU has 24 official languages, the UN has 6 working languages – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish (read more about the UN's multilingualism policy).
IAMLADP (International Annual Meeting on Language Arrangements, Documentation and Publications) is an international forum and network of managers of international organisations employing conference and language service providers. It is convened under the aegis of the UN but includes the EU institutions.
The IAMLADP organisations have also adopted a text on multilingualism, referred to as the Vienna statement.
Copyright
The performance of conference interpreters, once recorded and preserved, is protected under international laws on copyright and the protection of intellectual property. The Berne Convention protects the interests of authors, including translators, by treating translations as original works. Once the interpretation is fixed in tangible form, it is considered a translation under the Berne Convention, and the exclusive rights set out in the Convention apply to the author (Source: AIIC).
The rights for the performance of staff and freelance interpreters when working for the EU’s institutions become property of the EU under Article 18 of the EU’s Staff Regulations.
Disclaimers
When an interpretation is recorded and made available to the public or broadcast, the EU institutions must include a disclaimer on the distribution media. The disclaimer must state that the interpretation is intended to facilitate communication and cannot be considered an authentic reproduction of the discussions.
Standards in international organisations
International organisations have stringent accreditation procedures for both staff and freelance interpreters to ensure that the quality of the interpretation is guaranteed.
DG Interpretation has an agreement (‘The Agreement’) with its staff interpreters that sets out the rules on working conditions. It also has a separate agreement (‘La Convention’) with its freelance interpreters.
Professional standards and ethics in DG Interpretation cover many different aspects, some of which are described below.
Teamwork
The work of an interpreter is a solo effort, but its quality relies on all members of a team performing well as part of a collective team effort. This applies both to a small team sharing a booth and to a larger team working together in a meeting. Interpreters should always treat their colleagues, managers and customers with respect and consideration. Respect means respect not just for the person but also for their time and personal space.
Helping colleagues is also extremely important and an essential skill as interpreters need to know exactly when and how they should offer to help. They should not compel colleagues to accept help or feel offended if they turn help down. Just knowing that help is available may be enough. Likewise, it is useful if interpreters let colleagues know what kind of help they would like to receive, particularly if they feel they are not receiving the help they require.
Meeting preparation
For interpreters, one of the key responsibilities is to thoroughly and systematically prepare every meeting they are assigned to. The more they understand the subject, background and terminology, the better they will deliver high-quality interpretation in the booth. Thorough preparation and providing quality interpretation can be efficiently supported using AI tools in line with DG Interpretation’s guidelines for interpreters on the use of artificial intelligence (AI). As meetings are becoming increasingly specialised and technically complex, digital skills and AI tools can efficiently contribute to speeding up meeting preparation and help maintain DG Interpretation’s reputation for quality.
Confidentiality
All documents distributed electronically before a meeting or printed and made available in the booths must be handled with care even if they have already been previously published. This means avoiding leaving physical copies outside the booth or sharing electronic versions outside secure EU networks and refraining from discussing sensitive meetings outside the workplace. Additionally, interpreters should avoid copying or distributing documents unnecessarily, and they should always apply the ‘need-to-know’ principle. They must also destroy classified documents after the meeting.
Watch a video on professional behaviour in the booth.
Outside the EU institutions, the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC) is considered a guarantor of professional quality and standards. Membership of AIIC is through peer review and a system of sponsorship. Members of AIIC make a commitment to respect their strict professional codes.
ISO standards on interpreting
DG Interpretation is regularly involved in the preparation of ISO standards related to interpretation. It attends the ISO meetings with a liaison status. This means it can express its position at meetings and influence the outcome as experts, but it has no voting right as only members of the countries’ national committees can vote.
The general ISO standard specifying basic requirements for providing interpreting services is ISO 18841: Interpreting services-General requirements and recommendations. The standard that refers specifically to conference interpreting is ISO 23155.
DG Interpretation always respects ISO standards, even though the EU institutions are not subject to certification.
Technical Standards
DG Interpretation also helps develop state-of-the-art technical standards (including ISO standards) and must comply with them.