WRITTEN QUESTION E-2286/96 by Ben Fayot (PSE) to the Commission (27 August 1996)

Subject: Systran translation system developed by DG XIII - Position of the system development team

Since 1976, the Commission in Luxembourg, and more specifically DG XIII, has been developing the Systran automatic translation system, for which it obtained the public sector rights from the start of operation.

After twenty years' operation it would seem that the Commission is proposing to phase out the Systran programme maintenance over a three-year period (1996-1998) from DG XIII to the Commission's translation service in Luxembourg. The budget allocated for the development of this system was substantially reduced in 1996.

Given that:

- since the start of the linguistic and computer development of this system, which has always been done by means of exclusive contracts of limited duration, there has been an uninterrupted sequence of contracts,

- over those twenty years the development team, consisting of linguists, translators and computer specialists, has increased from two persons to about forty,

- despite the frequent change of contractors, the Commission has always wanted to keep the team together in view of the special nature of the work and training needs, and

- most of the staff making up this team have more than ten years' seniority - and some have been working on this project from the outset -,

the question arises as to whether the Commission does not have a moral, if not legal obligation towards the Systran development team.

Given the high level of specialization of the staff concerned, the know-how accumulated in more than twenty years' work and the validity of the Systran system, which is used by institutions such as NATO, should the team not be incorporated into the Translation Centre for the bodies of the Union?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission (11 October 1996)

As the Honourable Member points out, the Commission acquired the Systran automatic translation system for the French-English language pair in 1976. Since then, it has commissioned further development of the system by private contractors to improve the quality of translation of Commission texts and to increase the number of language pairs. There are currently 16 language pairs considered as being operational, at different levels, and one further language pair is in the early stages of development.

Over the last twenty years, study and development contracts have been concluded, following invitations to tender, with the following five firms:

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The specialized nature of the services provided has meant that these companies have sometimes employed team members from the preceding contract. The most recent contracts defined the Commission's objectives and left the contractor the freedom to choose how they would be achieved.

Currently, a feasibility study is underway to define the Commission's future strategy in the field of automatic translation, particularly the transition from a development to a maintenance phase in an operating environment.

Recruitment of staff by the Translation Centre for the bodies of the Union is the sole responsibility of the Centre, which has legal personality and is the only authority which can decide whether the qualifications of the staff of the above-mentioned firms correspond to its needs.