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DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(81)603
Vol.1981/0183

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITI
COM(81)603 final
Brussels,4November1981
AmendedProposalfora
COUNCIL DECISION
ontheadoptionofaEuropeanEconomicCommunityresearch
anddevelopment programmeforamachinetranslation
systemofadvanceddesign
t
l-
ί„ ■-■■■
r
(submittedtotheCouncilbytheCommission pursuantto
thesecondparagraphofArticle149oftheEECTreaty).
"V
C0M(81)603final

bo3
Communication from the Commission tothe Council
Subject Creation ofaEuropean machine translation system ofadvanced
design (EUROTRA ).

On23June 1980 theCommission submitted totheCouncil aproposal for a
Council Decision ontheadoption ofaEuropean Economic Community programme
for amachine translation system ofadvanced design (DOC .COM(80 )314 final ).
Being consulted fortheir opinion ,theScientific andTechnical Committee
(CREST ),theEconomic andSocial Committee and theEuropean Parliament have
successively recommended theEUROTRA project ,but suggested acertain number
ofamendments ,which concern theprocedures anddonotchange thesubstance ,
nor the orientations .
Subsequently ,theCommission hasaccepted these amendments andsubmits the
text modified accordingly forapproval byCouncil .
The new version ofthe text isattached inannex .

TEXT SUBMITTED 'BY "THE
COMMISSION TOTHE COUNCIL ON
23JUNE 1980 (1)
Proposal for a .Council
Decision onChe adoption of
a European Economic
Community research .and
development programme for a
machine translation system
ofadvanced designTEXT AMM2NDED .(*) AFTER
CONSULTATION OFTHE EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT ,THE ECONOMIC AND
,SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE
SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL
RESEARCH COMMITTE (C?.SST )
-Proposal for a Council
Decision onthe adoption of
a European Economic
Community "research .and
development programme for a,
machine translation ,system
ofadvanced design
■THE' COUNCIL OFTHE EUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES , ".'
Having regard tothe Treaty
establishing the European
Economic Community ,and in
particular .Article 235
thereof ,
Having regard to the
proposal from the .Commission ,
Having regard tothe opinion
bftheEuropean Parliament ,
Having regard tothe opinion
of the Economic and .Social "
Committee ,
Whereas ,under Article 2of "
the Treaty ,one of the '
Commission 's tasks ^is to "
promote throughout the
Community --a harmonious
development of economic
-activities ,acontinuous and
balanced expansion and an
increase instability ,"THE COUNCIL OFTHE EUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES ,
Haying regard tothe Treaty
establishing the -European
Economic Community , .and in
.particular Article . 235
thereof ,
Having .regard to the
proposal from theCommission ,
■Having regard tothe opinion
of_the European Parliament ,-
"Having regard tothe opinion
of"the Economic and Social
Committee,'
Whereas ,under Article 2of
the Treaty ,one of :the
Commission 's tasks is to
promote throughout the
Community a harmonious
development of economic
activities ,acontinuous and
balanced expansion and an
increase instability ,
(*) the modifications are
underlined .
(1)0JNoC234,-12,9,1980 ;
P.2.

Whereas th-a' -muitiliogual Whereas the multilingual
nature of the European .nature of •the European
Community is ,of high Community is ,of high
cultural value ,bin:,isalso cultural value ,but isalso ;
inpractice anobstacle to ' inpractice "anobstacle to
closer ties between the closer ties between .the
peoples of .theCommunity ,to :peoples oftheCommunity ,to .
communications and to the communications and to the
development ofthe internal 'development ofthe internal
and external trade of the ■ and external trade .of the
Community , ■-Community ,
' \
Whereas the benefits of Whereas •the benefits of
teleinformatics and . .of - teleinf ormatics < and of
communication and .-.communication and
information networks cannot information networks cannot
befully reaped atCommunity ; befully reaped atCommunity
level unless the language level unless the language
barrier isovercome , barrier isovercome ,..
Whereas the development of v . .Whereas the development of
computational ,linguistics is .computational linguistics is
likely tocontribute tothe . ,likely tocontribute tothe
overcoming ofthis barrier ., overcoming ofthis barrier ,
Whereas considerable Whereas considerable
research has already been research has already been
carried out onthis ,subject carried out on-this subject
intheMember States , intheMember States ,
Whereas this research , •by Whereas this research ,by
its very nature ,can only its very nature ,can .only
bear fruit provided that it bear fruit provided that it
issupported byaCommunity issupported by .aCommunity
action which would ,among .action which *would ,among
other .things , have a other things , have a
catalytic effect on work catalytic effect on ^work
already carried out , already carried out ,
Whereas such * Community ,.Whereas such ..Community
action ,can ,inparticular , action can ,inparticular ,
consist inthe creation ofa consist inthe creation ofa
European machine translation European machine translatera
system ofadvanced design , system ofadvanced design ,

Whereas such asystem would
have numerous industrial
applications and be of
direct benefit ,inter alia ,
to the various industrial
sectors and ,inparticular ,
toexporting industries ,Whereas such asystem would
have numerous industrial
applications and be of
direct benefit ,inter alia ,
to the various industrial
sectors and ,inparticular ,
toexporting industries ,
Whereas the preliminary work
already completed has
demonstrated the technical
feasibility ofsuch asystem ,
■k
Whereas aCommunity research
and development programme on
machine translation is
therefore likely tomake an
effective contribution to
the achievement ofthe above
objectives oftheTreaty ,
Whereas the Treaty has not
provided the .necessary
powers tothis end ,
/•
Whereas the Scientific and
Technical Research Committee
(CREST )has delivered an
opinion onthe Commission 's
proposal ,Whereas the preliminary work
already completed has
demonstrated the technical
feasibility ,ofsuch asystem ,
Whereas aCommunity research
and development programme on
machine translation is
therefore likely tomake an
effective contribution to
the achievement ofthe above
objectives oftheTreaty ,
Whereas the Treaty has not
provided the necessary
powers tothis end ,
Whereas the Scientific and
Technical Research Committee
(CREST )has delivered an
opinion onthe Commission 's
proposal ,
HAS DECIDED ASFOLLOWS * HAS DECIDED ASFOLLOWS
Article 1 Article 1
Aresearch and development Aresearch and development
programme for the creation programme for the creation
of amachine translation of amachine translation
system ofadvanced design is system ofadvanced design is
hereby adopted for aperiod hereby adopted for aperiod
offive years commencing on offive and ahalf years
commencing on the day on
which this Decision is
published inthe Official
Journal ofthe European Commir
nities .

The concent of -th<.programme
is described in the Annex
hereto .Under the terms ofAnnex 1,
the ramme
shall bedivi dedinto phas es,
each one concluding with a
review which may involve a
revision of the programme .
The Advisory Committee ,re­
ferred toinArticle 3,CREST
and the European Parliament
shall beconsulted on these
revisions
Article 2 Article 2
The expenditure required for
the execution of the
programme is estimated at
7.7 million EUA (1979
value )> personnel
requirements are estimafced
at16persons .
The figures are given for
guidance purposes only ,the
funds needed toexecute the
programme shall be
determined every year bythe
budgetary procedure .The expenditure required for
the execution of the
programme is estimated at
9.1 MECU at 1981 values ,
including expenditure inres­
pect ofastaff of8temporary
agents . .
The figures are given for
guidance purposes only ,the
funds needed toexecute the
programme shall be
determined every year bythe
budgetary procedure .
Arf.cle 3 Article 3
The 'Commission shall be
responsible for the
execution of the programme ,
inparticular bymeans of
research contracts .Itshall
beassisted byanAdvisory
Committee on Programme
Management ,the membership
and terms of reference of
which are set out in the
Council resolution of 18
July ■1977 on advisory
committees on research
programme management (1).The Commission shall be
responsible for the
execution of .the programme ,
inparticular bymeans of
research contracts .Itshall
beassisted byanAdvisory
Committee on ,Programme
Management (ACPM ) the
membership and terms of
reference of which *
inaccordance with
the Council Resolution of18
July 1977 ,are set out in
Annex 2.
(1)OJNoC192 ,11.8.1977 ,
P.1(1)OJNoC192 ,11.8.1977 ,
p.1.

The Commission shall inform
the CREST at regular
intervals onthe progress of
the work .Furthermore ,the
Commission shall submit an
annual report tothe Council
and to the European
Parliament concerning the
execution oftheprogramme .The Commission shall inform
the CREST and the CIDST (2)
atregular ^intervals onthe
progress of the work .
Furthermore ,the Commission
shall submit an annual
report tothe Council and to
the European Parliament
concerning the execution of
the programme .
Article 4 Article 4
The dissemination of-
information -resulting from
the execution of the
programme shall beeffected
in accordance with Council
Regulation (EEC)No2380 /74
of 17 September 1974
adopting provisions for the
dissemination of knowledge
relating to research
programmes for the European
Economic Community (2).The dissemination of
information resulting from
the execution of the
programme shall beeffected
in accordance with Council
Regulation (EEC )No2380 /74
of 17 September 1974
adopting provisions for the
dissemination of knowledge
relating to research
programmes for the European
Economic Community (3).
Article 5 Article 5
Iri accordance with Article
228 of the Treaty ,the
Community may conclude
agreements with third
countries on their
participation m the
research programme which is
the subject ofthe present
Decision .In accordance with Article
228 of the Treaty ,the
Community may conclude
agreements with third
countries inparticular with
those taking part in
European co-operation inthe
field of scientific and
technical research (COST ),
on their participation in
the research programme which
is the subject of the
present Decision .
The Commission is hereby
authorized tonegotiate such
agreements .The Commission is hereby
authorized tonegotiate such
agreements after the ACPM
and the CREST have been
consulted .
(2)OJNoL255 ,20.9.1974 , (2) Committee for
p.1 Information and
Documentation inScience and
Technology
(3)OJNoL255 ,20.9.1974 ,
ip.lp«lp«!•

Article 6
Insofar asthe Community
shall promote the prog ramme
nleans of research
contrac ts,provision shall
be mace for repayment cf
part i>f the 'contribution
made bythe Community ifthe
results ofthe programme are
used industrially or
commercially and/orlead to
industrial property rights
and the subsequent award of
licences .
The Commission shall
negotiate and conclude the
necessary con tracts . For
this purpose itshall draw
up,after consultation of
the ACPM , a standard
contract defining the rights
and obligations of each
party , mcludmg where .
appropriate conditions and
procedures for possible
royalty payments and for the
repayment of apart ofthe
contributions made by the
Community .

Annex Annex 1
1.Objectives
The objective ofthe project
is the creation of a
computer-aided translation
system capable of dealing
with all official languages
oftheCommunity .1.Objectives
The objective of the
programme isthe creation of
acomputer-aided translation
system capable of .dealing
with all official languages
oftheCommunity .
On completion of the
programme an operational
system prototype should be
available in alimited field
and for limited categories
oftext ,which would provide
the basis for development on
an industrial scale in the
period following the current
programme .
2.Programme ofwork
The programme
includes the
éléments *of work
following
-The development of an
analysis module for each
language ,which will carry
outmorphological ,syntactic
and logico-semantic analysis
ofsource text tothe levels
specified bythe definition
of the commonly agreed
interface structure .
The development of a
generation module for each
language ,which will beable
to accept an interface
structure of the :type
commonly agreed and generate
from it a surface
representation in that
language .2»Programme ofwork
The programme is divided
into three phases *
(a)Preparatory phase (18
months .'1.0 MECU )
Inthis phase the following
work would becarried out in
parallel *

1.First­
-settine upoftheACPM ,
-The development of a
transfer module for e>ach
language couple ,which will
take asinput an_interface
structure of the type
commonly agreed , derived
from an analyses of the
source text ,and produce
from ..it an interface
structure ofthe same type ,
from which the target text
may begenerated .
The compilation of
monolingual dictionaries in
two steps *
a) an initial test
dictionary for each
language ,tobeused both in
analysis and ingeneration ,
comprising approximately 2
500 entries in aspecific
subject field ,-definition ofthe project
and its organization and of
the ^responsibilities ofthe
participating countries and
centres ,
- definition of the
methodology ofthe work and ,
preparation of adetailed
programme oflinguistic work
to be carried out by the
participating centres ,and
of the sectors and
categories oftexts covered
bythe research ,
allocation of
intellectual and industrial
property rights ,
b)anexpanded monolingual
dictionary ,whose final size
will beapproximately 20000
entries .identif îcation of
specific problems related to
the inclusion ofGreek ,and
assessment of the related
costs .
2.Second'
definition of the
arrangements for
disseminating the results of
thework ,
-The compilation of a
multilingual lexical data
base for use inthe transfer
phase ,intwo stages asfor
the monolingual
dictionnaries . i-preparation of more
detailed specifications of
the linguistic models and
strategies for the various
components of the process
(analysis , transfer ,
génération ),

/'>
The development of a
basic software package ,
including support software
for dictionary handling and
updating aswell assoftware
capable ofdealing with the
anulysis , transfer and
generation modules described
above .This will include
interpreter compiler
programmes for the specially
defined high-level
definition language inwhich
grammars and dictionaries
are tobewritten .-preparation of detailed
ana binding specifications
for the EUROTRA basic
software and the data
processing programmes
capable ofcarrying out the
various processes -analysis ,
trans fer, génération ,
monitorinsf functions and functions and
text manageme .nL .
-The development of the
software for the user-system
interface jby which the
different modules may be
combined into integrated
systems corresponding tothe
various user options defined .The Commission will ensure
that -the objectives of
portability and compliance
with international standards
are correctly reflected in
thespecifications .
- The Commission will
ensure that the objectives
relating toportability and
compliance with the
international standards are
accurately reflected inthe
specifications .- preparation of the
contracts ofassociation .
Atthe end ofthis phase the
opinion ofthe ACPM must be
obtained on the above
specifications inorder that
the linguistic work can
progress quickly and sothat
the widest possible call for
tenders for construction of
the software can beput out
assoon aspossible (see (b)
(2)below ). -

b)Phase of basic and
applied linguistic research
(2years ,4.5MECU )
Onsuccessful completion of
the first phase ,and after a
-favourable opinion has beer
received from CREST ,the
second phase will bedivided
into two parts'
1.Basic linguistic research
(2MECU )
This part will consist of
thefollowing work (1)
- the development of
initial linguistic models
for the analysis and
generation of each of the
official Community languages
covered bythis Decision and
for transfer between these
languages .This work will be
based on acorpus and a
vocabulary in a limited
field ,estimated ataround 2
500entries ,
-preparation of the
lexical data base ,for the
abovement ioned vocabulary ,
which will serve both for-
the analysis and for the
génération of each of the
languages and for the
^ transfer between these
languages ,
-astudy ofthe linguistic
strategies best suited to
machine-execution ofthe the
various processes .
2.Construction ofthe basic
\ software for EUROTRA (2.5
MECU )
This part comprises the
following work *
(1)Some parts ofthis work
may continue during the
subsequent phase .

Jî
scrutiny _by_ the
Commission ofthe replies to
the call for tenders and .
sélection . after
consultation ofthe ACPM ,of
abody to construct the
EUROTRA basic software ,
within as short atime as
possible ,
-development ofthe basic
software b^ the body
selected ,including *
=the high level language
for describing the
linguistic data and
strategies ,
-the high-level language
for interaction between the
user and the system ,which
will make it possible to
combine the various modules
into integrated systems
corresponding to the
different utilization
options ,
=the set of utility
software systems for
compiling the high-level
languages ,for tests and for
management ofthedata bases .
This initial version of the
software is intended to
enable the development and
machine-test ing of the
linguistic models defined by
the participating centres
when they are sufficiently
advanced .Its development is
consequently aprerequisite
for validât ing the
linguistic work under this
programme .
The industrial development
of the EUROTRA system ,'
including adaptation ofthe
software tothe performance
and "reliability requirements
for producing translations
under commercial conditions ,
will not be put in hand
until the present programme
has been completed .

e)Phase ofstabilization of
the linguistic models and
evaluat ion of results (2
years ,3.6MECU )
After opinions have been
received from the ACPM and
the CREST atthe end of the
second phase ,i.e. when it
is possible to carry out
systematic testing of the
initial linguistic models ,
comprising complete language
pairs and consisting of
analysis , transfer and
génération ,the objective of
the work wil1 be
concentrated on the
following aspects'
-adapting the linguistic
models ,inorder toproduce
linguistic modules which are
asreliable aspossible .The
modules will then befit for
pre-operational use ,
-progressively extending
the basis of the text
corpus , -the linguistic
models and the vocabulary
for aspecific field ,and on
texts of increasing
complexity ,
- revising and
progressively extending the
lexical bases to cover the
chosen field asexhaustively
aspossible (about 20 000
entries in all the
languages ), ■
-evaluating the technical
and economic performance of
the system ,
-preparing aproposal for
the development of an
operational system on an
industrial scale and
proceeding tothe stage of
commercial exploitation .

Annex 2
TERMS OFREFERENCE
for anAdvisory Committe on
Programme Management for a
European Advanced -Machine
Translation System (EUROTRA )
1.Without prejudice tothe
Commission 's responsibility
inthe implementation ofthe
programme ,itshall be the
task of the Advisory
Committee on Programme
Management for an Advanced
Machine Translation System
(EUROTRA ), hereinafter
referred to as "the
Committee ", to contribute ,
inits advisory capacity as
defined by the Council
Resolution of 18July 1977
(<1), tothe best possible
implementat ion of the
programme -for which it is
responsible , and in
particular to*
-the general organization
ofthe programme ,specifying
in particular the main
deadlines and the mechanisms
envisaged for following the
progress ofthework ,
- the preparation of
contracts of association
setting out the commitments
of the institution s
participating inthe project
atnational level ,
- the definition •and
solution of problems
concerning intellectual and
industrial property rights ,
connected with the different
system components ,and ofthe
procedures fordisseminating
the results ofthe wor'k ,
(1)OJNoC192 ,11.8.1977 ,
p.l .

-the drawing upofbinding
specifications for the
software to be jointly
developed ,to serve as a
basis for the widest
possible invitation to
tender ,
-the clarification ofuser
requirements ,inparticular
in the field ofinformation
and documentation ,
- the drawing up of
detailed financing plans
relating to the various
fields of work and
components ofthe system .
2.In carrying out these
tasks the Committee may if
necessary call on the
services of mdependent
experts .
3.The Committe will ensure
that there isthe necessary
coherence between this
programme ,the Community 's
plans of action for the
improvement "ofthe transfer
of itiformation between
European languages ,and the
plans ofaction inthe field
ofscientific and technical
information i and
documentation . For .this
purpose it will maintain
close contact with the CIDST
and the other committees set
upunder the auspices ofthe
Communuty Institutions with
responsibility inthe field
ofmultilingualism .
(1)OJNoC192 ,11.8.1977 ,
p.1.

4.The Committee will ensure
the evaluation of ■the
results of the prog ramme
end , in particular , the
dissemination of the
knowledge acquired to
Community users in
accordance with the third
indentof(1).
5.The Committee is also
requested to give opinions
on *
-the annual preparation of
budgets and the allocation
ofappropriations accorded ,
- any proposals for
reviewing the programme and
proposals for future
research programmes within
its field ofcompetence ,
-where appropriate ,the
conduct ofnegotiations with
institutes in third
countries with aview to
their participation in the
research programme , .
-the multilingual aspects
ofthe plans ofacion inthe
field ofIDST .
6. The Committee shall
submit tothe Commission and
to the Council adetailed
•report at the end of each
phase of implementation of
the programme .Itshall also
submit afinal report which
will be forwarded to the
European Parliament .