WRITTEN QUESTION E-1479/01

by Rainer Wieland (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(18 May 2001)

Subject: Translation of application forms

1. Article 3 of Council Regulation No 1 of 1958 determining the languages to be used by the European Economic Community(1) is worded as follows: Documents which an institution of the Community sends to a Member State or to a person subject to the jurisdiction of a Member State shall be drafted in the language of such State. The same should apply to application forms and preliminary documents. Is the Commission aware that many application forms and preliminary documents for funding (for example TACIS CBC) are only available in one official language?

2. From the point of view of equal opportunities and in view of the fact that 2001 has been declared the European Year of Languages, does the Commission consider this justified?

3. How does the Commission ensure that this does not result in, for example, English-speaking applicants being placed at an unfair advantage?

4. From what date will the Commission ensure that preliminary documents and application forms are available simultaneously in all official languages?

(1) OJ 17, 6.10.1958, p. 385.

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(29 January 2002)

The Commission reaffirms its commitment to maintaining linguistic diversity in the Community as exemplified by the projects undertaken during the European Year of Languages in 2001.

Decisions and official documents relating to external aid, including the Manual of Instructions adopted by the Commission on 10 November 1999(1), are available in the eleven Community languages. Likewise, where at all possible, official documents relating to financing projects presented to the management committees, as is the case under the TACIS programme referred to by the Honourable Member.

In the case of the often lengthy invitations to tender and related documents for cooperation projects with third countries, it is not feasible in view of the high cost in terms of financial and human resources and the extra time involved in providing external assistance to work systematically in the national languages both of all the beneficiary countries and the Member States of the European Union. The TACIS programme involves not only the EU Member States but also the 13 partner countries of the New Independent States and Mongolia. Needless to say, the selections are made without any discrimination on grounds of nationality.

The Commission endeavours to take a pragmatic approach both in the interests of rapid and efficient action on its part and to ensure transparency and the widest possible access for the operators in question. It uses the Community languages which are current in international trade and in the countries in receipt of Community aid. For practical reasons, the Commission accepts that some annexes to the tenders be drafted in a language other than the Community language used in the invitations to tender and the reply form. And Commission staff are available to clarify any aspect of the procedure to be followed to the operators concerned.

Finally, to take the example of the TACIS cross-border cooperation programme (CBC) referred to by the Honourable Member, current practice certainly does not show that Member States whose language is English have an advantage when it comes to awarding the contracts.

(1) SEC(1999) 1801/2: Manual of instructions for service, supply and works contracts concluded within the framework of Community cooperation for third countries (available on Europa).