Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the adoption of a multiannual programme to promote the linguistic diversity of the Community in the information society
Date: 1995-11-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, European language, computer applications, exchange of information, linguistics, translation

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels,  08.11.1995 
COM(95) 486 final 

95/0263  (CNS) 

THE  MULTILINGUAL  INFORMATION  SOCIETY 

COMMUNICATION  FROM  THE  COMMISSION 

Proposal  for  a 
COUNCIL  DECISION 
on  the  adoption  of  a multiannual  programme  to  promote  the  linguistic  diversity 
of the  Community  in  the  information  society 

(presented  by  the  Commission) 

THE  MULTILINGUAL  INFORMATION  SOCIETY 

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

1.  Political  context 

2.  The  linguistic  heritage  of  Europe 

2.1  The third  language  revolution 
2.2  Europe's  linguistic  heritage 
2.3  The  different  roles  of  language 

3.  The  emerging  information  society 

3.1  A new technological  revolution 
3.2  A  dual  challenge  for  Europe 
3.3  Market  forces  will  not  suffice 
3.4  Solutions  for  industry 

4.  Preserving  language  diversity  in  Europe 

4.1  The  role  of  the Member  States 
4.2  The  role  of  the European  Union 
4.3  The  role  of the  educational  institutions 
4.4  The  role  of  the  private  sector 
4.5  The  role  of  research  and  development 

5.  A  multilingual  information  society  for  Europe:  the  need  for  action 

5.1  Creating,  validating  and  distributing  European  language  resources 
5.2  Strengthening  the  language  engineering  industry 
5.3  Developing  an  advanced  translation  industry 
5.4  Creating  an  educated  and  advanced  user  community 
5.5  Developing  a framework  for  coordination  and  promotion 

6.  Coordination  with  related  Community  actions 

6.1  A  European  approach  to language  learning 
6.2  Promoting  multilingual  content 
6.3  Extending  and  exploiting  the technology  base 

7.  Concluding  remarks 

Annex  1 : Summary  of  MLIS  actions 

THE  MULTILINGUAL  INFORMATION  SOCIETY 

1. 

POLITICAL  CONTEXT 

Europe's  rich  cultural  heritage  is  closely  linked  to  its  many  languages,  uniting  its 
peoples  in  national  or  regional  communities  and  allowing  them  to  participate  fully  in 
social,  cultural,  business  and  political  life(1). 

The Commission's White Paper(2), the Bangemann report(3) and the Commission's Action 
Plan(4) evaluate  the  potential  of  the information  society  and  provide  political  guidance 
on  its  development.  The  Trans-European  Networks(5),  the  RTD  activities  in  the 
Fourth  Framework  Programme^,  notably  Information  Technologies,  ACTS(7)  and 
Telematics{8),  and  recent  proposals under  the INFO2000 programme(9) demonstrate  the 
extent  of  efforts  towards  implementation.  These  efforts  are  linked  to  initiatives  in  the 
audiovisual  sector(10) and  programmes  in  relation  to  education  and  training. 

The European  Council,  meeting  in  Corfu  in June  1994, stressed  the importance  of the 
linguistic  aspects  of  the  information  society  and,  meeting  in  Cannes  in  June  1995,  it 
emphasized  the  importance  of  the  diversity  of  languages  in the European  Union. 

Today,  we  are  experiencing  profound  changes  in  human  communications  with  the 
arrival of global networked  information  and communication  services for text, sound and 
images.  While  these provide exciting  challenges,  they  could  also have  a marked  effect 
on the languages we use.  At worst,  citizens unable to communicate  comfortably  in  the 
widely  spoken  languages  could  be  denied  full  participation  in  our  increasingly 
information-based  society. 

(i) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

(9) 

(10) 

Council  Resolution  on  language  diversity  and  multilingualism  in the  European  Union, 
12 June  1995 (Doc.  7755/95). 
Growth,  Competitiveness,  Employment:  the  Challenges  and  Ways  Forward  into  the 
21st  Century,  White  Paper  by  the  Commission  of  the  European  Communities,  1994. 
Bangemann,  M.  (ed)  Europe  and the global  Information  Society:  Recommendations  to 
the  European  Council,  26 May 1994. 
Europe's  way  to  the  Information  Society  -  An  Action  Plan,  COM(94)  347  of 
19 July  1994. 
Under  the  Maastricht  Treaty,  there  is  special  provision  for  Trans-European  Networks 
for  interchange  of  data  between  administrations,  OJ No  C 224  of  31  August  1992. 
Fourth  Framework  Programme  of  European  Community  activities  in  the  field  of 
research  and technological  development  and demonstration  (1994-1998), OJ No L  126, 
18.5.1994. 
Advanced  Communications  Technologies  and  Services,  COM(94) 243. 
Telematics Applications Programme. Council Decision, OJ No L 334, 22.12.1994, p.  1. 
INFO2000  Programme  Proposal,  Stimulating  Multimedia  Information  Content  for 
the  European  Information  Society. 
Business,  Administrations  and  Citizens 
Communication  from  Mr  Bangemann  to  the  Commission,  March  1995. 
Strategy  to  strengthen  the  European  programme  industry  in  the  context  of  the 
audiovisual  policy  of 
the 
European  Communities,  1994. 

the  EU,  Green  Paper  by 

the  Commission  of 

in 

Such  dangers  could  be  avoided  if  we  were  able  to  ensure  full  multilingual  support  in 
the  use  of  electronic  information,  echoing  the  call  for  diversity  of  content,  including 
cultural  and  linguistic  content,  expressed  by  the  G-7  meeting  on  the  information 
society01}.  While  this  diversity  will  continue  to  depend  in  large  part  on  national 
initiatives  at the  educational  and  cultural  levels,  it  can  also benefit  considerably  from 
efforts  to  provide  better  facilities  for  access  to  information  in  our  various  languages. 
Furthermore, the trans-European telecommunications networks(l2) now being established 
for  various  application  sectors  will  benefit  from  efforts  to  promote  multilingual 
information  services. 

In  more  general  terms,  multilingual  support  will  contribute  to  the  functioning  of  the 
internal market by facilitating interlingual communications and will strengthen economic 
and social  cohesion  by  stimulating  collaboration  between  Europe's  different  language 
regions.  It  will  enable  the  citizens  of  Europe  to  participate  more  fully  in  our 
increasingly  information-based  society  while providing new opportunities for  SMEs  to 
enter the multilingual information  market. Indeed, increased awareness of the challenges 
and  opportunities  of the multilingual  aspects of the information  society  will  encourage 
industry  at large to  address new  markets by  reducing  linguistic  constraints. 

What  is  needed  first  and  foremost  are  practical  solutions  to  the  problems  industries 
experience when launching  products on foreign-language  markets. It is not unusual  for 
delays of several  months to occur as a result of the need for translation  and  localization 
in  technical  product  support,  user  manuals  and  advertising.  In  the  case  of  computer 
products and services, language adaptation  of software  presents an even heavier burden 
on  the  vendor,  frequently  discouraging  the  multilingual  approach.  Suitable  tools  and 
procedures to reduce these constraints can thus be expected to have a significant  impact 
on  cross-border  trade  in  a variety  of  industrial  sectors. 

The  Commission  itself,  together  with  the  other  European  institutions,  will  be  able  to 
contribute  considerable  expertise  and  experience  in  the  development  of  multilingual 
tools  and  services  as  a  result  of  its  own  needs  for  translation,  interpreting  and 
multilingual publications. Indeed, the European institutions stand to benefit directly  from 
many of the results obtained. Progress at the European level will, wherever possible, be 
shared  with  Member  States  in  the  interests  of  promoting  the  development  of 
multilingual  tools  at the  national  level. 

This  communication  analyses  the  issues  and  describes  how  progress  can  be  made  in 
Europe  with  the  development  of  a  multilingual  information  society  by  coordinating 
efforts  between  the Member  States and  the public and  private  sectors,  so as to provide 
adequate  language  support  for  its  citizens,  including  cost-effective  translation  and 
multilingual  customization. 

The very  technologies,  whose  pervasive  application  can  pose  a threat  to  linguistic  and 
cultural  diversity  in  the  information  society,  can  also  help  overcome  the  language 
barriers  in  Europe*13)  by  reducing  the  cost  of  multiversioning,  translation  and 
customization  of  information  products  and  services. 

However,  market  forces  alone  will  not  be  sufficient  to  bring  about  the  multilingual 
information  society  in  Europe.  Positive  action  is  required  at  the  level  of  the 
Member  States  and  of the  Union  to  catalyse the  necessary  developments. 

(,,)  G-7  Ministerial  Conference  on 

the 
26 February  1995, Chair's  Conclusions. 
Proposal  for  a European  Parliament  and  Council  Decision  on  a series of  guidelines  for 
trans-European  telecommunications  networks,  COM/95/224,  16 June  1995. 
Speech  by  Mr  Santer  for  the  European  Parliament,  Strasbourg,  17 January  1995. 

Information  Society,  Brussels,  25  and 

(12) 

(13) 

Commercial  opportunities  will  follow:  in  the  media  industries  (with  improvements  in 
dubbing  and  subtitling),  in  document  preparation  (by  means  of  spelling  and  grammar 
checkers) and in many other activities involving translation bearing in mind that literary 
translation requires a creative and accurate adaptation  of the original work. Multilingual 
resources  will  also  pave  the  way  for  a  variety  of  speech  applications  from  systems 
converting  text  into  speech  to voice-operated  machinery  for  factories. 

Europe  will  thus be  able to  move towards  a multilingual  information  society,  creating 
new language industries and opening up new business and cultural  opportunities for  its 
citizens.  This will,  in turn,  create  new jobs  and  new markets, providing  a potential  for 
multilingual  products  and  services throughout  Europe  and  across the  globe. 

2. 

THE  LINGUISTIC  HERITAGE  OF  EUROPE 

2.1  The  third  language  revolution 

Three  successive  revolutions  have  transformed  the  nature  of  human  communication, 
each  leading  to  significant  functional  changes in  language use. 

The first  came  with  the  invention  of  writing  systems,  providing  access  to  knowledge 
through  reading  and  writing.  For  the  common  man,  however,  face-to-face  oral 
communication  continued  to be the  norm. 

The second revolution, the invention of mechanized printing,  dramatically  expanded the 
horizons  of  the  ordinary  citizen.  Mass  literacy  was  to  provide  a  basis  not  only  for 
consolidating  access  to  knowledge  and  culture  but  the  means  for  democratic 
participation  in  national  government  for  the very  first  time. 

We  are  now  experiencing  the  third  and  most  radical  revolution  of  all,  in  which 
computer-based  technologies offer  individuals instant worldwide access to  information. 
In this emerging information  society, the role of language is once again changing, more 
profoundly  than ever before,  as a result of screen-based communication  combining text, 
images  and  sound. 

The  new 
communication,  with  considerable  repercussions  on  the  role  of languages. 

technologies  are  radically  changing 

information 

the  nature  of 

2.2  Europe's  linguistic  heritage 

Over 45 national  and regional  languages and major  regional  variants are spoken  by  the 
380 million  people  of the  European  Union.  Most  are of  Romance,  Germanic  or  Celtic 
origin,  others  include  Greek,  Finnish  or  Basque(14). 

Europe's  language  diversity  is,  however,  moderate  in  comparison  with  other  areas  of 
the world. Globally, estimates of the number of different,  mutually-unintelligible  spoken 
languages vary from  5 000 to 25  000 depending on what counts as a language and what 
as  a  dialect. 

But  many  of  the  minority  languages  are  experiencing  difficulties,  often  under  the 
influence  of  changing patterns  of  communication.  Penetration  of the new  technologies 
could  substantially  accelerate  this  process,  threatening  to  diminish  the  linguistic  and 
cultural*l5) diversity  of  European  society. 

(14)  Hearn  P.M.  and  Button,  D.F.  (Eds.)  (1994)  Language  Industries  Atlas,  Amsterdam: 

IOS  Press  for  CEC,  Brussels  and  Luxembourg. 

(15)  Eurobarometer  No  41, July  1994,  provides  data  on  language  proficiency  in  Europe. 

European  integration must be based  on transparency  for the citizen. Key legislation and 
communications must therefore  continue to be made available  in the Union's languages 
to  ensure  full  understanding  and  wide  application. 

Europe  enjoys  a rich  diversity  of  languages.  The continuing process  of  integration 
will  be  significantly  accelerated  if  open  access  is provided  to  legislative  texts  and 
supporting  documents for  all  its  citizens  in  the  various  languages  used 

2.3  The  different  roles  of  language 

Languages  have  profound  yet  complex  effects  on  many  aspects  of  society. 

They  serve to foster  social  cohesion  in  our  countries  or  regions,  encouraging  common 
values.  A  common  language  facilitates  open  communication  at  all  levels  of  society. 
Conversely,  differences  in  language  hamper  communication,  causing  difficulties  for 
minority  groups. 

Language is also an instrument for  safeguarding  democracy.  Society flourishes  on open 
debate  and  discussion:  freedom  of  speech  is  a cornerstone  of  our  democratic  systems; 
the free  press acts as a guardian  of  democratic  expression;  and  language  is the vehicle 
used  by  each  and  every  citizen  in  his  contribution  to  democracy.  The  transparency  of 
the  functioning  of  the  European  Institutions  can  therefore  only  be  ensured  by  the 
availability  of  multilingual  support. 

Our  cultural  life  is  intimately  linked  to  language.  Every  country  has  its  poet  or 
playwright whose work symbolizes the cultural identity of its people, while much of our 
cultural  heritage  is enshrined  in  our  various  languages. 

Lastly,  there  are economic  aspects.  Languages  determine  markets,  often  in  relation  to 
translation  or customization  costs which can become a significant  factor  in international 
trade whatever the product or service. In the software industries, language customization 
of software  products contributes  significantly  to their cost,  although  customization  will 
also  increase  the  market  for  such  products.  Europe's  film  and  television  industries  as 
well  as its cultural  industries  and  institutions,  unlike  their  American  counterparts,  have 
to  bear  the  cost  of  dubbing  and  subtitling  if  they  wish  to  reach  large  audiences. 

The political,  cultural  and  economic  effects  of  languages  will  each  require  proper 
attention  in  building  Europe's  information  society. 

3. 

THE  EMERGING  INFORMATION  SOCIETY 

3.1  A  new  technological  revolution 

The  convergence  of  information  and  telecommunications  technologies  is  transforming 
the  nature  of  communication  at  every  level  of  society. 

Not only are these technologies able to provide new ways of accessing,  distributing and 
handling  information  in  its  various  forms  (text,  sound,  images,  video),  their  use  is 
already transforming  the way in which we live and work, taking us from  a society based 
on physical  goods to one which  is increasingly  centred  on knowledge  and  information. 

The information  society is gathering momentum  in factories,  offices,  schools and homes 
in all  our  Member  States.  New approaches to information  access are leading  to a more 
open  society  with  an  increasing  flow  of  knowledge,  information,  documentation  and 
entertainment  within  and  across  frontiers. 

Economie  activities  previously  centred  on  local  markets  now  have  international 
potential.  Culture-specific  markets  such  as publishing,  software  production  and  home 
computer  services  are increasingly  adopting  a multinational  approach. 

Global  information  links, including  satellite  and cable television,  are rapidly  becoming 
commonplace. Worldwide computer networks such as the Internet attract countless new 
European  users  every  month. 

the  nature  and  use  of 
The  information  revolution 
communications throughout society, providing  new opportunities for  business, culture 
and  education. 

is  radically  changing 

3.2  A  dual  challenge  for  Europe 

As information  affects  every level of society, provision of equal opportunities for access 
is a key issue.  Indeed,  left  unchecked,  the  information  revolution  could  lead  to  a two-
tier  society, differentiating  between those able to make full  use of the technologies and 
those  prevented  from  doing  so, often  because  of  the  language  factor. 

The dual  challenge for  Europe in the emerging information  society  is therefore  one of 
maintaining our rich linguistic and cultural  diversity while ensuring equal  opportunities 
for  our  businesses  and  citizens  to  participate  in  the  new  information  age  and  to  share 
its  benefits. 

Industry  must adapt to remain  competitive in European  and world  markets.  Companies 
will  have  to  pay  careful  attention  to  linguistic  and  cultural  factors  in  tackling  their 
product  development  and  marketing  strategies.  SMEs  experiencing  difficulty 
in 
acquiring  such knowledge and in adapting their product  lines and marketing, will  only 
benefit  once they  have understood  the  nature  of the  problem. 

To  meet  these  challenges,  Europe's  information  society  must  remain  multilingual. 
Citizens  throughout  the Union  must be  able to communicate  to the full,  not  only  with 
other Europeans but with partners throughout the world. They must be given the means 
to  live  and  work  together  efficiently,  in  a  spirit  of  tolerance,  democracy  and  social 
unity. 

A  multilingual  approach  to  communications  will provide  equal  opportunities  for 
individuals  and  businesses,  whatever  their  language,  to  participate  in  the  new 
information  age 

3.3  Market  forces  will  not  suffice 

The  rapid  rise  in  use  of  information  and  communication  technologies  will  naturally 
favour  languages  which  can  be  successfully  processed.  Languages  supported  by  key 
software  products offering  powerful  facilities  for  manipulating text also provide almost 
unlimited  access to  information  services  in those  languages. 

In this respect,  market  forces  tend  to concentrate  on  a limited  number  of  languages  in 
order to bring  the  services  as rapidly  as possible to a  substantial  number  of users.  The 
effect  of these trends is to exclude a large number  of Europeans who do not master the 
languages concerned  as well  as companies,  SMEs in  particular,  that  do not acquire  the 
language  expertise,  denying them  proper  access to the benefits  of the new  information 
age.  The long-term  viability  of  languages not  specifically  supported  is therefore  put  at 
risk. 

There is  a clear  need for  actions  to  ensure  a balance  between  the  major  languages 
and  languages  serving  smaller  national  or regional  communities  in Europe. 

3.4  Solutions  for  industry 

In the emerging information  society, products are increasingly accompanied by complex 
support  material,  in  the  form  of  user  manuals  or,  in  the  case  of  software,  as  screen 
messages  displayed  in  the  language  of  the  user.  Failure  to  provide  such  multilingual 
support presents a number of formal  and practical  restrictions on the markets which can 
be  successfully  addressed.  In  the  absence  of  multilingual  support,  products  frequently 
result  in  considerable  frustration  for  the  user. 

Industries  large  and  small  are  all  too  well  aware  of  the  time  and  cost  taken  to  bring 
products  to  foreign-language  markets.  All  too  frequently,  manufacturers  decide  to 
restrict their marketing approaches to those areas where translation requirements can be 
avoided  or  kept  at a  minimum. 

As  a  consequence,  the  European  market  does  not  function  well  for  a  wide  range  of 
products, particularly those with an important information  component,  or niche markets 
generally  served  by  SME's. 

In the first place industry  needs clarity  about the language requirements  of the  market, 
so  that  they  can  prepare  and  are  subjected  to  the  same  linguistic  regimes  as  their 
competitors. 

Secondly,  they  need  to  accelerate  adapting  their  linguistic  competence  and  marketing 
strategies, including the use of advanced language tools, translation  services and human 
linguistic  capabilities. 

Thirdly,  the  tools,  services  and  best  practices  must  be  developed  according  to  their 
specific  needs.  There  is  a  clear  role  for  the  language  engineering  industry  to  develop 
and  market  the  products that  improve  cost-effectiveness. 

In view  of the European  and multilingual  nature of  the problem,  Community  action  is 
needed  addressing  the  market,  the  supplier  industries  and  the  language  industries  in  a 
coherent  way. 

Coordinated  action  at  Union level  will  help  overcome  some  of  the problems  which 
individual  companies  now find  impossible  to solve  alone. 

4. 

PRESERVING  LANGUAGE  DIVERSITY  IN  EUROPE 

4.1  The  role  of  the  Member  States 

Preservation  of  the  various  languages  in  Europe  is  primarily  a  task  for  the  countries 
concerned,  some of whom have explicit language policies. Inspired by the wishes of its 
citizens,  each  Member  State and  region  places  special  value  on its languages,  insisting 
on  their  continued  recognition  in  the  European  context.  The  development  and 
availability  of tools specific to the languages used in a Member  State or region,  should 
be the  prime  responsibility  of  that  Member  State  or  region. 

All the Member  States and regions thus have a common interest in preserving  language 
diversity  in the  European  Union  as it  enters the  information  age. 

Each Member State and region  has a decisive role to play  in preserving  its  language 
or  languages,  in accordance  with  subsidiarity. 

4.2  The  role  of thfe European  Union 

The European Institutions, especially  the Commission,  can play a catalytic role and add 
value to national  efforts  by: 

safeguarding the status of official  languages, in accordance with rules regulating the 
use  of  languages  in  the European  Institutions(16), 

informing  public  organizations  and  industry  of the importance  of  language  issues 
in the information  age, with  a view to identifying  common  problems  and  possible 
solutions, 

stimulating  the  language  industries  and  user  industries  to  pursue  truely  European 
or  global  marketing  strategies,  integrating  multilingualism  into  their  strategies  to 
give  them  a competitive  advantage, 

making  the  benefits  of  its  R&D  initiatives  available  to  users  and  to  industries 
developing  language  engineering  services  and  products, 

promoting the development  of tools, standards and infrastructures  which are largely 
language-independent,  though  essential  for  the  handling  of  languages, 

raising awareness and promoting a multilingual  approach to the information  society 
in Europe, in relation to content, interfaces, translation, interpretation  and language 
learning. 

The European  Institutions  can  offer  support  in promoting  and  ensuring  language 
diversity  in the  information  age. 

4.3  The  role of  the  educational  institutions 

Educational  institutions  play  a  vital  role  in  preserving  language  diversity  in  Europe. 
Mastery  of the mother tongue is at the root of all  our cultures and educational  systems. 
Learning to be proficient  in foreign  languages is becoming a necessity for  all Europeans 
in  the  emerging  global  information  society. 

In  line with  the conclusions  of the  G-7 meeting  on the  information  society,  there is 
a need for  an innovative approach to cross-cultural  education and training, especially 
for  students  and for  employees  of  all  enterprises,  including  SMEs. 

4.4  The  role of  the  private  sector 

The  private  sector  has  a key  role  to  play  in  bringing  about  the  information  society  in 
Europe  as  has  been  stressed 
the  Commission's  white  paper  on  Growth, 
Competitiveness,  and  Employment,  the Bangemann  report  and the G-7 meeting  on the 
information  society. 

in 

Indeed, multilingual  content production  and multilingual  interfacing  will be handled by 
private  companies.  In  the  sphere  of  language  learning,  private  organizations  will 
increasingly  complement  public educational  institutions. Translation,  interpretation  and 
language  support  for  software  and the media  are important  areas for  the private  sector 
\n  working  towards  the multilingual  information  society. 

( I'M  Based  on  Articles  217  and  248  of  the  Treaty  of  Rome  and  first  enacted  in 
Council  Regulation  1,  OJ  No  L  17,  6.10.1958,  and  subsequently  modified  with  the 
accession  of  new  Member  States. 

Language  diversity,  for  a  long  time  considered  a  cost  factor  only,  is  now  seen  as  an 
opportunity for industry, creating new types of industrial activity, and allowing a greater 
diversity  of  products  that  comply  with  the individual  wishes  of  customers. 

Private  companies  will play  a  key  role  in  developing  the  multilingual  information 
society. 

4.5  The  role  of  research  and  development 

New  technologies  can  contribute  to  preserving  multilingualism  by  providing  ever 
increasing  capacity  and  processing  power  for  telecommunications  and  computer 
operations. 

European  R&D  in  language  technology  has  created  a  strong  scientific  base.  But 
technology  transfer  has had only limited success since marketable products have tended 
to  be  monolingual  rather  than  multilingual  and  have,  as  a  rule,  been  launched  by  the 
United  States.  Only  now  are European  firms  starting  to  bring  products  to the  market. 

European research  efforts have provided  a strong base in preparation  for  technology 
transfer  to the  market  place. 

5.  A  MULTILINGUAL  INFORMATION  SOCIETY  FOR  EUROPE:  THE  NEED 

FOR  COMPLEMENTARY  ACTION 

Promoting  multilingualism  in  Europe  implies  a broad  range  of  initiatives  in  different 
domains,  as elements  of  a coherent  strategy. 

A  number  of  initiatives  are  already  underway,  helping  to  pave  Europe's  way  to  the 
multilingual  information  society.  There are, however,  a number of gaps which  must be 
filled  within  a complementary  framework  if the  strategy  is  to  succeed 

The  multilingual  information  society  initiative  therefore  addresses three  new  areas  for 
action  which  will  reinforce  the  overall  strategy.  These  cover  promotion  of  a  European 
language resource infrastructure  (Action  Line  1), reinforcement  of the role to be played 
by  the  language  industries  (Action  Line  2),  and  the  development  of multilingual  tools 
for  public  services  (Action  Line  3).  To  provide  focus  for  defining  issues  related  to 
language aspects of the information  society, the creation  of a platform  for  coordination 
is  envisaged  bringing  together  public  and  private  organisations  (accompanying 
measures). 

through  awareness  and  promotional  activities,  language 

The  number  and  variety  of  actors  is  so  great  that  the  Commission  can  only  act 
effectively 
infrastructure 
developments,  pilot  and  demonstration  projects  with  a promotional  value and a limited 
number  of  focused  actions  for  the  language  industries.  Implementation  will  generally 
be  by  means  of  calls  for  proposals  for  shared-cost  projects  and  by  calls for  tender  for 
specific  developments  under  Action  Line 3. 

The  new  activities  will  complement  existing  Community  initiatives  in  the  areas  of 
language  learning,  multilingual  content  and  language  technology. 

Actions  should  create  the  right  conditions  for  a  multilingual  information  society  by 
building  on  current  European  initiatives  and stimulating  collaboration. 

10 

5.1  Creating,  validating  and  distributing  European  language  resources 

Transforming  language technologies into marketable products and services depends not 
only  on a strong technology  base but  on the availability  of resources such as electronic 
dictionaries,  terminology  banks,  speech  databases  and  grammars.  Considerable  efforts 
will  be  required  here,  calling  for  investments  well  beyond  the  possibilities  of  private 
sector  actors,  particularly  as most  of  the  firms  involved  are  SMEs. 

Substantial  sums  have  already  been  invested  by  Member  States,  the  Commission  and 
private companies in producing language resources such as on-line dictionaries, thesauri 
and  terminology  banks.  The potential  of  these resources  is presently  hampered  by  the 
fact  that they  are mostly  monolingual.  Furthermore,  they  have been developed  without 
due  regard  to  compatibility  and  are  therefore  difficult  to  trace  and  to  reuse.  An 
inventory  of  potentially  reusable  language  resources  is  needed  as  a  basis  for  making 
them  multilingual,  compatible  and  widely  available  and  accessible. 

Subsidiarity  can be made to work effectively  in this area, the actual development of  full 
scale resources for  any language being the responsibility  of the Member  State(s) where 
the  language is spoken, while the Community  is concerned with general  issues such as 
standards and their application, equal access for all businesses and citizens, Europe-wide 
networking  of  databanks,  comparable  quality  levels for  all  languages. For  multilingual 
resources,  which  are  so  vital  to  creating  a  truly  multilingual  information  society, 
responsibility  for  taking  initiatives  will  be  shared  between  the  Community  and  the 
Member  States  concerned,  distinguishing  the generic  from  the  specific. 

An association  of suppliers and users will serve to promote the emergence of a resource 
infrastructure,  whose  establishment  and  operation  will  be  left  to  public  and  private 
operators  in  the  various  sectors.  In  the  United  States  and  Japan,  government  has 
stimulated  the  creation,  distribution  and  standardization  of  linguistic  resources. 

National  lexical  organizations  will  be  encouraged  to  coordinate  their  resources  and 
results in order to ensure that Europe's language industry  can benefit  to the full.  Special 
attention  should  also be  paid  to  contributions  from  the  publishing  industry. 

In  the  field  of  speech  technology,  there  is  a  need  for  research  institutes  to  cooperate 
closely among themselves and with industry in compiling standardized databases for the 
development  and  testing  of  speech  processing  systems,  leading  to  advanced  speech 
technology  applications.  As  a  large  number  of  spoken  European  languages  should  be 
covered,  the  Commission  will  investigate  with  the  Member  States  the  feasibility  of 
supporting  developments  for  speech  databases,  particularly  for  languages  with  limited 
economic  potential. 

The importance  of terminology  in information  handling  across Europe is so great as to 
justify  the  establishment  of  a  common  infrastructure  for  terminology.  Millions  of 
specific terms exist today  in some 200 different  sectors. Large distributed  or networked 
data  banks for  easy  access to multilingual  terminology  based  on  appropriate  standards 
are therefore  required. 

Industries  and  institutions  working  on  multilingual  terminology  in Europe  could  form 
the  basis  of  a  cooperative  terminology  venture.  With  suitable  stimulation  and  proper 
financial  and  organizational  backing,  this  could  become  a European  Coordination  and 
Information  Centre  for  Terminology,  cooperating  with  the  national  and  regional 
terminology  centres and with the various industrial, administrative,  legal, scientific  and 
medical  sectors. 

11 

Careful  consideration  should be given to the most effective  ways and means of ensuring 
unified  access  to  these  resources  and  to  their  use.  To  ensure  a  widely  shared 
base,  networked  access  tools  could  be  made  available  for  immediate  downloading 
(i.e.  as  freeware). 

Wider  availability  of  accessible  multilingual  resources  will  emerge  from  closer 
coordination between national and regional organizations dealing in lexicography and 
terminology.  Under Action Line  1, thé Commission will help to create the structures 
and procedures for  coordination  and  will stimulate  cooperation. 

5.2  Strengthening  the language  engineering  industry 

An  important  aspect  of  the  private  sector's  role  in  bringing  about  the  multilingual 
information  society  is  involvement  in  the  so-called  language  engineering  industries 
whose  primary  business  is the  development  of  marketable  products  for  the  computer-
based  handling  of  languages. 

These  industries,  which  stand  to play  a key  role  in  developing  European  access to the 
information  society,  have  not  been  able  to  develop  to  the  full  as  a  result  of  the 
prohibitive cost of developing the large-scale language resources which are so necessary 
for  product  performance. 

Examples  are  authoring  and  editing  tools,  based  on  spelling  and  grammar  checkers, 
translation  support  tools  such  as  electronic  dictionaries  and  terminology  banks, 
computerized  translation  systems adapted  to different  subject  areas and text types,  and 
developments  for  speech  recognition  and  speech  synthesis. 

A  strong  language  engineering  industry  is  clearly  needed  to  build  the  backbone  of 
Europe's  multilingual  information  society.  It  could  later  play  an  important  role  in 
exporting  European  language  products  to  other  parts  of  the world.  Its  emergence  will 
depend  on pooling European  expertise in order to increase the potential  for  developing 
applications  and. on  an  extension  and  better  exploitation  of  the  European  science  and 
technology  base in  this  domain. 

Essentially,  it  is  a  task  for  the  private  sector  companies  involved.  However, 
Member  States  and  the  European  Institutions  should  play  a  stimulating,  catalytic  role 
in  their  support,  identifying  potential  markets  and  areas  for  action  and  encouraging 
industry  to take  on  challenges  which  would  be beyond  their  individual  scope. 

There are good reasons to do so. In Europe, industry  is confronted  with markets which 
are more  fragmented  than,  for  example,  those in  the United  States. Most  of  the  actors 
are fairly  small  companies,  lacking  the power  to tackle  linguistic  and  cultural  barriers 
to foreign  markets.  This is compounded  by the fact  that for  new products and  services 
the  European  markets  are  less  dynamic  than  the  United  States  and  East-Asia.  This 
double challenge gives European  companies a fundamental  disadvantage that should be 
compensated  for  by  infrastructural  and  stimulation  measures. 

In language engineering, many of the methodologies, standards, functional  specifications 
and  basic  technologies  are  largely  language  independent.  In  these  cases,  initiatives  at 
the Community  level generate economies of scale. In the area of interlingual  tools such 
as those used in translation,  the Community  quite naturally  has a role to play  in liaison 
with  the Member  States  concerned. 

Member  States  will  maintain  responsibility  for  those  aspects  of  tools,  resources  and 
applications  which  specifically  concern  their  particular  language  or languages. 

12 

The stimulating  role  of the  Union will  involve  enhancing  the  language  engineering 
industries  under  Action  Line  2  so  that  they  can  benefit from  a  more  coherent 
approach  to  multilingualism.. 

5.3  Developing  an  advanced  translation  industry 

The  translation  sector  represents  one  of  the  most  prominent  domains  of  usage  of 
language  engineering  products,  and  is  itself  a  major  supplier  of  language  products, 
namely translations.  It is estimated that  in the European  Union  alone, over  100 million 
pages  of  text  are  translated  a  year,  corresponding  to  a  work  force  of  100 000  and  a 
turnover  of  ECU  10 billion(17). 

But  translation  is  not  merely  text  translation,  today  it  involves  such  diverse  activities 
as  interpreting,  localization  of  software,  dubbing  and  subtitling,  versioning  of  audio 
visual  and  multimedia  products. 

Software  product  sales  in  Europe,  already  at  around  ECU  25  billion  per  year,  are 
increasing rapidly. A key sector here is the customization  of software  for local markets, 
involving  the  preparation  of  documentation,  product  support,  manuals,  packaging  and 
warehousing as well as distribution and logistics. Most involve language-based  activities 
even  in  cases where translation  is not  directly  needed. 

Emphasis in the translation industry is progressively on computerized translation support 
tools such as electronic dictionaries, translation banks and messaging systems which can 
be  accessed  from  the translator's  workstation.  Computer  literacy  is  thus  becoming  an 
essential  skill for  the practising translator,  and will  contribute to bringing  about a more 
industrialized  approach  based  on  extensive use  of  appropriate  networking  services. 

Easy access to multilingual  aids, including large-scale lexical resources and terminology 
banks  will  become  ever  more  important.  Networking  for  individual  translators  and 
improve  efficiency  and  flexibility,  raising  Europe's 
translation  companies  will 
competitivity  in.the  world  market.  In  close  consultation  with  the  translation  industry, 
actions  including  training  and  awareness  building  will  be  started  to  mobilize  and 
strengthen  European  translation  potential. 

Ultimately,  all  citizens  and  business  of  the  Union  should  have  access  to  user-friendly 
translation  tools.  These  do  not  yet  cover  all  the  lesser-used  languages,  as  returns  on 
investment  are too  low for  the  smaller  companies  involved.  This  is clearly  an  area  for 
cooperation. 

The  stimulation  of  a  more  industrial  approach  to  translation  based  on  extensive 
networking  and  access  to  translation  tools  and  resources  will  be promoted  under 
Action  Line  2  to  improve  Europe's  efficiency  and  competitivity  in  the  world 
translation  market. 

5.4  Creating  an  educated  and  advanced  user  community 

Incentives  for  bringing  technology  to  the  market  place  will  only  be  successful  if  a 
strong  and  growing  demand  for  multilingual  information  products and  services  exists. 
This  demand  will  come  from  citizens  (entertainment, 
information),  businesses 
(information,  interpretation,  translation)  and  the  public  sector  (information,  culture, 
translation,  interpretation,  documentation).  All  must  be  made  aware  of  the  emerging 
information  society  and  of  current  and  future  possibilities  for  a multilingual  approach 
to  information  in  Europe. 

(17.) 

Source:  Praetorius  Ltd.,  Nottingham,  England. 

13 

The European  Institutions can also play a specific  role in this respect. The Commission, 
under  successive  Multilingual  Action  Plans(18),  has  for  some time  been  experimenting 
with  the  use  of  multilingual  tools,  such  as  computerized  translation  and  terminology 
banks.  Recently,  there  have  been  efforts  to  extend  these  activities  to  the  other 
European  Institutions  and  to  some  Member  State  administrations.  These  should  be 
intensified. 

Efforts must be made to inform businesses,  administrations  and individual citizens of 
the  availability  of  language  tools  and  services.  Under Action  Line  3,  the  European 
Institutions can act as a showcase for  the European industries concerned, stimulating 
high-level  demand  and  contributing  directly 
the  emergence  of  Europe's 
multilingual  information  society. 

to 

5.5  Developing  a framework  for  coordination  and  promotion 

If  the  private  sector  is  to  participate  actively  in  bringing  about  the  multilingual 
information  society,  a  clear  policy  will  of  course  be  required,  fostering  joint  action 
between  the EU  Institutions,  the Member  States  and  private  enterprise. 

In the context  of international  initiatives relating to  the global  information  society,  the 
Commission  will  emphasize  the  need  to  address  linguistic  and  cultural  aspects. 

Cooperation  will  be  pursued  in  particular  with  the  non-Community  countries  in 
Central  and Eastern Europe, the European Economic Area and the Mediterranean Basin, 
and  countries  where European  languages  are widely  spoken. 

To  provide  focus  for  defining 
issues  relating  to  the  language  aspects  of  the 
European  information  society,  the creation  ofa platform for  coordination  is  envisaged 
bringing together public and private organizations that have responsibilities  or missions 
with  respect  to multilingualism  and  society.  Its tasks  include: 

improving  the understanding  of  language  issues  for  the  information  society; 

analysing  the  relevant  economic,  social  and  cultural  aspects; 

identifying  the  main  obstacles  in  creating  a multilingual  information  society; 

stimulating  coordination  between  national  bodies  and  the European  Institutions; 

assessing  progress  towards  the  multilingual  information  society; 

cooperation  and  exchanging  language  resources  with  countries  outside  the 
European  Union; 

A  platform  for  coordinating  public  and  private  multilingual  initiatives  will  be 
established  as  an  accompanying  measure  to provide  a focus for  policy  making. 

(18) 

6th  Multilingual  Action  Plan  1994-1995. 

14 

6.  COORDINATION  WITH  RELATED  COMMUNITY  ACTIONS 

The  actions  described  above  have been  carefully  targeted  to  complement  work  which 
is  already  in  progress  under  a  number  of  existing  Community  initiatives.  Indeed, 
promoting  multilingualism  in  Europe  implies  coordination  between  a  broad  range  of 
initiatives  in  different  domains  which  should,  however,  be  regarded  as  elements  of  a 
coherent  strategy. 

Complementary  Community  actions  strengthening  language  knowledge  and  the 
technology  base  will  each  play  a  vital  part  in  creating  Europe's  multilingual 
information  society. 

6.1  A  European  approach  to language  learning 

The  growing  need  for  multilingual  support  in  communicating  information  and 
knowledge  is  recognized  by  businesses,  administrations  and  individual  citizens.  More 
emphasis  is therefore  now  being  given  to language  learning  initiatives. 

While the basis is excellence in the mother tongue, proficiency  in foreign  languages is 
becoming  almost  as important.  Only  by  extending  their  language  capabilities  will  our 
citizens be  able to benefit  from  the  ever  richer  information  services  provided  over the 
global  networks.  This  could  be  achieved,  in  part,  by  the  development  of  distance 
language  learning  products  for  the  networked  environment. 

Following  LINGUA(19),  the  SOCRATES  and  the  LEONARDO  programmes  give  full 
attention  to  language  learning,  extending  coverage  to  vocational  training.  In  the  new 
Telematics  Applications  Programme,  both  the  Education  and  Training  sector  and  the 
Language  Engineering  sector  include  development  of  language  learning  tools. 

The Research Council recently  agreed to establish  a number of task forces  charged with 
the  elaboration  of  certain  multidisciplinary  research  topics.  The  task  force  addressing 
educational  multimedia  software  will  be  looking  into the  language  learning  issues. 

The focus  on  language  learning  in  all phases  of  the educational process  as  well  as 
in the professional  environment  should  be enhanced  Community programmes  like 
LEONARDO and SOCRATES as well as the  Telematics Application  Programme will 
contribute  to this. 

6.2  Promoting  multilingual  content 

As  it  moves  into  the  information  age, Europe  can  certainly  capitalize  on  its  extensive 
content holdings in the publishing, audiovisual  and language areas. Modern production, 
packaging  and  distribution  methods  will  open  international  markets  for  a  variety  of 
services,  whether  for  leisure,  culture,  or  business,  often  requiring  a  multilingual 
approach  to  content. 

These  will  include  techniques  for  lowering  the  cost  of  producing  content-related 
products  for  Europe's  many  language  markets.  New  technologies  will  enable  a  more 
integrated  approach,  reducing  translation  and  adaptation  costs  while  improving 
multilingual  quality. 

(19) 

LINGUA:  Promotion  of  the  teaching  and  learning  of  the  languages  of  the  EC, 
Council  Decision,  OJ  No  L 239,  16.8.1989. 

15 

The  European  content  industry  will  be  one  of  the  main  industrial  participants  in 
bringing  about  the  information  society,  in  view  of  the  need  to  publish  in  a variety  of 
languages  for  the  multilingual  market.  This  need  will  also  be  addressed  under  the 
proposed  INFO2000 programme  and  the Media  II  programme. 

Similarly, in RTD programmes, particularly in the information  engineering and language 
engineering  sectors  of  the  Telematics  Applications  Programme,  due  attention  will  be 
given to technologies for  reducing the additional  costs and cutting back the turn-around 
time of multilingual  content production,  including  dubbing,  subtitling  and  multilingual 
software  support. An important area here will be tools for the production  of CD-ROMs 
and  CDIs in  a wide variety  of  languages. 

Development of tools and methods designed to reduce production  costs of multilingual 
content  while  improving  its  quality  will  be stimulated  in the framework  of  the  RTD 
programmes.  The  INFO2000  and  the  MEDIA  II  programmes  will  stimulate  the 
production  of  multilingual  content 

6.3  Extending  and  exploiting  the  technology  base 

Despite  significant  progress  in  the  past  10  years,  language  technology  remains 
immature,  requiring  further  research  and  development.  A  constraint  is  lack  of  large-
scale, widely  accessible  computerized  resources  for  the various  technologies. 

-  Natural  language  processing  covers  language  recognition,  dialogue  management, 
syntactic, morphological  and semantic analysis, computerized translation,  document 
indexing and retrieval, and techniques for evaluation. These technologies are needed 
to  create  grammar  checkers,  parsers  for  use  in  translation  and  authoring  systems, 
and  tools  for  networked  information  discovery  and  classification. 

Speech  technology  can  be  broken  down  into  signal  processing,  automatic  speech 
recognition,  language  understanding,  speaker  recognition,  speech  generation  and 
text-to-speech synthesis, as well as speech technology evaluation.  Speech technology 
can be applied at the synthesis level, for  example in creating text-to-speech  systems 
for  the  blind,  while  speech  analysis  techniques  are  required  for  voice-controlled 
equipment  and  for  automatic  dictation  systems.  All  these  technologies  are  closely 
tied  to their  written-language  processing  counterparts. 

The  ergonomie  aspects  of  language  engineering  cover  the  design  of  effective 
interfaces  for  handling  both  spoken  and  written  language.  These  include  screen 
displays  and  help  messaging  in  all  the  necessary  languages  as well  as  components 
supporting  multilingual  voice  commands. 

Language  engineering builds on these to develop applications involving the  processing 
of  written  or  spoken  language.  Potential  applications  could,  for  example,  include 
systems  offering  rough  translations  of  abstracts  from  scientific  databases  or  for 
converting  speech  to text,  for  example  reports  dictated  by  medical  specialists. 

16 

Europe's  scientific  basis  for  language  technology  has  been  consolidated  by  RTD 
programmes  such  as  ESPRIT,  Telematics,  Eurotra(20),  and  Linguistic  Research  and 
Engineering^.  Exploitation  of  this  strong  science  and  technology  base  is,  however, 
lagging  behind: 

Special  efforts  will  be  made  both  within  the  specific  programmes  concerned  and 
through continued support for  the exploitation and dissemination of results to ensure 
that  industry  is kept  informed  of  achievements  in  the  area  of  language  technology. 

7.  CONCLUDING  REMARKS 

In  conclusion,  the proposed  Multilingual  Information  Society  programme  will  address 
a  number  of  significant  gaps  which  need  to  be  filled  in  developing  a  coordinated 
strategy  for  a multilingual  information  society.  In  many  cases it is not only the ideas, 
but  better  coordination,  adequate  speed,  appropriate  implementation  that  are  required 
in  Europe.  The  proposed  Council  decision  to  launch  an  action  programme  promoting 
the  multilingual  information  society  takes these  issues into  account. 

Language diversity has been and will remain a cornerstone for European communication 
and cooperation. It will become all the more important with the emergence of the global 
information  society,  where  countries  will  try  to  capitalize  on  their  strong  position  in 
certain  areas  of  information  and  communication  services  by  exporting  products  and 
services  across the globe. 

As the global  information  society  develops,  Europe  must  be ready  to play  its part  and 
reap  the  full  benefits  for  its  citizens,  its  businesses  and  its  public  administrations. 
European  identity  must  be  preserved,  characterized  as  it  is  by  fruitful  cooperation 
between  different  peoples  with  different  languages  and  different  cultures. 

Europe's language  diversity  is considerable  when  compared  with the United  States and 
Japan,  its  main  competitors,  even  if  it  is  less  marked  than  in  many  other  parts  of  the 
world.  Europe  has the  scientific  and technological  competence,  the  economic  strength 
and the political will to maintain its language diversity in the information  age as wished 
by the European citizens. Business is prepared to take its share in this enterprise, having 
experienced  the  need  to  cope  with  a  multilingual  and  multicultural  society.  Small 
enterprises,  confronted  with  large  and  diversified  markets,  also need  adequate help. 

The  multilingual 
information  society  will  thus  make  it  easier  for  citizens  to 
communicate  in the language  of their  choice,  at work  or at home. It will  also ensure a 
strong position for Europe when transferring its own experience and maturity in dealing 
with  a  culturally  and  linguistically  diverse  Europe  to  an  even  more  diverse 
Information  Society  worldwide. 

(20) 

(21) 

system  of  advanced  design. 
EUROTRA,  A  European  machine 
Initiated  by  Council  Decision  82/752  of  4  November  1982  and  last  covered  by 
Council  Decision  90/664  of  26 November  1990. 
Council  Decision  of  7 June  1991, OJ No  L  192,  16.7.1991. 

translation 

17 

ANNEX 1 : Summary of WILIS Actions 

TITLE 

DESCRIPTION 

JUSTIFICATION 

1. 

Supporting the construction of an 
infrastructure  for European 
language resources 

Call for proposal (shared cost projects) for the : 

- support starting up European language resources 
association with respect to validation and dissemination 
of language resources 
- phased development  of a network connecting sector 
and language based terminology banks 
- selection and operation of an information centre for 
terminology 
- phased development  of a network of compatible 
electronic corpora and lexicons 

- better use of language resources which are being 
developed independently in different Member States 
- language resources need to be developed according 
to commonly agreed standards 
- networking these resources ensures their 
compatibility 
- Community action promotes development  of 
multilingual resources 

TITLE 

DESCRIPTION 

JUSTIFICATION 

2. 

Mobilising and expanding the 
language industries 

Calls for proposal (shared cost projects) for the : 

- demonstration of effective use of controlled language 
and language tools, in a limited number of industrial and 
business environments 
- demonstration of advanced tools and methods for 
localising multimedia  software 
- development of electronic translation directory 
services 
- demonstration of tele-translation and tele-interpreting 
using pan-European networks 

- SME's need increasingly to address different 
language markets 
-  skills and experience to handle multilingualism are 
lacking 
- Community action will improve the chances of 
SME's in the Single Market 
- direct access to multilingual services will reduce 
time-to-market of SME's 
- language industries, mainly SME's, will benefit from 
European cooperation 

TITLE 

Promoting the use of advanced 
language tools in the European 
public sector 

ANNEX 1 : Summary of WILIS Actions 

DESCRIPTION 

JUSTIFICATION 

Calls for tender for the : 

- development of a multilingual  information 
infrastructure for the public sector (tools, resources, 
standards,  interfaces) 
- development of translation tools in bilateral 
cooperation with Member States and regions 
- elaboration of unified terminology specific for the 
European public sector 

- the need for multilingual communication between 
public administrations in Europe is rapidly increasing 
- deployment of language tools can vastly improve 
efficiency 
- experience of European institutions to handle 

{multilingualism should be shared with administrations 

in the Member States 

European public sector will be a showcase for the 

VI European language industries 

TITLE 

Accompanying measures 

o 

DESCRIPTION 

JUSTIFICATION 

Calls for tender (mainly for studies and awareness 
actions) 

- organising concertation and coordinationbetween the 
principal operators 
- study to assess needs and progress towards 
multilingualism 
- support linguistic standards work 
- various promotional activities, particularly addressing 
the general public and business sectors 
- organise concertation with third countries. 

- concerted actions at European level to improve 
effectiveness  of action plan 
- standardisation essential for large scale deployment 
and re-use 
- awareness of language issues and potential  solutions 
in Europe is low 
- international exchange can extend European action 
and strengthens links with selected third countries 

Proposal  for  a 
COUNCIL  DECISION 
on the  adoption  of  a multiannual  programme  to  promote  the  linguistic  diversity 
of  the  Community  in the  information  society 

THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE EUROPEAN  UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular 
Article  130(3)  thereof, 

Having  regard  to the  proposal  from  the  Commission, 

Having  regard  to the  opinion  of the  European  Parliament^, 

Having  regard  to the  opinion  of  the Economic  and  Social  Committee(2), 

Whereas  the  advent  of  the  information  society  provides  industry  with  new  prospects  for 
communication  and  trade  on  European  and  world  markets  which  are  marked  by  a  rich 
linguistic  and  cultural  diversity; 

Whereas  industry  must  work  out  specific  and  adequate  solutions  to  overcome  the  linguistic 
barriers  if  it  is  benefit  fully  from  the  advantages  of  the  internal  market  and  remain 
competitive  on  world  markets; 

Whereas  it  is  necessary  to  encourage  the  use  of 
technologies,  tools  and  methods  which 
reduce the cost of transferring  information  between languages, while also assuring the quality 
of translations, particularly  in the case of literary translation, which requires a specific creative 
effort; 

Whereas  the  European  Council  meeting  in  Corfu  on  24  and  25  June  1994,  stressed  the 
importance  of the cultural  and  linguistic  aspects  of the  information  society,  and  whereas  the 
European  Council  meeting in Cannes on 26 and 27 June  1995, restated  the importance to the 
Community  of  its linguistic  diversity; 

Whereas  the  emergence  of  the  information  society  could  afford  citizens  greater  access  to 
information  and offer  an outstanding  opportunity  to exploit the cultural  and linguistic wealth 
and  diversity  of  the  Community; 

Whereas language policies are a matter for the Member  States, taking account of  Community 
law; whereas, however, promoting the development  of modern  language processing tools and 
their  use  is  a  field  of  activity  in  which  Community  action  is justified  in  order  to  achieve 
substantial  economies  of scale by  stimulating  suitable cooperation  between those involved in 
the  various  language  areas;  whereas  the  measures  to  be  taken  at  Community  level  must  be 
commensurate  with  the  objectives  to  be  attained  and  concern  only  those  fields  which  are 
likely  to  produce  an  added  value  for  the  Community; 

Whereas  it is in the  interests  of the Community  to  support  efforts  to  set up  an  infrastructure 
encouraging  the  creation  and  exploitation  of  the  language  resources  required  to  improve 
language  services  and  tools  and  give  a boost  to R&D  work; 

(,) 
(2) 

OJ  No 
OJ  No 

20 

Whereas  the  Community  should  also  mobilize  the  language  industries  and  help  create  an 
environment  which  is conducive  to their  expansion; 

Whereas the information  and communications technology  industries should be encouraged  to 
draw  up  standards  which  take  account  of  linguistic  diversity  and  incorporate  them  in  their 
products  and  applications; 

Whereas it is useful  for  the Community  institutions  and the administrations  concerned  in the 
Member  States to collaborate more closely in order to reduce the cost of developing and using 
the  language  tools  required  to  carry  out their tasks; 

Whereas the actions to be carried out in implementing this programme should be  coordinated 
closely  with  initiatives  implemented  under  other  Community  programmes  with  a  view  to 
setting  up  a multilingual  information  society; 

Whereas  mutual  benefits  can  be  obtained  by  involving  international  organizations  and  legal 
entities  from  non-member  countries  in  the  implementation  of  all  or  part  of the  programme, 
while  respecting  the  general  policies  of the  Community  towards these  organizations, 

HAS  ADOPTED  THIS  DECISION: 

A Community  programme  which  aims to: 

Article 1 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

encourage  the  use  of  technologies,  tools  and  methods  which  reduce  the  cost  of 
transferring  information  between  languages  and  the  development  of  multilingual 
services, 

stimulate  the  expansion  of the  languages  industries, 

promote the  development  of  multilingual  services, 

promote  the linguistic  diversity  of the  Community  in the  global  information  society, 

is  adopted  for  the period  running  from  the  date upon  which  this Decision  takes  effect  until 
31  December  1998. 

Article 2 

The following  actions shall  be undertaken  under the responsibility  of the Commission  and in 
accordance with  the action  lines set out  in Annex  I and the procedures for  implementing  the 
programme  set  out  in  Annex  II: 

(a) 

(b) 

support  for  attempts to construct  an infrastructure  for  Community  language  resources 
and  encouragement  for  those  involved, 

the  mobilization  and  expansion  of  language  industries  by  encouraging  the  use  of 
modern  language  technologies  and  tools  and  their  incorporation  into  computer 
applications, 

(c) 

promotion  of  the use  of  advanced  language  tools  in  the  Community  public  sector. 

None  of  these  actions  should  duplicate  the  work  being  carried  out  in  these  fields  under 
Community  or  national  programmes. 

21 

1. 

2. 

1. 

2. 

Article  3 

The  budgetary  authority  shall  determine  the  appropriations  for  each  financial  year, 
subject  to the  availability  of  resources within  the  context  of  the  financial  outlook. 

The Community's financial  contribution to the shared-cost  projects  shall, as a general 
rule,  be 50%. 

Article  4 

The  Commission  shall  be  responsible  for  the  implementation  of the  programme. 

The Commission  shall be assisted  by a committee  of an advisory  nature composed  of 
representatives  of  the  Member  States  and  chaired  by  the  representative  of  the 
Commission. 

The  representative  of  the  Commission  shall  submit  to  the  committee  a  draft  of  the 
measures  to  be  taken.  The  committee  shall  deliver  its  opinion  on  the  draft  within  a 
time limit which the chairman  may  lay  down  according to the urgency  of the  matter, 
if  necessary  by  taking  a vote. 

The  opinion  shall  be  recorded  in  the  minutes;  in  addition,  each  Member  State  shall 
have the  right  to request  that  its position  be  recorded  in  the minutes. 

The  Commission  shall  take  the  utmost  account  of  the  opinion  delivered  by  the 
committee.  It shall  inform  the committee of the manner in which its opinion  has been 
taken  into  account. 

The  procedure  laid  down  in  Article  4(2)  shall  apply  to: 

Article  5 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

the work  programme  for  carrying  out  the  action  lines  set  out  in  Annex  I, 

the  content  of  the  calls for  proposals, 

the  selection  of  the  actions  proposed  for  Community  financing  and  the  estimated 
amount  of  this  financing  for  each  action,  where  this  amount  is  equal  to  or  exceeds 
ECU  0.5  million, 

(d) 

the  procedures  for  evaluating  the results  of  the  programme, 

(e) 

(f) 

adaptation  of  the procedures  for  carrying  out the programme  laid  down  in Annex  II, 

the decision  to allow the participation  of international  organizations  and legal  entities 
from  non-member  countries. 

Article  6 

completion  of 

Upon 
the 
European  Parliament,  the  Council  and  the  Economic  and  Social  Committee  an  evaluation 
report  on  the results  obtained  through  implementing  the  actions  referred  to  in  Article  2. 

the  Commission 

the  programme, 

shall  present 

to 

22 

This Décision  is addressed to the Member States. 

Article 7 

Done  at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

23 

ACTION  LINES 

Annex  1 

1.  Action  Line  1:  Supporting  the  construction  of  an  infrastructure  for  European 

language  resources 

Language resources such as dictionaries, terminological databanks, grammar books, collections 
of  texts  and  voice  recordings  are  an  essential  raw  material  for  linguistic  research,  the 
development  of  language-processing  tools  integrated  into  data  processing  systems  and  for 
improving  translation  services.  Considerable  amounts  of  money  have  already  been  invested 
by the Member  States, the Commission  and  some private  companies  on producing  language 
resources  of varying  size and  complexity.  The full  utilization  of these  resources is  currently 
being  hampered  by  the  fact  that  they  are  mainly  monolingual  and  their  basic  specifications 
sometimes  differ,  thus limiting their wider use. In  addition,  they are often  difficult  to locate. 
The  aim  of  this  action  line  is  to  support  efforts  to  construct  a  European  infrastructure  for 
multilingual  language  resources. 

1.1  The  Commission  will  lend  its  support  for  the  starting  up  of  the  activities  of  the 

European  language  resources  association  (ELRA),  whose  aims  are to: 

-  compile  an inventory  of  the language  resources  available  in the  Community, 

-  introduce mechanisms to ensure that they are disseminated throughout the Community, 

-  promote the application of common standards to ensure their compatibility  and enable 

quality  certification. 

1.2  The  work  in  the  field  of  terminology  covers  a  vast  range  of  activities  with  important 
implications for trade, science, the cultural sector and technology and the implementation 
of  Community  decisions,  directives  and  regulations.  This work  is being  undertaken  by 
a  very  wide  range  of  public  and  private  operators  who  often  lack  the  means  to 
coordinate  their  actions with  those  of  their  counterparts  in  other  Member  States. 

The  Commission  will  encourage  the  launch  of  concerted  actions  between  interested 
bodies  in  the  different  Member  States  in  areas  which  have  priority  in  attaining  the 
objectives  of Community  policies. To this end,  it will, where necessary,  make  financial 
contributions  to expenditure  involved  in  the introduction  of  concerted  European  action 
among  the  bodies  concerned,  particularly  addressing  standards,  dissemination  of 
information  and  networking. 

1.3  The  availability  of  lexicographical  databanks  and  voice  recordings  which  are  suited  to 
the development  of data processing applications and cover all the Community  languages 
is essential  in order for  a European  language industry  to emerge. Most of the  resources 
currently  available in Europe are monolingual  and mutually  incompatible, which  makes 
them  impossible  to  use  for  the  production  of  multilingual  tools.  In  this  field  too,  the 
Commission  will  encourage the launch  of concerted  actions between  public and  private 
sector  operators  in the  different  Member  States with  the  aim  of  developing  compatible 
vocal  and  lexicographical  resources which  conform  to generally-accepted  standards. 

1.4  The  Commission  will  ensure  that  the  concerted  actions  receiving  its  support  have 

appropriate  links with  international  work  in  this  field. 

24 

2.  Action  Line  2:  Mobilizing  and  expanding  the  language  industries 

It is the private sector's role to produce and market modern tools facilitating  the  development 
of  multilingual  data  processing  applications  and  information  transfer  between  languages. 
Europe has a solid  scientific  and technological  base in this field which has been  strengthened 
by Community  research and development programmes, in particular the programmes relating 
to  information  and  communications  technologies  and  telematic  systems  of  general  interest. 
However,  the European  market  lags behind  when  it  comes to  exploiting  the  advances  made 
by  research  in  the  area  of  language  engineering.  A  concentrated  effort  needs to be made  to 
speed  up  the  process  of  getting  new  language  processing  technology  onto  the  market, 
particularly  as  part  of  the  actions  for  disseminating  and  exploiting  the  results  of  research 
carried out under the framework  programme and the specific programmes. All the action lines 
proposed  in the present  programme  seek to create an environment  which  is conducive to the 
expansion  of the language industries  such as language engineering and translation  industries. 

The  aim  of  this  action  line  is  to  spur  the  language  industries  into  action  by  stimulating 
technology  transfer  and  demand  through  a  limited  number  of  shared-cost  demonstration 
projects  which  could  act  as a  catalyst  in  certain  key  sectors. 

2.1  A number  of industries has experimented  with controlled  language to facilitate  drafting 
of technical  documents  and  user  support  information.  This  approach  improves  general 
document  management  and  allows  effective  use  of  machine-translation.  A  limited 
number  of  shared  cost  projects  will  demonstrate  the  cost-effectiveness  of  integrating 
controlled 
in  operational  document 
management  systems  for  different  industrial  and  business  environments. 

language,  authoring  and 

translation 

tools, 

2.2  Localization  of  multimedia  software,  including  translation  of  the  spoken  and  written 
word,  is  becoming  increasingly  in  demand  in  the  Information  Society,  to  stimulate 
professionalism  andto  improve  competitiveness  of  the  localization  and  the  multimedia 
industries,  a  call  will  be  issued  to  launch  a  small  number  of  shared  cost  projects, 
demonstrating  the  integration  of  localization  methodology  and  tools,  training  of 
localization  staff  and  developing  best  practice  guidelines  of  particular  importance  for 
SME's. 

2.3  The Commission  will  promote the use  of networks by the translation  and  interpretation 
industries.  These  give  access  to  advanced  tools,  including  electronic  dictionaries, 
improve  logistics,  allow  integration  with  other  functions,  and  generally  improve  the 
functioning  of the translation  market.  A call for  proposals will ask for the definition  and 
implementation  of  European  translation  directory  services,  the  definition  of  an  open 
translation  environment  in  Europe,  and  for  pan-European  tele-translation  and  tele-
interpretation  demonstrators  with  the  involvement  of  the  translation  industry  and 
profession. 

3.  Action  Line  3:  Promoting  the  use  of  advanced  language  tools  in  the  European 

public  sector 

On  account  of their  linguistic  obligations,  the  European  institutions,  and  the  Commission  in 
particular, have had to spend a substantial  amount on acquiring and perfecting  advanced tools 
which  have  become  indispensable  for  the  efficient  processing  of  an  increasing  volume  of 
translations  and multilingual  documents.  In addition,  through  their daily translation  activities 
they  are  also  helping  to  compile  important  multilingual  language  resources  in  the  various 
fields  of Community  activity.  With  the introduction  of the  Single Market  and the removal  of 
internal  frontiers, 
there  will  be  an  increase  in  the  transfer  of  information  between 
administrations in the different  Member States. These will be faced  with an increasing number 
of  situations where they  will  need advanced  language tools in  order to make  communication 

25 

with their counterparts in other Member States easier and cheaper. Transferring the experience 
acquired  by  the  European 
to  the 
administrations in the Member States and sharing the language resources which each produces 
can  help  achieve  economies  of  scale and  reduce  the  cost  of  multilingual  communication. 

institutions  in  the  processing  of  multilingualism 

The  aim  of  this  action  line  is  to  encourage  cooperation  between  administrations  in  the 
Member  States  and  the  European  institutions  in  order  to  reduce  the  cost  of  multilingual 
communication in the European public sector  in particular by using advanced language tools. 
In  this  way,  the  European  institutions  can  act  as  powerful  catalysts  for  the  development  of 
the European  language industry  in the form  of a public  demand  based  on common  standards 
or  technical  specifications. 

3.1  The long-term goal is the provision of an efficient  multilingual  processing service which 
satisfies  the  requirements  of  the  Institutions  and  the  administrative  services  concerned 
in the Member  States.  This, will  favour  the establishment  of  an infrastructure  enabling 
each  party  to  use  the  different  linguistic  tools  available  in  the  Community  institutions 
and  the  different  administrations  without  any  loss  of  their  current  functions,  whilst 
encouraging convergence in future  developments.  Calls for tender will be issued  for  the 
development of tools and systems which help reduce translation time by making it easier 
to locate and  re-use texts or  sections  of  documents which  have already  been  translated, 
as  well  as  on  access  to  terminological  databanks.  Particular  attention  will  also  be 
devoted  to tools  and  applications  which  make the task  of  interpreting  easier. 

3.2  Work  will  continue  on  shared-cost  cooperation  projects  conducted  with  certain 
Member  States  in  order  to  improve  terminological  tools  and  existing  compter-assisted 
translation  systems,  and  will  be  extended  to  include  other  interested  Member  States. 

3.3  A special effort  will be made to bring the language tools for the new official  Community 

languages  up  to the  level  of the  others. 

4.  Accompanying  measures 

Achieving the multilingual  information  society calls for the devising of converging  strategies 
on the part of the public authorities, associations and institutions working to develop language 
resources  and  tools,  the  experimental  users  and  the  market  operators  producing  and 
disseminating  the  information  services  or  providing  language  processing  tools,  services  and 
systems.  To  help  in  this,  the  Commission  will  carry  out  the  following  accompanying 
measures: 

organizing  concertation  and  coordination  between  the  principal  operators  involved  in 
developing  a multilingual  information  society, 

assessing  progress  made  towards  multilingual  information  society,  and  identifying 
remaining  barriers; 

promoting  technical  standards  which  meet  the linguistic  needs  of  users; 

launching  promotional  activities  and  user  awareness  campaigns  and  supporting  the 
exchange  of  best  practice; 

exploring the possibilities for fruitful  collaboration  with third countries and  multilingual 
international  organizations. 

26 

Annex  II 

PROCEDURES  FOR  IMPLEMENTING  THE  PROGRAMME 

1.  The  Commission  shall  implement  the  programme  in  accordance  with  the  technical 

specifications  set  out  in  Annex  I. 

2.  Where appropriate,  the action lines  in the programme  shall  be  carried  out by  means of 
shared-cost  projects,  except  in the case of  developments  exclusively  for the  institutions 
of  the  EU,  in  which  case  the  rate  may  be  up  to  100%.  The  Community's  financial 
contribution  will  not  normally  be  more  than  50%  of  the  cost  of  the  projects,  this 
proportion  decreasing the closer the project  is to being marketed.  Universities and other 
institutes  which  do  not  have  cost  accounting  systems  shall  be  reimbursed  at  100% of 
their  additional  costs. 

3.  The selection  of  shared-cost  projects  is, in principle, based  on the normal  procedure  for 
calls for  proposals published  in the Official  Journal  of the European  Communities.  The 
objectives  shall  be  set out in work plans compiled  in close cooperation  with the market 
operators  and  the  committee  referred  to  in  Article  4  of the  Decision. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

In  exceptional  cases,  having  received  the  opinion  of  the  committee  referred  to  in 
Article  4,  the  Commission  may  consider  proposals  for  projects  which  have  not  been 
requested  but  which  might  involve  particularly  promising  and  important  developments 
for  achieving the objectives  of the programme  and which  could  not be  submitted  under 
the  normal  procedure  for  calls  for  proposals. 

Support  for  attempts  to  construct  an  infrastructure  for  European  linguistic  resources 
could take the form  of concerted  actions to coordinate the  development  of  multilingual 
linguistic  resources,  particularly  through  "concertation  networks".  The  Community's 
financial  contribution  could  cover up  to  100% of  the  coordinating  costs. 

Projects  financed  entirely by the Commission  under study  and  service contracts shall be 
implemented  through  a call  for  tenders  in  accordance  with  the  Commission's financial 
regulations.  Transparency  will  be ensured  by  the publication  and  regular  dissemination 
of  the work  programme  to professional  associations  and  other  interested  bodies. 

7.  To implement  the programme, the Commission  shall  also carry  out  activities drawn  up 
in  accordance  with  the  general  objectives  of  the  programme  and  the  specific  aims  of 
each action line. Such activities shall include workshops, seminars, conferences,  studies, 
publications, awareness campaigns, training courses, participation in cooperative  projects 
institutions  and 
with  the  administrations  in  the  Member  States,  the  European 
international  organizations, helping national  language observatories and specific  support 
for  the  development  of  language  tools  and  resources  for  those  Community  languages 
most  in  need  of  such  assistance. 

27 

FINANCIAL  STATEMENT 

1.  TITLE  OF  OPERATION 

Promotion  of  the  multilingual 
programme  to  preserve  and  exploit  linguistic  diversity  in  Europe. 

information  society  (MLIS):  multiannual  action 

2.  BUDGET  HEADING  INVOLVED 

B5-403 

3.  LEGAL  BASIS 

Treaty  on European  Union,  Article  130 (3). 

4.  DESCRIPTION  OF  OPERATION 

4.1  GENERAL  OBJECTIVE 

The programme is based on the experience acquired by the Commission of the European 
Communities in managing research programmes in the field of language engineering and 
the development, for its own requirements, of language tools which facilitate  translation 
and  reduce  its  cost. 

This new  programme  has four  principal  objectives: 

-  to  stimulate  the  use  of  technologies,  tools  and  methods  which  reduce  the  cost  of 
transferring  information  between  languages  and  the  development  of  multilingual 
services; 

-  to  encourage the  strengthening  of the language  industries; 

-  to  encourage the  development  of  multilingual  services; 

-  to  promote  the  linguistic  diversity  of  the  European  Union  in  the global  information 

society. 

The technological  revolutions  which  are profoundly  modifying  the form  and  modes  of 
human communication  have an impact on the evolution  of languages and their use. The 
appearance  on  the  scene  of  a  global  information  society  is  a  challenge  to  linguistic 
cohesion  and diversity in Europe. Economic pressures (the cost of multilingualism) will 
tend to  encourage  the use of  dominant  languages  through  the networks.  Those  citizens 
who  are not  in  a position  to  express themselves  easily  in  those  languages  risk  missing 
out  on  the benefits  of  the information  society. 

However,  the  progress  achieved  in  language  engineering  and  language  processing 
technologies  means  that  there  are  now  tools  available  which  reduce  the  cost  of 
translation  and  multilingualism  and  make  it  easier  to  learn  languages. 

The  principal  lines  of  action  of the new  programme  are  as  follows: 

-  to  support  efforts  to  set up the  infrastructure  of  European  language  resources  and  to 

encourage the  operators  involved; 

-  to  mobilize  and  reinforce  the  language  industries  by  promoting  the  use  of  modern 
language technologies  and tools  and  their  incorporation  in  computer  applications; 

-  to  promote  the use  of  advanced  language  tools,  in  particular  in the European  public 

sector. 

28 

4.2  PERIOD  COVERED  AND ARRANGEMENTS  FOR  RENEWAL 

Three  years,  covering  the  period  from  1 January  1996 to  31 December  1998. 

5.  CLASSIFICATION  OF  EXPENDITURE  OR  REVENUE 

5.1  NCE 

5.2  DA 

5.3  Type  of  revenue 

revenue  will  be 

Any 
the 
Financial  Regulation  of  21  December  1977,  as  most  recently  amended  by  Regulation 
610/90  of  13 March  1990. 

in  accordance  with  Article  27  of 

reemployed 

6.  TYPE OF EXPENDITURE/REVENUE INVOLVED 

6.1  Provision  of  services 

Projects  financed  in  whole by  the  Commission  under  study  and  services  contracts will 
be implemented  through  calls for  tender in accordance with the financial  regulations of 
the  Commission.  These  services  will  generally  concern  studies,  the  organization  of 
coordination  meetings,  workshops  and  demonstrations  of  language  tools  for  the 
European  institutions. They will derive, in particular, from  the implementation  of action 
lines  2  and  3  and  the  accompanying  measures.  Transparency  will  be  ensured  by 
publishing  the  work  programme  and  communicating  it to  commercial  associations  and 
other  interested  bodies. 

6.2  Subsidy  for  joint  funding  with  other  sources  in  the  public  and  private  sectors 

Shared-cost  projects  and  joint  projects  will  normally  be  selected  following  the  usual 
procedures  of  calls  for  proposals  published  in  the  Official  Journal  of  the  European 
Communities.  This type  of  funding  applies,  in  particular,  to the  activities  provided  for 
in  the  three  action  lines  for  joint  development  projects.  The  content  of  the  calls  for 
proposals  will  be  drawn  up  in  close  consultation  with  market  operators  and  the 
programme  committee.  The principal  criterion  for  supporting  projects through the  calls 
for  proposals  will  be  their  potential  contribution  to  attaining  the  objectives  of  the 
programme.  The  Community's  financial  contribution  to  shared-cost  projects  will  not 
normally  exceed  50%.  The  Community's  financial  involvement  may  of  course  be  as 
high  as  100%  in  the  case  of  projects  involving  exclusively  the  institutions  of  the 
European Union.  Specific  supplementary  bonuses may also be granted to encourage the 
development  of a European language resources infrastructure,  the participation  of SMEs 
and initiatives concerning those Community  languages for which the advanced  language 
tools  are  least  developed.  The  Community's  financial  contribution  to  the  projects 
involved  may  cover  up  to  100% of  the  coordination  costs. 

29 

7.  FINANCIAL  IMPACT 

7.1  Method of calculating total cost of operation  (relationship between individual  costs 

and  the  total  cost) 

The  volume  of  appropriations  required  to  finance  the  Community  contribution  to 
implementing  the  MLIS  programme  takes  account  of  the  financial  parameters  derived 
from  previous  experience  and  activities  and  the  nature  of  the  actions  proposed  with  a 
view to  achieving  the  specific  objectives  set  out  in  point 9.1. 

7.2  Itemized  breakdown  of  costs 

Commitment  by  line  of  action  (current  costs in  million  ecus): 

Supporting  the  construction  of  an 
infrastructure  for  European 
language  resources 
Mobilizing  and  expanding  the 
language  industries 
Promoting  the  use  of  advanced 
language  tools  in the  European 
public  sector 
Accompanying  measures 
TOTAL 

1996 
0.5 

1997 
0.5 

1998 
1.0 

Total 
2.0 

1.0 

2.0 

0.5 
4.0 

1.0 

2.5 

1.0 
5.0 

1.5 

2.5 

1.0 
6.0 

3.5 

7.0 

2.5 
15 

8.  FRAUD PREVENTION MEASURES (AND RESULTS OF MEASURES TAKEN) 

Overall  monitoring  will  be  exercised  by  a  committee  composed  of  delegates  of  the 
Member  States. Specific monitoring criteria and procedures will be laid down at the start 
of  the  programme  and  applied  periodically  during  the  implementation  phase  of  the 
programme. The Commission officials,  if necessary  assisted by independent experts, will 
verify  the proper implementation  of the projects  and  studies before  payment, taking into 
account the  contractual  obligations  and  principles  of  good  management.  Administrative 
checks  will  be  carried  out  by  the  Commission.  Verification  will  be  by  the  Court  of 
Auditors under the terms of the Treaty. At the end of the programme an evaluation  report 
will  be  drawn  up  by  independent  experts  on  the  results  obtained  in  implementing  the 
lines  of  action. 

9.  ELEMENTS  OF  COST-EFFECTIVENESS  ANALYSIS 

9.1  Specific  and  quantifiable  objectives;  target  population 

Specific  objectives 

Supporting  the construction  of an  infrastructure for  European  language  resources 

Language  resources  such  as  dictionaries,  terminological  databanks,  grammar  books, 
collections  and  the  like  are  an  essential  raw  material  for  linguistic  research,  for  the 
development of operational language processing tools and the improvement of computer-
assisted  translation  systems.  Considerable  sums  have  already  been  invested  by  the 
Member  States,  the  Commission  and  certain  private  companies  in  an  effort  to  produce 
language  resources  of  varying  scale  and  complexity.  Exploitation  of  these  resources  is 
currently  hampered  by  the  fact  that  they  are  mainly  monolingual, 
their  basic 
-  which  limits  their  use  -  and  they  are  often 
specifications  are  sometimes  disparate 
difficult  to  locate.  The  objective  of  this  line  of  action  is  to  support  the  efforts  being 

30 

undertaken  by  producers  and  users,  with  a  view  to  facilitating  their  identification, 
structuring,  distribution  and  utilization  at  Community  level. 

Mobilizing  and  expanding  the language  industries 

This  line  of  action  will  essentially  involve  promoting  the  modern  language  processing 
tools in those  sectors of activity  to which  they  are particularly  well-suited  and in which 
they  are  likely  to  considerably  reduce  translation  costs:  product  labelling,  controlled-
language  drafting  and  computer-assisted  translation  of  documentation  and user notices, 
adapting  software  to different  language markets, etc. It will  also aim to promote the use 
of  language  tools  and  means  of  communication  to  strengthen  the  efficiency  and 
competitiveness  of  the European  translation  industry  and  interpreting  services. 

Promoting  the  use of advanced  language tools in  the European public  sector 

This  line  of  action  aims  to' exploit  the  Commission's  prior  investment,  for  its  own 
requirements,  in  the  field  of  machine  translation  and  multilingual  tools,  and  to  act  as a 
catalyst  for  the  development  of  the  market  through  public  demand.  The  objective  is  to 
allow  the  other  European  institutions  and  the  civil  services  of  the  interested  Member 
States  to  use  these  tools  and  to  set  up  cooperation  projects  to  share  the  development 
costs  needed  to  cover  the  Community's  new working  languages. 

Accompanying  measures 

the  accompanying  measures  will 

In  addition  to  the  measures  to  strengthen  coordination  of  the  suitable  initiatives  in  the 
language field undertaken  under various Community  programmes, and to speed up their 
impact, 
the  organization  of  strategic 
coordination meetings with the principal market operators, launching studies and strategic 
surveys  so as to monitor  the  development  of the market  and  evaluate the impact  of  the 
programme,  stimulating  standardization  work,  launching  promotion  measures  and 
measure  to  increase  user  awareness,  and  encouraging  cooperation  and  the  exchange  of 
best  practice  in  public  and  private  bodies  which  are  taking  steps  to  adapt  to  a 
multilingual  society  and  market.  These  measures  will  also  involve  examining 
opportunities  for  advantageous  cooperation  with  third  countries  and  multilingual 
international  organizations. 

involve 

Target  population 

The target  groups  comprise: 

- 

- 

the  national  language  departments  or  institutions  with  strategic  and  executive 
responsibilities  in  the Member  States  and  regions, 

language "professionals": translators, terminologists, publishers of grammar books and 
dictionaries, teachers of languages and specialized bodies and institutes in the Member 
States, 

-  creators of language  resources and the specialized bodies which process them to give 

them  a  structure, 

-  computer  service companies  and  software  publishers  specialized  in the production  of 

language  processing  tools, 

-  major  groups  of  users  of  these  tools  (export-oriented  industries,  providers  of 
international  communications,  software  publishers, 
several 

institutions  which  need 

to  communicate 

services  and 

in 

information 
administrations  and 
languages,  etc.). 

31 

9.2  Grounds for the operation 

Subsidiarity 

Language policies are the responsibility of the Member States. Nevertheless, promoting 
the development of modern language processing tools and their use is a field of activity 
where Community  action is justified  in order to achieve substantial economies of scale 
through  promoting  suitable  cooperation  between  the operators involved  in the various 
language  zones.  The  activities  under  the  programme  will  be  commensurate  with  the 
objectives to be achieved and will involve only those fields likely to achieve an added 
value at European level. 

Choice of ways and means 

The costs will be reduced as much as possible through competition by means of calls for 
tenders  and  proposals.  The  Commission  contribution  to  shared-cost  projects  will 
coordination meetings should avoid any duplication of effort  and promote synergy. The 
choice  of  ways  and  means  takes  account  of  the  guidelines  set  out  in  the 
Bangemann Report and in the Commission action plan COM(94) 347, as well as of the 
consultations held with industry, users and the representatives of the Member  States in 
preparing the programme. 

Spin-off  and multiplier effects  expected 

Promoting the development of the language industries and the use of modern  language 
tools has spin-off  benefits  of great interest to the Community: 

-  promotion of an industry  and services which create jobs; 

-  reduction  in the  cost of translating  and transferring  information  between  languages 
(the  number  of  pages  translated  in  the  Community  in  1988  was  estimated  at 
100 million); 

-  new outlets offered  by linguistic adaptation of products and services to local markets; 

-  strengthening of the cohesion of the Community  in its linguistic diversity; 

-  preservation  of the cultural  and linguistic  diversity  of the Community  in the global 

information  society. 

The Community's means of action  - shared-cost  projects  and  support for joint  projects 
have a multiplier effect  through the supplementary  funding  contributed by the partners 
taking  part  in  these  projects.  Moreover,  they  achieve  a  further  multiplier  effect  by 
encouraging investment by the market operators. 

Factors of uncertainty 

The main factors of uncertainty which might affect  the specific results of the programme 
concern  the  readiness  of  the  private  sector  to  invest  in  the  development  of  modern 
language processing tools before the market for  such products has taken  off. 

9.3  Monitoring and evaluation  of the operation 

Some  of  the  projects  will  be  devoted  to  developing  indicators  for  monitoring  the 
multilingualism  market  in Europe, in terms of both  developing the supply  of  products 
and the industry and demand. In the very first year of the programme, a methodological 
framework  will be laid down for the systematic collection of data in the various  fields. 

32 

An  analysis  of  these  annually-updated  indicators  will  allow  an  assessment  of  the 
effectiveness  of the  measures taken  in the course  of  the programme.  Before  the end 
of  the  programme  an  evaluation  report  will  be  drawn  up  on  the results  achieved  in 
implementing  the lines  of  action. 

10. 

ADMINISTRATIVE  EXPENDITURE  (PART  A  OF  SECTION  3  OF  THE 
GENERAL  BUDGET) 

The  expenditure  is calculated  per  year. 

10.1  Additional  staff  in  the  Commission 

Implementation  of  the  proposed  action  will  require  the  additional  allocation  of  2 
officials  (1  A-grade  post  and  1  C-grade  post,  cost  =  ECU  160  000).  Effective 
mobilization  of 
the 
Commission's  annual  decision  on  the  allocation  of  resources,  taking  account  in 
particular  of  the  additional  staff  and  sums  approved  by  the  budgetary  authority. 
Additional  requests can in no way prejudice the decision which the Commission  will 
have to take  on the  allocation  of  resources. 

the  necessary  administrative  resources  will  depend  on 

10.2  Amount  of  staff  and  administrative  expenditure  involved 

The  annual  amounts  of  administrative  expenditure  are as  follows: 

10.2.1  National  experts  seconded 

A-1520 

Total  expenditure:  ECU  70  000 

Two  national  officials  will  have  to  be  seconded  to  coordinate  the  MLIS  projects 
between  the EU  and  the  national/regional  levels. 

10.2.2  Meetings  of  experts 

A-250 

Total  expenditure:  ECU  120 000 

To  prepare  the  work  programme,  the  Commission  will  consult  outside  experts  and 
representatives  of  users,  industry  administrations  and  research. 

9  meetings  aie  planned,  with  1 participant  per  Member  State  (cost  =  880  x  15 x  9 
-  118 800, rounded  up to ECU  120 000). 

10.2.3  Meetings  of  the  Committee 

A-2510 

Total  expenditure:  ECU  40  000 

The  MLIS  programme  committee  mentioned  in  the  Council  Decision  will  hold  an 
average of  3 meetings per year, with  1 participant  per Member  State (cost:  880 x  15 
3 - 39  600,  rounded  up  to ECU  40 000). 

33 

10.2.4  Official  travel 

'  A-130 

Total  expenditure: ECU 50 000 

Total official  travel costs for Commission staff and the seconded national experts are 
estimated  at  ECU  50  000  and  will  be taken  from  the  overall  amount  allocated  to 
DG XIII. 

34 

MLIS 

INFO 2000 

IT and ACTS 

TELEMATICS 

MEDIA II & 
RAPHAEL 

RELATIONSHIPS OF MLIS WITH OTHER EU PROGRAMMES 

1 

PROGRAMME  CHARACTERISTICS 
MLIS is a programme promoting linguistic diversity in the emerging Information  Society. It comprises horizontal actions such as language infrastructure  development and 
related standardisation, stimulates the use of language technologies by the language industries so as to improve thier cost-effectiveness  and stimulates the market for 
multilingual products and services. The vertical market addressed is the public sector for which MLIS will develop multilingual solutions and best practice methodologies. 
The success of MLIS will depend to a large extent on how other initiatives incorporate multilingualism in their objectives and concrete actions. 

1 

~ 

MLIS RELATIONSHIPS 
INFO 2000 is a Community programme to encourage Europe's content providers to develop new multimedia products and services and to stimulate user demand for these 
products and services. INFO 2000 aims at creating favourable conditions for the development of the European multimedia content industry, focus on the transition  from 
print to electronic publishing and on the interactive multimedia services that are currently emerging. MLIS contributes to INFO 2000 objectives by addressing the 
multilingual aspects of multimedia content, for example, by encouraging the language industries to use language technologies for cost-effective  services and by ensuring that 
suitable information  and communication infrastructures  and human interfaces are provided for the various language versions. 
IT and ACTS cover infrastructure-oriented  research and technological development programmes in the field of information technologies (addressing software technologies, 
technologies for IT components and subsystems and interface technologies) and advanced communication technologies (addressing the technological base for interactive 
digital multimedia services, photonics, high-speed networking, mobility and personal communications, intelligent networks and service engineering, and quality, security 
and safety of communications services and systems). MLIS will build on the results of the IT and telecommunications programmes, and will promote the application of 
language specific technologies and tools. Specifically, MLIS will promote the systematic localisation (translation) of software in view of the considerable economic benefits 
this can represent. 
The Telematics Applications programme stimulates applied telematics research and demonstrators in a number of public sector domains such as health care, education, 
transport and libraries. MLIS will contribute to telematics applications, particularly if they are meant for multinational or multiregional use, by ensuring that 
multilingualism is taken into account from early design to the pilot stage in a cost-effective way. MLIS will ensure availability of the necessary language infrastructure.  The 
Language Engineering sector of the Telematics Applications programme supports language tool development and demonstration. MLIS will ensure that these results are 
used in operational environments 
MEDIA II addresses the specific needs of the audiovisual segment (television, video, radio, audio and cinema) of the content-industry, while RAPHAEL is a vertical 
programme addressing the cultural heritage sector. The content-industry at large is composed of those enterprises involved in content creation, development, packaging and 
distribution. MEDIA II will make a very important contribution to linguistic pluralism through its language versioning actions. These actions will build on work under 
MLIS Action Line 2.2 relating to the cost-effective  use of versioning methodologies. MLIS will encourage the translation industry to meet the challenges in the audiovisual 
sector and will develop the language infrastructure. 

SOCRATES AND  The SOCRATES and LEONARDO programmes establish general Community frameworks for education and training policy actions, for educational systems and for a wide 
LEONARDO 

of range of economic sectors, while MLIS concentrates on the specific needs of the language industry. Very important in this context are the post-LINGUA actions to 
promote foreign language learning. These contribute to the overall MLIS objective to promote linguistic pluralism and international communication. MLIS and 
SOCRATES in particular are thus fully complementary striving for the same strategic goal. 
The purpose of the Integrated Programme in favour of SMEs and the Craft sector is, in the context of the White Paper, to initiate in a concerted manner measures 
facilitating reciprocal consultation and, where necessary, coordination between Member States with a view to improving the business environment by  simplifying 
procedures, promoting support measures for enterprises and identifying ways in which the Community can contribute to the development of enterprises. MLIS addresses the 
language industry which, apart from a limited number of international players, consists mainly of SMEs. The MLIS programme aims at stimulating this sector and its users, 
many of whom are SMEs. Results from MLIS will open up new business opportunities for SMEs in the single market. In short, the Integrated Programme and MLIS are 
fully complementary in improving the competitiveness of SMEs in Europe. 
IDA aims at improving communication between the various Member State administrations and between them and the Community institutions. The actions under IDA are 
complicated by the different  languages used by administrations for communications, for their laws and regulations; and by the lack of European terminology standards in 
this sector. MLIS will contribute to IDA in a significant way, through its actions on terminology infrastructure  and on multilingual services in the public sector where the 
Commission's considerable experience in dealing with multilingualism will be taken into account. 

. 

SMEs AND 
CRAFT SECTOR 

IDA 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(95) 486 final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

16 

Catalogue number  :  CB-CO-95-559-EN-C 

ISBN 92-77-95286-5 

Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 

L-2985 Luxembourg 

36