Consolidated activity report of the translation centre 2014 : management board decision of 24 March 2015 NO CT/CA-006/2015/01EN and management board decision of 28 June 2015 NO CT/CA-030/2015EN.
Date: 2015-08-04
Institutions: Translation Centre
Subjects: Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union, activity report, administration of the Institutions, interinstitutional cooperation (EU), multilingualism

CONSOLIDATED ACTIVITY REPORT  

OF THE TRANSLATION CENTRE 2014 

MANAGEMENT BOARD DECISION OF 24 MARCH 2015 NO CT/CA-006/2015/01EN  

AND 

MANAGEMENT BOARD DECISION OF 28 JUNE 2015 NO CT/CA-030/2015EN 

This  Consolidated  Annual Activity Report  (AAR)  has  been  drawn  up  in  compliance  with  Article 8(3)  of  Council  Regulation 
(EC)  No 2965/94  of  28 November 1994  setting  up  a  Translation  Centre  for  the  Bodies  of  the  European  Union,  as  last 
amended  by  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 1645/2003  of  18 June 2003  (the  ‘Founding  Regulation’)  and  Article 47  of  the 
Financial Regulation of 2 January 2014 applicable to the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union. 

Consolidated Activity Report of the Translation Centre 2014 
This  publication  of  the  Translation  Centre  for  the  Bodies  of  the  European  Union  is  available  on  its  website: 
http://cdt.europa.eu  
© Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union, 2015. All rights reserved. 

ISBN 978-92-95074-88-0 
ISSN 1830-0294 
doi: 10.2817/15553 

Further information on the European Union is accessible via the Europa server: http://europa.eu. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
CONTENTS 

Management Board’s assessment 

Executive summary 

Introduction 

PART I.

 ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE YEAR .............................................................................................................. 7 

 CORE OPERATIONAL ACTIVITY: TRANSLATION ................................................................................................. 7 
CHAPTER 1
 SUPPORT ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................................................... 16 
CHAPTER 2
 EXTERNAL OUTREACH ACTIVITIES .............................................................................................................. 21 
CHAPTER 3
 MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION ACTIVITIES .............................................................................................. 24 
CHAPTER 4
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES .......................................................................................................................................... 29 

PART II.

 MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................................................. 31 

CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
2.1. 
2.2. 
2.3. 
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
4.1. 
4.2. 
4.3. 
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6

 MANAGEMENT BOARD ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................................ 31 
 BUDGETARY AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................ 32 
Revenue ......................................................................................................................................... 32 
Expenditure ................................................................................................................................... 33 
Financial Key Performance Indicators ........................................................................................... 34 
 HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT ........................................................................................................... 34 
 ASSESSMENT OF AUDIT RESULTS DURING THE REPORTING YEAR ....................................................................... 35 
Internal Audit Service (IAS) ............................................................................................................ 35 
Internal Audit Capability (IAC) ....................................................................................................... 35 
European Court of Auditors (ECA) ................................................................................................. 35 
 FOLLOW-UP OF RECOMMENDATIONS AND ACTION PLANS FOR AUDITS .............................................................. 35 
 FOLLOW-UP OF OBSERVATIONS FROM THE DISCHARGE AUTHORITY .................................................................. 36 

PART III.

 ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE INTERNAL CONTROL SYSTEMS ................................... 37 

CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2

 RISK MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................................................... 37 
 COMPLIANCE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERNAL CONTROL STANDARDS (ICS) .................................................... 38 

PART IV.

 MANAGEMENT ASSURANCE ............................................................................................................ 39 

CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3

 REVIEW OF THE ELEMENTS SUPPORTING ASSURANCE .................................................................................... 39 
 RESERVATIONS ...................................................................................................................................... 40 
 OVERALL CONCLUSIONS ON ASSURANCE ..................................................................................................... 40 

PART V.

 DECLARATION OF ASSURANCE .......................................................................................................... 41 

ANNEXES ............................................................................................................................................................... 42 

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

This  consolidated  annual  activity  report  provides  an  overview  of  the  Translation  Centre’s  activity  and 
achievements  in  2014.  It  closely  follows  the  guidelines  being  developed  by  the  EU Agencies 
Performance Development Network1.  

The report takes fully into consideration the recommendations issued in the ‘Analysis and assessment 
of the activity report 2013’ by the Management Board:  

a)  The Centre has shortened the executive summary. 

b)  The Centre has reconsidered the weighting for its four activities: core operational activity: translation, 
support  activities,  external  outreach  activities  and  management  and  supervision  activities.  The 
methodology used is explained in Part 1, Chapter 4, Action 4.9. 

c)  The suggestion to introduce a traffic light / colour coding system has been taken up and is included 

in the presentation of key indicators and parameters in Annex VIII. 

d) The Centre has reviewed the measurement of client satisfaction. 

Before summarising the activities and work carried out in 2014, it should be noted that in July the Centre 
signed  a  seat  agreement  with  the  host  country,  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Luxembourg.  The  Centre  now 
complies with the request on headquarter agreements spelled out in the Commission’s Roadmap on the 
follow-up to the Common Approach on EU decentralised agencies. 

The first part of this report, dedicated to the ‘achievements of the year’, presents the implementation 
of  objectives  and  targets  set  out  in  the  work  programme  for  2014.  On  the  basis  of  the  end-of-year 
review  performed  by  the  Centre’s  management,  and  applying  the  new  weighting  factors,  the  overall 
implementation of the work programme for 2014 is 85.5%. 

Considering  the  importance  of  its  four  activities,  and  in  line  with  the  human  and  financial  resources 
foreseen for 2014, the Centre has attributed the following weightings:  

•  Core operational activity: translation – 70%  
•  Support activities – 18%  
•  External outreach activities – 5%   
•  Management and supervision activities – 7%. 

For ‘Core operational activity: translation’, most actions were fully completed. 

In terms of volume, the Centre translated 758 061 pages against the 682 342 pages forecast in the work 
programme for 2014. However, this represents a decrease of 5.8% compared with 2013, which has to 
be considered an exceptional year. 

The Centre continued to work in close cooperation with its clients, in particular with its major client, the 
Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), to develop efficient work patterns and to further 
improve quality. 

Following the survey on possible new products and services carried out in 2013, the Centre started to 
prepare video subtitling services in the second half of 2014, with the launch of the new service planned 
for the beginning of 2015.                                                                                                                                                                                 

1  The overall objective of this network, set up on 1 June 2011 by the Heads of Agencies, is to help the Agencies to better 
achieve  their  objectives,  better  serve  the  European  stakeholders’  needs,  provide  increased  added  value  to  European 
citizens,  and  to  be  more  cost-effective,  with  the  emphasis  on  tools  and  methods  for  performance  improvement  and 
accountability. 

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The  importance  of  translation  quality  assurance  is  evident  once  again  through  the  many  actions 
dedicated to quality improvement and client satisfaction. In this context, it should be mentioned that the 
Centre has started to review its client feedback system.  

In March, the Centre organised a workshop for freelance translators who had successfully participated 
in calls for tenders in order to familiarise them with the Centre’s working methods. The workshop was 
very  much  appreciated,  and  the  Centre  plans  to  organise  such  workshops  on  a  regular  basis  in  the 
future. 

In  the  field  of  ‘Support  activities’,  the  following  should  be  highlighted:  the  development  of  the 
e-CdT programme – the new translation workflow management system – and the implementation of a 
new  computer-assisted  translation  (CAT)  tool.  In  July 2014  the  first  language  team  –  the  Estonian 
translators  –  started  to  use  the  new  CAT-tool.  The  pilot  project  was  considered  to  be  a  success,  but 
revealed  that  further  automation  of  tasks  was  necessary.  This  was  done,  and  in  December 2014  the 
implementation of the CAT-tool for the other language teams was planned for the beginning of 2015. In 
addition, a new budget planning and monitoring tool was fully implemented in 2014 and the budget for 
2015 was prepared using this tool.  

The  Centre’s  ‘External  outreach  activities’  are  mainly  targeted  at  client  information  and  actions 
resulting from client surveys and visits. On behalf of its interinstitutional partners, the Centre continued 
to manage the world’s largest terminology database – the InterActive Terminology for Europe database, 
IATE. The Centre continued to play an active role in the various inter-agency networks and conducted 
a survey on the EU agencies’ approaches to multilingualism. 

Like  all  public  bodies,  the  Centre  performs  a  large  number  of  ‘Management  and  supervision 
activities’. Following the entry into force of the new Staff Regulations and the Financial Regulation in 
January 2014,  the  Centre  adapted  a  considerable  number  of  implementing  rules  and  reviewed  its 
processes and procedures. 

The  other  four  parts  of  the  report  (management;  assessment  of  the  effectiveness  of  the  internal 
control  systems;  management  assurance;  and  declaration  of  assurance)  were  prepared  as  usual.  It 
should  be  highlighted  that  the  Centre  continued  to  make  progress  in  the  area  of  Internal  Control 
Standards,  but  still  has  to  step  up  its  efforts  with  regard  to  buisness  continuity  and  document 
management. 

The Centre’s management invested a considerable amount of time and energy in developing the new 
‘Strategy 2016-2018: moving forward’ which was adopted by the Management Board in October. 

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INTRODUCTION 

The  Translation  Centre  for  the  Bodies  of  the  European  Union  was  formally  established  in 1994  by 
Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 2965/94  of  28 November 1994,  as  last  amended  by  Council  Regulation 
(EC) No 1645/2003 of 18 June 2003.  

The  Centre’s  mission  is  to  provide  translation  services  to  the  other  decentralised  EU agencies  and 
assist  those  EU institutions  and  bodies  that  have  their  own  translation  services  in  times  of  peaks  in 
workload.  Its  second  main  task  is  to  contribute  to  interinstitutional  cooperation  between  the  EU’s 
translation services with the aim of rationalising working methods, harmonising procedures and making 
overall savings in the field of translation. 

The Centre’s mandate, mission statements, specific activities/actions and operations are implemented 
by four departments (Translation, Translation Support, Administration and IT) and the Director’s Office. 

The  clients  are  the  Centre’s  raison  d’être.  By  the  end  of  2014,  the  Centre’s  portfolio  consisted  of 
60 clients. In June, the Centre signed an agreement with the ECSEL Joint Undertaking, which replaced 
ARTEMIS JU and ENIAC JU, both of which had been clients of the Centre. In December, a cooperation 
agreement was signed with the Single Resolution Board (SRB). 

In  2014,  the  Centre  carried  out  its  activities  in  line  with  the  strategic  priorities  set  out  in  the 
‘Strategy 2012-2015: embracing the challenges’. This Strategy presents five objectives, namely: retain 
the  present  clients;  become  more  competitive;  find  new  clients;  become  more  cost-efficient  and 
effective; and be a good employer. 

The Centre’s operations are based on annual work programmes divided into the following four activities:  

1. Core operational activity: translation 
2. Support activities 
3. External outreach activities 
4. Management and supervision activities. 

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In addition to translation, the Centre offered other language services. It edited a total of 21 653 pages 
for 13 clients, of which 16 989 (78.5%) related to opposition decisions for the Office for Harmonization in 
the Internal Market (OHIM). Some 663 man/days were devoted to terminology work. A total of 19 clients 
requested the translation of 250 692 ‘term list’ entries. Of these, 176 468 were terms for OHIM, for trade 
mark  classification,  and  18 609  were  for  Registered  Community  Designs,  while  55 543  terms  were 
requested by other clients. 

The Centre works with specialised contractors. As part of the Centre’s quality assurance assessment of 
external  translation  providers,  each  translation  produced  by  external  translators  is  revised  and 
evaluated by an in-house translator. As in 2013, in 99% of these cases the translations were assessed 
as being of good or excellent quality. 

Although the percentage of external translations of poor quality was low in 2014, the Centre took some 
stringent  measures  against  several  contractors  whose  documents  were  judged  to  be  repeatedly 
unsatisfactory. Using interinstitutional cooperation, the Centre submitted four outsourced documents of 
poor  quality  to  the  system  for  evaluation  of  the  quality  of  external  translation  (SEQ)  for  further 
assessment with a view to terminating the relevant framework contracts. As the results were conclusive, 
the Centre decided to terminate four framework contracts in the general and legal fields. 

Action 1.2 Translate and revise Community trade marks according to set quality criteria. 

Indicator/output: number of pages of trade marks translated and revised. 
Target 2014: 396 066 pages 
Of the total of 758 061 pages translated in 2014, 481 234 pages (63.5% of the total volume) accounted 
for  trade  marks,  against  396 066  pages  planned  in  the  work  programme  for  2014.  In  June,  OHIM 
announced an increase in pages of Community trade marks in their amended budget forecast for the 
year. The fluctuations in forecasts vs actual invoiced volumes are shown in Figure 1.  

Action 1.3 Ensure there is on-time delivery of services to clients. 

Indicator/output: percentage of deadlines met 
Target 2014: 99%  
The Centre delivered translations to its clients on time in 99.3% of cases.  

Around 56.5% of document translations had a normal deadline, while 17.2% were scheduled and 13.5% 
were urgent. In 2013, these figures were 46.9%, 24.9% and 16%, respectively.  

The  ‘slow’  delivery  translation  service  represented  12.2%  of  the  volume  of  documents  translated,  a 
percentage similar to 2013. The demand for ‘very urgent’ translation services remained low, with 0.6% 
of the total translation volume. 

Action 1.4 Implement measures identified in the ‘Translation Quality Assurance Action 
Plan 2013-2014’, perform a final evaluation and follow-up 

Indicator/output: status of implementation of the actions included in the plan 
Target 2014: 100% of the Translation Quality Assurance Action Plan implemented 
Indicator/output: evaluation report 
Target 2014: report on the ‘Translation Quality Assurance Action Plan 2013-2014’ drawn up 

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At the end of 2012, the Centre had adopted a new Translation Quality Assurance Action Plan (TQAP) 
for 2013-2014. In the Centre’s work programme for 2014, the achievement rate target for the TQAP had 
been set at 100%. By the end of the year, slightly over 90% of the plan had been implemented, i.e. very 
close to the initial objective. 

The focus was placed on the review of the existing revision process to optimise the workflow and the 
quality  of  the  final  product,  the  improvement  of  the  information  flow  on  closely-related  documents 
translated or revised by different translators, the implementation of ex-post checks of Community trade 
marks and a new approach for the quality assurance of translations from and into non-EU languages, a 
subject that was also discussed at interinstitutional level. The process for the ex-post quality check of 
in-house translations was also revisited and improved. 

The  Centre  continued  creating  reliable,  high-quality  translation  memories.  In  2014,  undertook  the 
alignment of a huge volume of documents to create a high-quality translation memory which will be used 
once all the language teams have migrated to SDL Trados Studio 2014.  

Finally,  the  ex-post  quality  check  of  Community  trade  marks  was  also  enhanced  by  the  systematic 
update of translation memories after the completion of every ex-post quality check (EPQC) exercise and 
the  systematic  analysis  of  the  errors  identified  during  these  exercises  so  that  appropriate  corrective 
measures could be adopted if necessary. 

Indicator/output: Translation Quality Assurance Action Plan revised 
Target 2014: ‘Translation Quality Assurance Action Plan 2015-2016’ drawn up 
A new Translation Quality Assurance Action Plan was drawn up for 2015 and 2016, listing a number of 
measures  to  be  taken  so  that  the  Centre  can  continue  providing  high-quality  services  to  clients.  The 
new  set  of  measures  will  focus,  among  other  things,  on  the  benefits  that  can  be  drawn  from  the 
migration to SDL Trados Studio 2014, especially with respect to enforcing the use of clients’ preferred 
terminology.  It  will  also  focus  on  training  related  to  the  new  services  offered  by  the  Centre 
(e.g. subtitling), on new approaches such as post-editing machine translation, and on adapting specific 
types  of  activities  to  the  new  tools  introduced  at  the  Centre.  The  creation  of  glossaries  compiled  in 
collaboration with and validated by the Centre’s clients will also remain a core component of this action 
plan. 

Action 1.5 Monitor translation quality ex post 

Indicator/output: % of translations of documents of good or excellent quality 
Target 2014: 75% 

The purpose of the ex-post checking of documents translated in-house, which was launched in 2010, is 
to detect possibly recurring problems in the translation process and then take the necessary remedial 
measures. 

In 2014, four ex-post checks were carried out, i.e. one exercise per quarter, using documents from a 
range  of  clients  representing  different  domains.  These  ex-post  exercises  are  carried  out  by  external 
translators chosen from the Centre’s framework contracts. At total of 96% of the documents translated 
in-house were considered of excellent, good or satisfactory quality. The remaining 4% were not up to 
the  required  standards.  They  were  analysed  with  the  relevant  translation  teams  in  order  to  learn  the 
lessons and take corrective measures as appropriate. 

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Figure 2: Outcome of ex-post quality check exercises on documents translated in-house in 2014 

4% 

21% 

75% 

Number of translations
considered 'excellent' or
'good'

Number of translations
considered 'satisfactory'

Number of translations
considered 'below the
required standards'

In July 2013, a pilot ex-post quality check was launched by OHIM for the second quarter (Q2) 2013 for 
the  administrative  translations  and  proofreading  services  supplied  by  the Centre to  OHIM,  in order  to 
comply with international quality certification requirements. EPQC exercises were then put in production 
at  OHIM  in  April  2014.  Three  exercises  were  completed  by  the  Office,  in  Q1,  Q2,  Q3/2014,  with  the 
following results: 100% (Q1), 88% (Q2) and 97% (Q3) of the administrative translations were found by 
OHIM to be either excellent or fit for purpose. For proofreading, 98% (Q1), 96% (Q2) and 97% (Q3) of 
jobs delivered were found to be either excellent or fit for purpose. 

Indicator/output: % of errors in trade mark translation (on the basis of segments) 
Target 2014: < 3% 

Ex-post  quality  checks  of  trade  mark  translations  had  already  started  in  2012  with  a  pilot  phase  that 
included two exercises.  

As in 2013, four quarterly exercises were carried out in 2014 on a little over 17% of Community trade 
mark  translations,  covering  38 language  combinations  for  the  first  three  quarters  and  44 language 
combinations  in  the  last  quarter. About 110 man/days were  dedicated  by the  Centre  to  these ex-post 
quality checks. 

There  are  three  key  indicators  for  such  exercises:  error  rate  by  CTM,  error  rate  by  language 
combination, and error rate by segment (see Figure 3).  

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As  part  of  the  official  quality  assurance  procedure,  the  Centre  analysed  all  CSFs  individually  and 
measures were taken to satisfy the clients’ requirements. During the quarterly CSF follow-up meetings, 
19 quality improvement actions were defined, out of which 53% were implemented in 2014. A total of 
85% of the actions carried over from the previous years were closed. 

At an in-house brainstorming workshop organised in June 2014, the Centre reviewed the state of play of 
measuring  and  handling  client  satisfaction,  analysed  the  advantages  and  drawbacks  of  the  current 
system  and  reflected  upon  ways  to  move  forward.  The  participants  discussed  how  to  streamline  the 
system of measuring and handling client feedback in such a way that as to make it less time-consuming 
for all parties involved; to ensure there is an efficient after-sales service for clients; to allow the Centre to 
draw meaningful conclusions about the quality of its work; and to yield sustained quality of outputs both 
for clients and for the Centre.  

After reviewing the ideas presented, the following short-term (2015) and long-term (2016 and beyond) 
actions were agreed upon: 

• 

In response to the observations made by the Management Board on the Annual Activity Report 
20134, measuring of client satisfaction will be separated from handling of feedback; client 
satisfaction will henceforth be measured using annual surveys rather than CSF statistics
CSF statistics will be broken down into the existing four categories and presented as 
complementary information to the survey results. In order to provide a fairer picture of client 
feedback received, aggregated figures of ‘positive’ vs ‘negative’ CSFs will no longer be 
calculated. 

. The 
5

•  The Centre will work on simplifying the workflow for handling feedback as much as possible 

both for clients and the Centre’s staff as part of the new e-CdT project. 

Further details on client-specific CSF figures and the outcome of the brainstorming workshop are 
presented in the report ‘Highlights of the year 2014’. 

Action 1.7 Carry out audits of external language service providers, depending on the 
results of 2013 audit exercises 

Indicator/output: audit reports issued 
Target 2014: two audits carried out and audit report produced 
The report from the audit carried out in 2013 was delivered to management and the external supplier 
involved  in  January 2014.  It  contained  12  recommendations  and  one  requirement.  The  supplier 
provided proof of compliance with the requirement within the deadline set and implemented a number of 
improvements  to  its  in-house  procedures  following  the  audit  recommendations.  Overall,  the  audit 
provided useful information concerning the supplier’s working methods. 

The  experience  of  the  2013  audit  showed  that  the  Centre  needs  more  information  from  different 
translation  service  providers  on  real  working  methods  before  defining  a  clear  audit  policy  with  fixed 

4 Observations made by the Management Board: 
The measurement of the regular client satisfaction index includes positive CSFs plus ‘no feedback’. Inclusion of the latter could lead to 
an inflated figure and it is therefore suggested to only include positive CSFs. 
On a similar note, the rate of return of negative CSFs delivered includes only ‘not satisfied at all’ which is assumed to be the score at 
the most negative end of the scale. In order to ensure an accurate rate, any other negative points should also be included in the 
calculation.” 
5 See also Section 3.1. 

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goals on the frequency of audits. The costs in terms of preparatory work, travel, reporting and analysis, 
together with timing issues, also showed that the Centre would only be able to carry out one single audit 
exercise. Initially planned for December 2014, as the selected auditee was unavailable, the audit was 
re-scheduled to take place in January 2015. The results of this audit will determine whether the Centre 
will embark on a more extended audit activity in the coming years or not. 

Action 1.8 Create terminological glossaries 

Indicator/output: number of glossaries 
Target 2014: create four glossaries 
The Centre in fact carried out five terminology projects for EIOPA, EMCDDA, ESMA and two for ECHA 
in 2014, thus exceeding the objectives set in the work programme. Other terminology-related activities 
were performed in 2014 for clients such as CJEU, ECB, EEA, EIB and Eurojust. Projects for ECB, EEA, 
EIOPA, ESMA, Eurojust and EMCDDA were imported or updated in IATE. 

In addition, a number of projects launched in 2014 will be continued in 2015 for EDPS, EFSA, EMA and 
EU-OSHA,  this  last  one  linking  IATE  to  the  EuroVoc  thesaurus  of  the  Publications  Office  of  the 
European Union. 

Action 1.9 Propose new products/services to the Centre’s clients. 

Indicator/output: number of new services launched 
Target 2014: one new service 
A  survey  carried out  in  2013  by  the  Centre had  revealed  that  several  agencies would  like  to  use the 
Centre to subtitle their videos. A pilot project was launched in 2014 with OHIM and the various aspects 
of  the  definition  of  this  new  service  were  investigated  in  the  course  of  the  year.  A  subtitling  software 
package was purchased by the Centre. In October 2014, the Management Board endorsed the Centre’s 
proposal to add subtitling to its portfolio of services as of 2015. With the launch of this new service, the 
Centre looks forward to receiving videos from its clients in 2015 and to contributing to their multilingual 
presence on social media and the internet. 

Action 1.10 Cooperate with DG SANCO6 and DGT on the translation needs of the Online 
Dispute Resolution project 

Indicator/output: status of implementation of the technical and administrative framework. 
Target 2014: agreement between DG SANCO and the Centre signed; technical implementation defined and proof of 
concept (POC) 100% implemented; provide translation services for the scheduled test of the Online Dispute 
Resolution platform. 

The European Online Dispute Resolution system (ODR) that is being put in place by the Commission 
will  allow  consumers  and  traders  in  the  EU  to  submit  complaints  online  and  to  settle  their  disputes 
without  having  recourse  to  legal  proceedings.  The  launch  of  the  platform  is  scheduled  for 
1 January 2016. 

The  Centre  agreed  to  study  the  feasibility  of  translating  the  final  conclusions  of  the  ODR  procedure, 
whenever  requested  by  one  of  the  parties  involved  in  the  process.  The  Centre  therefore  produced  a 
service offer based on various estimates and assumptions of the total volumes to be translated and the 
re-use rates that can be achieved by using templates and translation databases. 

6 The DG Sanco’s unit in charge of the ODR project was transferred to DG JUST on 1 January 2015. 

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A  service  level  agreement  describing  the  preparatory  work  to  be  done  in  2015  and  the  operational 
phase  which  is  to  start  in  2016  was  prepared  by  the  Centre  and  received  positive  feedback  from 
DG SANCO. The signature of this agreement is expected to take place in early 2015, after which the 
Centre will be able to launch a call for tender and start the recruitment procedure for the additional staff 
required  to  carry  out  this  new  task.  The  developments  related  to  the  future  workflow  and  the 
communication platform to be created between DG JUST and the Centre will be carried out in 2015. 

Action 1.11 Organise a conference for contractors 

Indicator/output: conference organised. 
Target 2014: one conference for contractors. 
In  March  2014,  the  Centre  organised  a  workshop  for  the  external  translators  who  had  successfully 
participated in the call for tenders for translations in the general field in 2013. About 90 contractors – 
individual  freelancer  translators  as  well  as  the  representatives  of  translation  companies  –  came  to 
Luxembourg for the all-day event.  

The main objective of the event was to familiarise new contractors with the Centre’s working methods: 
the  translation  workflow,  the  quality  assurance  measures  and  the  linguistic  resources.  Speakers  also 
mentioned legal and administrative issues like contractual obligations and things to keep in mind when 
invoicing  linguistic  services.  The  event  also  provided  an  opportunity  to  present  the  Centre’s  e-CdT 
project  for  the  creation  of  a  new  translation  workflow  tool  to  its  external  partners.  The  e-CdT 
implementation plan foresees  the  launch  of  a new  website in  2015 that  will  be  used  to  work  with  the 
Centre’s contractors. 

The  participants  very  much  appreciated  the  chance  to  learn  more  about  the  Centre  and  to  meet  the 
people with whom they are usually only in contact by email or telephone. Many external contractors said 
they would like the Centre to organise similar events on a regular basis. This request was considered by 
the Centre’s management who then decided to organise such conferences every two years. 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

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Chapter 2
SUPPORT ACTIVITIES 

The Centre has attributed a weighting of 18% to this activity. The overall implementation rate was 57.4%. 

Action 2.1 e-CdT translation workflow: in-house development of the second and the third 
e-CdT modules (externalisation module and internal distribution module) 

Indicator/output: % of achievement 
Target 2014: 100% of second module (externalisation module) implemented and 40% of third module (internal 
distribution module) implemented 
The  development  of  the  e-CdT  software  that  will  replace  the  electronic  workflow  tools  used  by  the 
Centre’s core business to manage translation work continued throughout 2014. 

A stable team of highly qualified developers together with committed involvement of the business meant 
the  project  advanced  at  a  good  pace.  This  enabled  the  Centre  to  review  the  overall  planning  of  the 
project and to schedule the delivery of a first version of the e-CdT workflow tool for the second quarter 
of 2015. This first version of e-CdT will include all basic features needed to manage the workflow and 
the  Centre’s  interaction  with  clients  and  external  contractors.  The  selected  Agile/Scrum  development 
methodology allows for gradual but regular improvements of the application on a systematic basis. 

Action 2.2 Implementation of the computer-assisted translation tool SDL Trados Studio 

Indicator/output: number of language groups working with the new tool 
Target 2014: all language groups to work with the new tool 
In  2014, the  Centre  started  installing  SDL  Trados Studio  2014, the  computer-assisted  translation tool 
selected  in  an  interinstitutional  call  for  tenders.  The  tool  replaces  the  Translator’s  Workbench  (TWB) 
software that has been used by the Centre since 1997. Although SDL Studio 2014 is an ‘offspring’ of 
TWB the migration proved to be more than just a technical update. 

In  July  2014,  the  Estonian  language  team  started  to  use  SDL  Trados  Studio  as  a  pilot  group.  The 
experience  confirmed  the  tool’s  potential  to  reduce  repetitive  work  and  limit  the  workload  in  the 
post-production phase, in particular the correction of layout problems.  

However,  the  experience  also  pinpointed  the  need  for  an  IT  tool  to  go  further  with  the  automation  of 
tasks  in  order  not  to  increase  the  need  for  human  resources  in  the  Translation  Support  Department 
while  decreasing  the  risk  of  errors.  It  was  deemed  necessary  to  install  this  tool  before  the  other 
language teams could gradually be switched onto SDL Studio 2014.  

Therefore, the Centre started looking into the possibilities of implementing such a tool in the last quarter 
of 2014. SDL WorldServer was selected as it manages translation memories centrally and automates 
certain indispensable preparatory steps in the workflow.  

As  SDL  WorldServer  was  installed  in  December  2014,  the  deployment  of  SDL  Trados  Studio  to  all 
language  teams  was  postponed  to  the  first  quarter  of  2015  to  allow  for  a  smooth  and  incident-free 
transition.  

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Action 2.3 Investigate possible introduction of online translation module of the new CAT 
tool for external service providers. 

Indicator/output: status of implementation of the project 
Target 2014: one pilot project completed  
SDL WorldServer provides a Browser Workbench which allows translators and revisers to work online 
and which displays content as a series of source and target language segment pairs.  

SDL has announced the release of a new and greatly enhanced version of Browser Workbench in the 
first semester of 2015. The online tool will be comparable to the SDL desktop tool used by translators 
and revisers. 

In  the  light  of  this  the  Centre  decided  to  change  its  initial  plan  and  to  test  the  new  online  translation 
module as soon as it is available in 2015 before launching a pilot project. 

Action 2.4 Implement the Centre’s machine translation strategy 

Indicator/output: Status of implementation of the project 
Target 2014: one pilot project implemented with the selected machine translation tool 
The  experiment  carried  out  at  the  end  of  2013  with  the  Commission’s  MT@EC  machine  translation 
system had shown that the Centre was not ready to integrate this type of system into its workflow. The 
system would need to be trained with texts coming from the Centre, representing its range of clients and 
text types, to be possibly more useful in the future. This is why the Centre launched a project aimed at 
aligning a massive amount of texts with a view to feeding its translation memories and, in the future, 
feeding MT@EC as well.  

Action 2.5 Improve the process of translation of texts in the intellectual property field for 
the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM) 

Indicator/output: exchange of trade marks between the Centre and freelance agencies via B2B communication 
Target 2014: POC with an agency implemented 
This objective, closely linked to the ‘unified workflow project’ described below, was put on hold to take 
into account the outcome of the deliberations to be undertaken in 2015. 

The Centre implemented a full B2B solution with OHIM for the processing and translation of terms for 
OHIM’s Terminology Management Console. 

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Indicator/output: implement the necessary technical and administrative measures to further reduce turnaround 
times for the translation of Community trade marks in 2015 
Target 2014: new call for tenders for the translation of Community trade marks 
The Centre implemented the technical developments needed to return a percentage of translated trade 
marks ahead of schedule. The goal of returning a yearly average of 7% of the files after three working 
days was reached at the beginning of December. Other minor technical developments concerning the 
processing and segmentation of the files were implemented in agreement with OHIM in November. 

In October, the Centre launched 23 calls for tender for the conclusion of framework contracts for the 
translation of standardised technical texts in the industrial/intellectual property field. The source and 
target languages covered include all EU languages except Irish. 

Indicator/output: streamline pre-translation and linguistic resources in cooperation with OHIM 
Target 2014: to be defined in bilateral negotiations with OHIM 
The  intense  and  fruitful  cooperation  between  OHIM  and  the  Centre  in  the  past  years  led  to  joint 
reflections  on  implementing  a  common  pre-processing  approach  for  Community  trade  marks.  In 
November 2012, OHIM had suggested examining the possibility for ‘OHIM and the Centre to share their 
translation  memories  and  harmonise  their  respective  workflows  so  as  to  ensure  transparency  and 
efficiency  of  the  process,  timeliness  of  the  results,  and  quality  of  the  final  product  as  a  whole,  i.e.  to 
develop a more sustainable process’. 

The  Centre  invested  much  energy  and  effort  in  drafting  a  proposal  for  a  unified  workflow  that  would 
cover  and  streamline  the  pre-translation  of  Community  trade  marks.  This  proposal  was  submitted  to 
OHIM  in  April 2014.  It  provides  a  cost  simulation  and  describes  alternative  scenarios  to  reduce  the 
overall turnaround time in the Community trade mark publication process. 

While  OHIM  welcomed  this  proposal  and  confirmed  its  interest  in  the  underlying  approach,  a  final 
decision on this project could not be reached in 2014. The suggested simplifications have major impacts 
on  the  business,  both  in  Alicante  and  in  Luxembourg,  and  further  analysis  and  risk  assessments are 
needed.  Both  organisations  agreed  to  continue  looking  into  the  opportunities  and  the  challenges  of 
going ahead with the project in 2015. 

Exchanges during the monthly videoconferences allowed those involved to detect and solve a number 
of  relatively  minor  issues  with  the  respective  linguistic  resources.  Contacts  have  since  long  been  in 
place  to  exchange  views,  suggestions  and  advice  as  to  the  reliability  and  correctness  of  the 
organisations’ linguistic databases. In addition, the quarterly ex-post quality control of Community trade 
mark  translations  has  allowed  the  Centre  to  detect  single  issues  that  are  systematically  corrected  or 
removed from the Centre’s translation memories, if and when applicable. 

Action 2.6 Contract management and ranking 

Indicator/output: status of implementation 
Target 2014: 100% implemented 
The  project  analysis  for  contract  management  and  ranking  was  finalised  in  2014.  The  IT  Steering 
Committee  postponed  the  implementation  of  the  new  tool  until  2015  as  priority  had  to  be  given  to 
e-CdT.  

The  implementation  will  cover  the  entire  lifecycle  of  contracts,  starting  from  pre-awarding  (calls  for 
tenders)  to  monitoring  the  signed  contracts.  In  parallel,  the  Centre  investigated  how  to  integrate 
electronic procurement into its procedures. 

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Action 2.7 Competencies and job descriptions management system 

Indicator/output: status of implementation 
Target 2014: 100% implemented  
The  business  requirements  for  the  competencies  and  job  descriptions  management  system  were 
drafted in 2014. The IT Steering Committee postponed the selection and the implementation of the new 
tool until 2015 as priority had to be given to e-CdT.  

Action 2.8 Personnel file management system 

Indicator/output: status of implementation 
Target 2014: 100% of the analysis prepared (and 100% implemented if Sysper II option retained). 
As  set  out  in  the  work  programme,  the  analysis  of  the  personnel  file  management  system  was 
completed. The Sysper II solution was retained and a request for access to this module was submitted 
to  the  Commission  at  the beginning  of  2015  with  a  view  to  signing  a  service  level  agreement.  In  the 
meanwhile, already 70% of the personnel files have been scanned.  

Action 2.9 Availability and workload of translators 

Indicator/output: status of implementation 
Target 2014: 100% implemented  
One of the pre-requisites for the e-CdT project was to develop a new tool enabling translation workflow 
administrators to know the availability and workload of translators at any given time. The development of 
this new tool was split into two phases: the ‘availability’ module and the ‘workload’ module. Both were 
released in 2014 as per the work programme.  

Action 2.10 Budget planning and monitoring tool 

Indicator/output: status of implementation 
Target 2014: 100% implemented 
The  Centre  implemented  SAP  Business  Planning  and  Consolidation,  the  budget  planning  and 
monitoring tool selected in 2013 based on an existing framework contract. The Centre’s budget for 2015 
was prepared in full using this tool. 

Action 2.11 Replace appraisal report system 

Indicator/output: status of implementation 
Target 2014: analysis of possible solutions 
A  proposal  concerning  new  implementing  rules  on  appraisals  –  drafted  by  an  inter-agency  working 
group  including  the  Commission’s  Directorate-General  for  Human  Resources  &  Security  –  was 
presented  at  the  meeting  of  the  Network  of  Heads  of  Administration  which  took  place  in  Vienna  in 
October 2014. Based on the outcome of this process, the appraisal report system will not be replaced 
for the 2015 exercise. The final analysis will be carried out in 2015. 

Action 2.12 Replace email system 

Indicator/output: status of implementation 
Target 2014: 100% of studies on the options for externalising the system completed and analysed; selection made 
between externalisation and internal migration; internal migration POC completed. 

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The  study  into  externalising  the  email  system  has  shown  that  it  is  not  advisable  to  proceed  with  the 
technical migration of the current emailing platform and its externalisation in a single operation. In order 
to reduce the risks of the system being unavailable and/or malfunctioning, the project will need to be 
undertaken in two phases. Given the complexity of the study, the POC will be finalised in 2015. 

Action 2.13 Upgrade the Centre’s website to SharePoint 2013 - Upgrade the internal 
document sharing system to SharePoint 2013 

Indicator/output: status of implementation (website) 
Target 2014: 100% upgraded  
The  Centre  finalised  the  technical  migration  of  its  external  website  in  2014.  It  took  the  opportunity  to 
integrate  new  features  such  as  enabling  automatic  adaptation  of  web  page  presentation  to  facilitate 
enhanced  viewing  on  a  notebook  or  smartphone. The  new  version  of  the  website  will  be  available  in 
February 2015.  

Indicator/output: status of implementation (internal document sharing system) 
Target 2014: 100% upgraded  
The technical update of SharePoint, the system for electronic document management and storage, has 
been completed. This new version offers novel features which the Centre plans to deploy in the near 
future. 

Action 2.14 Implement the Microsoft System Centre Service Manager modules relating to 
incident/problem, change and configuration 

Indicator/output: status of implementation 
Target 2014: 100% of the modules selected implemented 
The Centre has sought to acquire effective tools to manage incidents and changes in the area of IT. It 
chose  to  complete  the  implementation  of  the  Microsoft  System  Centre  software,  which  meets  the 
Centre’s full satisfaction, by adding Microsoft System Centre Service Manager modules. As there are 
external experts in this new area, the implementation began in 2014 and will continue through the first 
half of 2015. 

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Chapter 3
EXTERNAL OUTREACH ACTIVITIES 

The Centre has attributed a weighting of 5% to this activity. The overall implementation rate was 62.5%. 

Action 3.1 Implement the action plan resulting from the general client satisfaction survey 
conducted in 2013 

Indicator/output: percentage of actions implemented 
Target 2014: 50% of actions implemented  
The Centre carries out a general client satisfaction survey every two years to find out how clients view 
the Centre as a service provider. In 2014, the Centre worked on the implementation of the action plan 
deriving from the general Client Satisfaction Survey 2013 covering the period 2014-2015.  

The plan comprises four action groups (translation quality assurance; forecasting and pricing; invoices 
and statistics; Client Portal improvements) with, in total, nine sub-actions according to the improvement 
areas highlighted in the clients’ survey responses. By the end of the year, two actions had been closed, 
namely the call for tender for translation service providers in the finance field and the organisation of 
specific training courses for translators in the finance and the medical fields; three actions were ongoing 
and four actions remained open. The implementation rate is thus below the target, however this is no 
reason for concern as most of the actions for which work is in progress are already well advanced.  

Further details are presented in the report ‘Highlights of the year 2014’. 

Action 3.2 Continue visits to/by clients 

Indicator/output: meeting minutes with action items drawn up. 
Target 2014: 20% of clients met/year 
In  2014,  in  line  with  the  priorities  defined  in  the  client  visit  plan  established  at  the  end  of  2013,  the 
Centre  met  147  of  the  60  clients in  its  client  portfolio at  the  beginning of 2014.  The  target  of ‘20%  of 
clients  met’  as  set  out  in  the  work  programme  was  thus  reached  (23%).  Several  meetings  were 
organised during the year to discuss specific projects with some clients (e.g. OHIM, EMA, ECHA). 

Training  in  the  Centre’s  clients’  areas  of  activity  is  particularly  important  to  enhance  the  quality  of 
translations.  In  2013,  the  Centre  organised  a  seminar  on  asylum  matters  with  EASO  and  a 
language-specific  information  exchange  with  a  representative  of  EMA’s  French  national  authority 
(ANSM: Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament et des produits de santé). 

As a result of these client meetings, a total of 49 actions were drawn up. Work continued on 10 actions 
carried over from 2013. The implementation rate of both newly defined actions and actions carried over 
from the previous years was 41%.  

Detailed information on client related activities is presented in the report ‘Highlights of the year 2014’. 

7  OHIM,  ERA,  DGT/DG  SANCO,  EC  DGT,  EU-OSHA,  EIOPA,  EMCDDA,  ECHA,  ECA,  EASO,  eu-LISA,  EMA,  EBA  and 
EIGE. 

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Action 3.3 Raise awareness by providing clients with the necessary documentation on the 
Centre’s products, services and activities 

Indicator/output: leaflet on terminology projects for clients 
Target 2014: one leaflet  
The  Centre  published  the  leaflet  ‘Terminology – Investing  in  quality’  in  October 2014.  It  can  be 
downloaded  from  the  Centre’s  website.  The  leaflet outlines  in  brief  what a  terminology  project  entails 
and how it contributes to quality assurance.  

Indicator/output: client newsletter ‘The language hub’ published 
Target 2014: one client newsletter 
The  Centre  presented  its  fourth  issue  of  its  client  newsletter  ‘The  language  hub’  at  the  Management 
Board  meeting  in  October 2014.  This  issue  focuses  on  the  work  of  the  Language  and  Technology 
Support Section as well as the Budgetary and Strategic Planning Section; it describes how the Centre 
plans and monitors its activities through multiannual strategies and annual work programmes and briefly 
outlines the Strategy for the period 2016-2018; it introduces video sub-titling as a new service for clients 
to be offered as from 2015; and it includes information on the Centre’s terminology work and the new 
terminology leaflet. Finally, it debriefs the Centre’s clients on the outcome of the survey on EU agencies’ 
approaches to multilingualism.8 The newsletter was made available to clients on the Client Portal.  

Indicator/output: ‘Client report 2013’ published 
Target 2014: one client report  
At the end of 2013, it had been decided to rename the ‘Client Report’ as ‘Highlights of the year X’ as its 
purpose is not only to present what has been done for clients throughout the year, but to showcase the 
diversity of the Centre’s activities and to illustrate its role within the family of EU agencies institutions 
and  bodies.  In  line  with  this  decision,  the  ‘Highlights  of  the  year  2013’  was  presented  to  the 
Management  Board  in  its  meeting  in  March 2014  as  a  complement  to  the  annual  activity  report.  The 
report is available on the Centre’s website. 

Indicator/output: ‘Practical Guide for Clients’ updated 
Target 2014: one guide for clients  
The  publication  'The  Translation  Centre  –  a  practical  guide  for  clients'  was  updated  twice  in  2014  to 
reflect changes in the organisation and the pricing structure and service offer of the Centre. Both the 
PDF and the online versions were made available on the Client Portal as guidance and reference tools 
for clients when placing requests. 

Action 3.4 Play an active role in ICTI and IAMLADP/JIAMCATT meetings 

Indicator/output: meeting attendance rate 
Target 2014: 100% attended  
All ICTI and IAMLADP meetings were attended, including the IAMLADP Annual Meeting in June 2014, 
which  was  organised  by  the  EU  institutions  in  Brussels.  The  Centre  also  attended  the  JIAMCATT 
meeting in Strasbourg. 

Indicator/output: number of Joint Training Ventures (JTVs) offered 
Target 2014: one JTV  
After  the  major  interest  in  the  Centre’s  JTVs  in  2012  (500  participants),  no  IAMLADP  organisation 
invited the Centre to organise one of its two JTVs offered in IAMLADP’s catalogue: ‘Proofing tools’ and 
‘Translation revision’.  

8 See under ‘Additional activities’ 

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Action 3.5 Provide technical and organisational support for the interinstitutional IATE 
database 

Indicator/output: Implementation of the IATE work programme for 2014 
Target 2014: all activity reports accepted 
All IATE documents defined in the mandate of the IATE Management Group (IMG), which is chaired by 
the Centre, were approved by the various interinstitutional committees: the mid-term activity report, the 
mid-term budget execution report and the work programme for 2015. 

The main achievements for 2014 included a revision of the IATE scorecard that provides indicators on 
the  usage  and  the  content  of  IATE.  The  public  version  of  this  terminological  database  received  over 
45 million queries in 2014. 

More information about the IATE developments is provided in the report ‘Highlights of the Year 2014’. 

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Chapter 4
MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION ACTIVITIES  

The Centre has attributed a weighting of 7% to this activity. The overall implementation rate was 60.1%. 

Action 4.1 Implement changes to remain compliant with the EU regulatory framework 
(Staff Regulations and Financial Regulation) 

Indicator/output: implementing rules for the Staff Regulations drafted and submitted to the Commission 
Target 2014: 70% of the implementing rules prepared 
The  target  foreseen  in  the work  programme  for 2014 was  reached  as  72%  of  the implementing  rules 
were prepared by the end of 2014. 

The  majority  of  the  new  implementing  rules  introduced  by  the  Commission  in  December 2013  were 
adopted by analogy in 2014 (12 implementing rules). For one implementing rule, the Centre repealed its 
own decision.  

The Centre has requested an opt-out for one implementing rule and a derogation from application by 
analogy  for  six  more  implementing  rules.  At  the  end  of  2014,  the  Commission  had  not  yet  replied 
regarding  the  requests  for  opt-out  or  derogation.  These  seven  implementing  rules  will  need  to  be 
adopted in 2015. 

For five implementing rules no further action was needed, since these rules do not apply to the Centre 
(decisions related to the staff in delegations).  

Indicator/output: Financial Regulation approved by Management Board. 
Target 2014: new Financial Regulation approved  
In collaboration with the Commission’s Directorate-General for Budget (DG BUDG), the Centre was able 
to  prepare  and  adopt  its  new  Financial  Regulation  at  the  end  of  2013.  This  excellent  cooperation 
enabled the Centre to have an appropriate regulatory environment by early 2014.  

Indicator/output: implementing rules for the Financial Regulation sent to the Commission 
Target 2014: implementing rules sent  
After  the  adoption  of  the  new  Financial  Regulation,  the  Centre  drew  up  the  draft  implementing  rules 
based on a model prepared by DG BUDG and an inter-agency working group. 

In  view  of its  specific  needs,  the  Centre  together  with  DGT  undertook  negotiations  with  DG  BUDG  in 
order to adapt certain provisions of the draft implementing rules. In addition, at the request of clients, it 
designed  a  mechanism  to  enable  clients  to  pay  in  advance  at  the  end  of  the  year  for  translations 
ordered  that  would  only  be  delivered  the  following  year.  DG  BUDG  did  not  approve  the  new  draft 
implementing rules before the end of 2014 so the text will be presented for adoption to the Management 
Board in 2015. 

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Indicator/output: % of very important recommendations fully implemented 
Target 2014: 90% of very important recommendations outstanding at 01.01.2014 fully implemented  
At  the  beginning  of  2014,  10  recommendations  resulting  from  IAS  and  IAC  audits  remained  open, 
including two ‘very important’, seven ‘important’ and one ‘desirable’. The various actions to implement 
the  ‘very  important’  open  recommendations  could  not  be  closed  at  the  end  of  the  year.  The  one 
‘desirable’ recommendation was closed by the IAS and one ‘important’ recommendation was considered 
as ‘ready for review’ by the Centre. 

Indicator/output: % of procedures and processes documented 
Target 2014: 70% of processes and procedures documented 
On  the  basis  of  the  priorities  and  action  plans  resulting  from  its  self-assessments,  the  Centre’s 
management worked on further improving key areas of its internal control system and on updating its 
processes and procedures. This also entailed drafting or updating many working instructions, which falls 
beyond the scope of this indicator.  

Action 4.3 Define detailed rules for the implementation of the Centre’s policy on document 
management 

Indicator/output: number of implementing rules adopted 
Target 2014: two implementing rules adopted  
At the end of 2012, the Centre began a major overhaul of its document management policy with the aim 
of developing a secure, efficient and consistent document management system. The implementation of 
this policy makes it necessary to adopt a framework of rules and instructions covering the document life 
cycle. Focus was therefore directed in 2014 to the formulation and implementation of the Centre’s filing 
plan. The preparatory work in the inter-departmental group of document management officers allowed 
decisions to be taken on establishing and implementing a filing plan with a common nomenclature for all 
the Centre’s services. The target in the work programme for 2014 was thus reached. In addition to this 
work, the Centre continued to put in place the organisational structure required, i.e. setting up document 
management centres in each department, which, together with heads of department and staff, are the 
key players in an effective document management policy. 

Action 4.4 Implement actions leading to efficient Business Continuity Management 

Indicator/output: % of MINI BCPs for critical processes prepared 
Target 2014: 100% of MINI BCPs for critical processes prepared  
The new process model of the Centre published in March 2014 and the move to the new premises at 
the end of 2013 brought many changes to the Centre's BCP. As a consequence, the documents relating 
to the BCP, including the communication templates, began to be revised and adapted in 2014.  

As the main aim of the BCP is to guarantee service continuity for clients in cases of serious business 
disruption experienced by the Centre, a survey was conducted in June among 51 clients9 in order to 
gather information on the maximum tolerable period of disruption (MTPD)10 that clients would be 
prepared to accept for language services. In total, 24 replies were received; this corresponds to 47% of 
the sample. The replies allowed the Centre to assess the clients’ MTPD choices (ranging from four 

9 The survey was not sent to the European Institutions, with the exception of DG-EMPL (CCE-Emploi), as they have their 
own translation services. 
10 Maximum tolerable period of disruption (MTPD) is the timeframe during which a recovery must become effective before an 
outage compromises the ability of the organisation to achieve its business objectives and, therefore, potentially threatens its 
short- or long-term survival. 

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hours to one month) per output type (e.g. general publications, reports, administrative documents, press 
releases, website translations, etc.) and to identify the resources required to guarantee business 
continuity. 

One of the IAS recommendations is to carry out a risk assessment of the most critical processes at the 
Centre. In order to fulfil this very important recommendation and achieve a timely, smooth and effective 
recovery of critical processes, the Centre started to review the BIA at the end of 2014. This exercise will 
be followed by the risk assessment of the critical processes and the update of the BCPs at operational 
level (MINI BCPs) on the basis of the risk mitigation strategy. 

Indicator/output: number of tests conducted 
Target 2014: one major test conducted  
In  light  of  the  number  of  changes  required  in  the  BCP,  the  Centre  postponed  the  major  test  to  the 
beginning of 2015. 

Action 4.5 Develop the skills of staff members (to enhance adaptability) 

Indicator/output: core skills possessed by at least two people in each section  
Target 2014: increase by 25% on 2013 
The adaptability project started in 2014, with presentations to the Centre’s managers. The activities and 
tasks of the staff in all sections were mapped and gaps detected. Tasks which will need to be acquired 
were identified. Now that the Centre has a fair picture of the core skills possessed by its staff, it will be 
able to take measures to enhance adaptability as of 2015. 

Action 4.6 Launch the Staff Satisfaction Survey 2014. 

Indicator/output: Staff Satisfaction Survey launched 
Target 2014: one Staff Satisfaction Survey launched  
The  Centre  launched  a  survey  at  the  end  of  2014  to  assess  staff  satisfaction  in  areas  such  as 
management, communication and teamwork. The findings will be available at the beginning of 2015. 

Action 4.7 Foster internal information and communication flow by publishing regular news 
items (articles, newsletters) on the intranet. 

Indicator/output: number of items published on the intranet 
Target 2014: at least three articles per week published on the intranet  
News  items  were  published  on  the  Intranet  almost  on  an  everyday  basis  in  2014.  In  total,  191 news 
items  were  published,  exceeding  the  target  set  in  the  work  programme.  The  topics  covered  included 
language  matters,  new  technologies,  Management  Board  activities,  interinstitutional  cooperation,  EU 
agencies,  seminars  and  conferences,  new  corporate  publications,  staff  movements,  corporate  social 
responsibility and local integration. 

Indicator/output: number of items published on the intranet 
Target 2014: 2 cross-departmental newsletters/year published on the Intranet 
As  set  out  in  the  work  programme  for  2014,  the  Translation  Centre  prepared  a  new  type  of  internal 
newsletter, with a cross-departmental approach. Entitled ‘Insides/Insights’, it was released in July and in 
December.  In  12 pages,  it  provides  a  different  perspective  compared  with  the  news  published on  the 
intranet as it offers more in-depth analysis and a broader overview of the Centre’s activities.  

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Action 4.8 Develop the Centre’s Strategy 2016-2018 

Indicator/output: new strategy developed 
Target 2014: Strategy 2016-2018 adopted by the Management Board and published. 
In  October  2014,  the  Centre  presented  the  new  ‘Strategy  2016-2018:  Moving  forward’  to  its 
Management Board. Between April and June and with the help of an external consultant specialised in 
the field, the Centre had organised three workshops to prepare this strategy which is the result of joint 
efforts by the Centre’s management to face the coming years in a way that will still make it possible to 
offer clients, as in the past, the services they need at a fair price and in high quality. 

The strategy comprises four strategic objectives: 

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 

Be a trusted client-oriented service provider 
Achieve excellence by enhancing the Centre’s business model 
Be an attractive employer and business partner 
Support the creation of interinstitutional synergies 

The Management Board adopted the new strategy at its meeting on 29 October 2014. 

Action 4.9 Prepare a methodology to calculate the overall implementation level of the 
annual work programme (including weighting factors) 

Indicator/output: new methodology prepared 
Target 2014: new methodology adopted by the Management Board. 
In its annual work programme (AWP) 2014, the Translation Centre had identified four areas of activity. 
For each area, the Centre identified the key milestones to be reached. 
In  order  to  be  able  to  calculate  the  overall  AWP  implementation,  the  Centre  assigned  a  weighting  to 
every area of activity according to its importance in relation to achieving the objectives set. 

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 

Core operational activity: translation  
Support activities 
External outreach activities 
Management and supervision activities 

70% 
18% 
 5% 
 7% 

The  weighting  also  takes  into  consideration  the  average  percentage  of  the  human  and  financial 
resources used in 2014 to achieve the objectives set. The calculation how far the different activities and 
actions  of  the  AWP  have  been  implemented  is  based  on  regularly  monitored  indicators.  The 
achievement is then assessed on a scale between 0 and 100. 

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ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES 

Survey on EU agencies’ approaches to multilingualism 

to 

As part of the Heads of Communication and Information Network (HCIN)’s work programme for 2014, 
the Centre conducted a survey on EU agencies’ approaches to multilingualism. The survey enabled the 
formulate 
HCIN 
recommendations  for  the  heads  of  agencies  and  to  identify  best  practice  for  inclusion  in  the  chapter 
‘translation practice / multilingualism’ of the Communication Handbook for EU agencies drafted by the 
HCIN in close cooperation with the European Commission’s DG COM. 

take  stock  of  how  EU  agencies  currently  deal  with  multilingualism; 

to 

Translation Contact Network 

The  Centre  set  up  the  Translation  Contact  Network  to  exchange  information  and  share  experience 
between the Centre and its clients, to foster mutual understanding, discuss current and future needs, 
optimise  working  methods  and  search  for  best  practices  and  synergies.  The  network’s  first  annual 
plenary  meeting  was  convened  in  Luxembourg  in  December  and  gave  staff  responsible  for  handling 
translation requests, both on the client and on the Centre’s side, the opportunity to exchange views and 
ideas, clarify issues and suggest improvements on the day-to-day operational level. 

Follow-up survey to the general client satisfaction survey 2013 

As a follow-up to the general client satisfaction survey and for the first time in 2014, the Centre decided 
to approach clients again the year after the survey took place to ask for their assessment of the Centre’s 
overall  performance.  Clients  were  asked  to  express  their  satisfaction  with  the  balance  between  the 
overall  quality  of  service  (including  quality  of  translations,  client  relations  and  information  policy)  and 
price  so  that  the  Centre  could  provide  a  reliable  figure  for  the  general  client  satisfaction  index.  The 
survey had a response rate of 36% (19 replies) and resulted in the spread of opinions shown below. It 
yielded a general client satisfaction index of 95%.  

Figure 7: Findings of the follow-up survey to the general client satisfaction survey 2013 

Slightly 
dissatisfied 
 5% 

Very dissatisfied 
0% 

Do not know, this 
is not relevant to 
my work 
 0% 

Very satisfied 
22% 

Fairly satisfied 
73% 

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Technical support service for the Court of Justice 

After a successful pilot project launched at the end of 2013, the Centre converted 11 464 pages of PDF 
documents into an editable format for the Directorate-General for Translation of the Court of Justice with 
the specific objective of enriching the content of translation memories. The sentences of the originals 
that were converted were subsequently aligned with translations done by the Court. In total, the Centre 
imported 13 149 pages of alignments into the Court’s Euramis translation memories. 

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PART II.
MANAGEMENT  

Chapter 1
MANAGEMENT BOARD ACTIVITIES 

As  the  main  pillar  of  the  Centre’s  governance,  the  Management  Board  defines  the  Centre’s  strategic 
orientations, sets its goals and action priorities, and is responsible for supervising the Centre in carrying 
out its activities.  

The  Management  Board  consists  of  representatives  from  the  Centre's  clients  (EU  institutions,  bodies 
and agencies), representatives from each of the 28 EU Member States, and two representatives from 
the  European  Commission.  It  is  currently  chaired  by  Mr  Rytis  Martikonis,  Director-General  of  the 
Directorate-General  for  Translation  at  the  European  Commission.  A  full  list  of  the  members  can  be 
found in Annex IX to this report. 

In 2014, during two Management Board meetings and through written procedures, decisions were taken 
and information exchanged on the issues below. 

Annual report, accounts and budget 

  The Activity Report 2013 was assessed by the Management Board as providing a faithful and 
comprehensive account of the work undertaken by the Centre. Furthermore, the Management 
Board noted that the increase in workload was undertaken without a corresponding increase in 
resources and that most of the work programme for 2013 had been implemented. The Board 
also made recommendations on how to improve future reporting. 

  The  Management  Board  gave  a  favourable  opinion  on  the  final  accounts  for  the  financial 

year 2013 presented by the Director of the Centre. 

  The Amending Budget 1/2014 introduced the surplus from the previous year into the current 
year’s budget, reduced the prices for some services in order to reduce the Centre’s cumulative 
surplus, and cancelled the reserve for salary adjustment, given that the salary adjustments for 
2011 and 2012 were paid retroactively in 2014. 

  The  Amending  Budget  2/2014  included  the  revised  forecasts  received  from  clients  and  the 

results of re-examining all expenditure items. 

Staffing and operational issues 

  As  it  was  necessary  to  re-launch  the  selection  procedure  for  a  new  Director  for  the  Centre 
since the one initiated in 2013 was unsuccessful, the Management Board approved the vacancy 
notice for this position as proposed by the European Commission. This notice was published in 
the Official Journal of the European Union on 17 June 2014 (reference No COM/2014/10356). 
  Decision  to  apply  by  analogy  to  the  staff  of  the  Centre  general  implementing  provisions 
adopted by the European Commission on 16 December 2013 and on 15 April 2014 on issues 
such as working time, part-time work and maternity leave. 

  A decision was made to publish a list of the Management Board's decisions on the Centre's 
website  (http://cdt.europa.eu)  thus  adding  to  the  information  already  available  on  the 
Management  Board’s  composition,  role  and  responsibilities.  Transparency  was  further 

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enhanced by the publication of the Management Board members’ declarations of interests on 
the website in accordance with the policy of the Centre on the prevention and management of 
conflicts of interest adopted in October 2014. 

  In  relation  to  the  roadmap  for  the  Centre  drawn  up  in  2013  in  line  with  the  set  of  guiding 
principles  –  Common  Approach  on  EU  decentralised  agencies11  –  defined  by  the  European 
Commission, the Management Board monitored closely the progress made in implementing the 
14 actions  scheduled  for  2014  (headquarter  agreement,  system  for  the  protection  of 
whistle-blowers,  communication  strategy,  etc.)  and  expressed  its  interest  in  being  involved  in 
the discussions on the drafting of a new founding regulation for the Centre. 

Activities in 2015 and onwards 

  The  Multi-annual  Staff  Policy  Plan  2015-2017  was  characterised  by  a  relatively  stable 

establishment plan in the medium term. 

  The  work programme  for  2015  defined  the  main  areas  of  activity,  outlining  the  human  and 
financial  resources  necessary  for  the  proper  implementation  of  each:  1)  core  operational 
activity: 
language  services;  2)  support  activities;  3)  external  outreach  activities; 
and 4) management and supervision activities; and it set the key milestones to be reached in 
2015. 

  The  amended  decision  No 3  on  the  Centre’s  pricing  structure  introduced,  inter  alia,  the  new 

language service of subtitling as of 1 January 2015.  

  The  budget  for  2015  contained  a  revenue  forecast of  EUR 43.4 million, a  translation  volume 
forecast of 769 964 pages and 346 700 term list entries12 and a transfer to revenue of part of 
the ‘Reserve for stability pricing’ created in 2011 (EUR 4 850 350) allowing the Centre to offer 
its clients, as an exceptional measure, lower prices for the translation of documents and trade 
marks and thus to reduce the budget surplus. 

  The Strategy 2016-2018: Moving forward defined the Centre’s vision, translating it into four 
strategic  objectives: 1)  be a  trusted  client-oriented  service  provider;  2)  achieve excellence by 
enhancing the Centre’s business model; 3) be an attractive employer and business partner; and 
4)  support  the  creation  of  interinstitutional  synergies.  It  also  laid  the  foundations  for  specific 
operational activities in the Centre’s annual work programmes for the reference period of this 
strategy. 

Chapter 2
BUDGETARY AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT  

2.1.  Revenue 

The Centre’s budget revenue is primarily composed of the revenue received from invoicing its clients for 
services  provided.  It  is  subject  to  strict  financial  control  and  monitoring  in  keeping  with  the  applicable 
regulatory framework. The Centre regularly contacts each client to request forecasts for their planned 
translation volumes and expenditure, and closely monitors clients’ budgetary forecasts and expenditure.  

The Centre’s initial budget for 2014 (EUR 48.3 million) was subject to two amending budgets that were 
adopted by written procedure.  

11  http://europa.eu/agencies/documents/joint_statement_and_common_approach_2012_en.pdf 
12  This service comprises the translation of simple lists of terms (nouns or noun phrases), without any indication of definition, source, context, comments, 

etc. 

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The first amending budget was adopted by the Management Board on 29 June 2014, for the following 
reasons:  firstly,  as  an  exceptional  measure,  the  Centre  reduced  the  prices  of  some  of  its  services  in 
order to use up part of its cumulative surplus. At the same time, the first amending budget was needed 
to  cancel the  reserve  for  salary  adjustment. Based  on  Regulation  (EU)  No 423/2014  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  16 April 2014,  the  salary  adjustments  for  2011  and  2012  were 
retroactively applied and  paid  in  2014.  Another  reason  for  amending the budget  was  to  introduce the 
cumulative surplus from the previous years into the current year’s budget.   

The  second  amending budget  was  adopted  by  the  Management  Board  on  1 October 2014.  The  main 
aim of this budget was to include the revised forecasts received from clients, and to include the result of 
the  re-examination  of  all  expenditure  items.  In  addition,  some  changes  occurred  in  the  Centre’s 
‘Reserve  for  stability  pricing’  that  had  to  be  revised  upwards  due  to  increased  client  forecasts.  The 
transfers made after the adoption of the second amending budget were recorded in the final budget to 
reflect an up-to-date allocation of resources. 

For more details on budget revenues please see Annex II – Sections A and B. 

In  total,  705 recovery  orders  were  issued  in  2014.  Since  the  Centre’s  clients  are  other  EU  bodies, 
revenue management carries a very low financial risk.  

2.2.  Expenditure 

The Translation Centre applies a partly decentralised financial circuit model. The financial transactions 
are initiated in the relevant departments by operational and financial initiators, and are verified centrally 
by the Budgetary and Strategic Planning Section. All payments (8 339 in 2014) and commitments (355 
in 2014) are financially verified ex ante by this section. If errors are detected by the verifying officers, the 
files are sent back to the relevant departments for correction before approval by the Authorising Officer 
by delegation or sub-delegation. 

The advantage of this partly decentralised financial circuit is that the Budgetary and Strategic Planning 
Section guarantees to management that everything is in conformity from a financial point of view.  

An  ex-post  quality  check  on  a  sample  of  operations  under  the  budget  line  3000 (‘External  translation 
services’) was also performed by the financial verifying officers. 

Approximately  72%  of  the  Centre’s  financial  resources  were  allocated  to  the  core  business  (see 
Annex II), of which staff expenditure accounted for 36.4% of the overall budget, and budget line 3000, 
‘External translation services’, accounted for approximately 27.9% of the budget. 

In order to streamline and improve efficiency further the Centre invested in the creation of new, high-
quality  translation  memories.  The  expenditure  forecast  in  the  2014  budget  is  EUR 720 000.  As  the 
investment was identified at the beginning 2014, it was only introduced in the first amending budget for 
2014.  

For more information on budget expenditure please see Annex II – Sections C and D. 

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2.3.  Financial Key Performance Indicators 

The financial key performance indicators (KPIs) on the execution of revenues indicated a positive year. 
The  Centre  invoiced  more  pages  than  the  initial  forecast  in  the  budget  approved  in  October  2013 
(+10.6%), which brought an increase of 2.3% of revenues compared to the initial forecast. The increase 
in revenues was less in financial terms than in volume terms as a result of the price reductions approved 
with effect from 1 July 2014. The main reasons for the price modifications were the optimistic results for 
the first part of 2014 and the cumulative budget surplus from previous years. In view of this surplus, the 
Centre further cut its prices for its main products also for 2015. 

It was mainly Community trade marks (+21.5% compared to the initial forecast) that contributed to the 
increase in the total number of pages, as the volume of documents was 95.5% of the initial forecast. 
Client forecasts were adjusted in the second amending budget. The execution of trade marks was only 
1.3% higher compared with the higher OHIM forecast in the second amending budget. The proportion of 
Community  trade  marks  of  overall  revenues  has  been  around  40%  for  several  years;  this  proportion 
increased to 41.8% in 2014 which means that Community trade marks remain the key product in the 
portfolio.  

The budget execution was 90.5% for expenditure. The sizeable level of cancellations was mainly due to 
the estimate of the costs of outsourcing translations being too high, and to the fact that recruitment did 
not reach the level forecast for the year, this being partly due to the decision to facilitate internal mobility 
in several cases. 

Chapter 3
HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT  

During 2014, the Translation Centre appointed two officials and recruited seven temporary staff and five 
contract  staff  on  long-term  contracts.  At  the  end  of  2014,  the  Centre  employed  191 staff,  namely 
54 officials and 137 temporary staff. 

In  2014,  the  Centre  organised  two  internal  competitions  for  linguists  (Portuguese  and  Spanish),  four 
external selection procedures for temporary staff (Swedish and Spanish translators, Translation Support 
Assistants and Service Delivery Manager – IT Infrastructure) and 11 selection procedures for contract 
staff.  Furthermore,  seven  internal  job  offers,  one  interinstitutional  job  offer  and  two  job  offers  for  the 
inter-agency job market were published in 2014. Altogether more than 1 650 applications were received 
for different procedures. 

A  total  of 298  training  courses  were  carried  out  (368  courses  planned)  in  2014,  which  resulted  in  an 
81%  implementation  of  the  training  plan.  The  Centre  also  organised  four  courses  itself  (on  English 
conversation; ABAC assets; conflict management; and two seminars for translators). 

The Translation Centre continued with the adoption of new implementing rules in line with deadlines set 
in Article 110(2) of the Staff Regulations. 

The appointment of Ms Marie-Anne Fernández as Acting Director took place on 1 July 2014, following 
one year as Director ad interim. 

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Chapter 4
ASSESSMENT OF AUDIT RESULTS DURING THE REPORTING YEAR  

4.1.  Internal Audit Service (IAS) 

The  Centre  has  never  received  any  critical  recommendations  from  the  Internal  Audit  Service 
(IAS) of the European Commission.  

Based on a risk assessment concluded in 2013, the IAS prepared a ‘Strategic Internal Audit Plan 
2014-2016’.  The  plan  was  endorsed  by  the  Management  Board.  The  prospective  audit  topics 
cover  the  following  areas:  (a)  Demand  Management;  (b)  demand  execution  and  delivery; 
(c) procurement; and (d) IT security and related data management.  

The IAS spent five days auditing the first part of the audit plan, the ‘Management of the Workflow 
for Translation of Documents’, at the end of November. In the closing meeting of the audit, the 
auditors presented their draft findings and stressed that on the whole they could only confirm that 
the process audited was well implemented, well managed and surprisingly efficient in view of the 
volumes handled and the well-known technical limitations of the tools currently in place. The final 
report will be available at the beginning of 2015. 

4.2.   Internal Audit Capability (IAC) 

 The Centre has no internal audit capability. 

4.3.  European Court of Auditors (ECA) 

By the end of 2014, the Centre had not yet received an opinion on the annual accounts of 2014.  

In its report on the Centre’s annual accounts for the financial year 2013, the ECA expressed the 
following opinions: 

•  Opinion  on  the  reliability  of  the  accounts:  ‘In  the  Court’s  opinion,  the  Translation  Centre’s 
Annual  Accounts  present 
financial  position  as  of 
31 December 2013 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, 
in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted 
by the Commission’s accounting officer.’ 

in  all  material  respects, 

fairly, 

its 

•  Opinion  on  the  legality  and  the  regularity  of  the  transactions  underlying  the  accounts:  ‘In  the 
Court’s opinion, the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the Translation Centre for 
the financial year ended 31 December 2013 are legal and regular in all material respects.’ 

Chapter 5
FOLLOW-UP OF RECOMMENDATIONS AND ACTION PLANS FOR AUDITS 

IAS 
At the start of 2014, five of the IAS recommendations remained open, two being ‘very important’, two 
‘important’ and one ‘desirable’. 

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Among  those  were  four  of the  six  recommendations  from  the  audit  carried  out  by  the  IAS  in  2012  in 
relation to the BCP.  

During the year, the Centre implemented actions to close the audit recommendations on the following 
two points: ‘Develop and implement a new budget planning and monitoring tool’ and ‘Analyse the data 
received from the stakeholders’. 

For  the  first  recommendation,  a  management  tool  was  put  in  place  and  it  is  considered  to  be  fully 
functional, given its deployment in the budget for 2015. For the second recommendation on the BCP, a 
survey  was  conducted  among  all  clients  between  2 June 2014  and  23 June 2014.  The  Centre  will 
examine and consider the results as part of the BIA exercise. 

The  three  remaining  recommendations  still  to  be  dealt  with  by  the  end  of  the  year,  as  well  as  the 
assessment of related residual risks, appear in the table in Annex VI(a).  

IAC 
Details  of  the  open  audit  recommendations  and  the  Director’s  risk  assessment  are  in  the  table  in 
Annex VI(b). 

Chapter 6
FOLLOW-UP OF OBSERVATIONS FROM THE DISCHARGE AUTHORITY 

This chapter presents a concise summary of the observations and comments of the Discharge Authority 
of  3 April 2014  regarding  implementation  of  the  Centre’s  budget  for  the  financial  year  2012  and  the 
measures taken by the Centre. 

Overall, the Discharge Authority issued two observations that required the Centre to take action. One 
concerned  the  budget  surplus  and  the  other  the  prevention  and  management  of  conflicts  of  interests 
and transparency.  

With regard to the observations listed in the European Parliament’s resolution of 3 April on discharge in 
respect  of  the  budget  of  the  European  Union  agencies  for  the  financial  year 2012:  performance, 
financial  management  and  control  (2013/2256(DEC),  three  observations  and  the  more  general 
observations on the handling of conflicts of interest concerned the Centre.  

The  list  of  the  measures  taken  by  the  Centre  is  presented  in  Annex VI(d).Only  those  observations 
requiring action by the Centre have been included. 

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PART III.
ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE  INTERNAL CONTROL SYSTEMS  

Chapter 1
RISK  MANAGEMENT 

To  achieve  the  performance  defined  by  the  ‘Strategy  2016-2018:  Moving  Forward’  adopted  by  the 
Management  Board  in  October 2014,  the  Centre’s  management  defined  a  roadmap  of  initiatives,  i.e. 
projects  and  programmes of finite  duration over  and  above  the  Centre’s  day-to-day  activities  that  will 
need  to  be  coordinated  with  the  key  processes  that  function  across  tasks  and  departments  for  the 
period designated by this strategy.   

After defining this roadmap, management assessed its risk appetite and reviewed the results of the risk 
assessment exercise carried out during the preparation of the draft annual work programme for 2015. 
The main risks included in the Centre’s risk register are listed below: 

1.  Fewer  client  requests  than  forecast  in  the  field  of  document  translation  might  cause  a  fall  in 

income but also in expenditure. 

2.  More client requests than forecast in the field of document translation might make it difficult to 
react  promptly  with  an  adequate  capacity  management  and  thus  might  ultimately  have  an 
impact on quality. 

3.  Client requests for Community trade marks significantly lower than forecasts might cause a fall 

in income but also in expenditure. 

4.  e-CdT not fit for purpose or delayed might have a negative effect on the Centre’s image/staff 
motivation, increase the cost of maintaining the previous platform, and prevent modification of 
current IT systems. 

5.  A large fall in income might endanger the Centre’s business. 
6.  Opportunities might be missed, should the Centre’s service offer and business opportunities no 

longer fully match client needs. 

7.  Obligation to implement requirements of the budgetary authority might jeopardise the Centre’s 

ability to deliver the services requested. 

Out of these seven risks, the last one was considered ‘critical’. A management response was defined for 
all  the  risks  identified,  together  with  the  related  mitigating  controls,  where  appropriate.  The 
implementation of the measures was monitored on a quarterly basis. 

A  total  of  50%  of  the  measures  needed  to  reduce  these  risks  had  already  been  implemented  by 
year-end. 

The Centre undertook the review of the risks of its processes against its key operational, reporting and 
compliance objectives. The result of this assessment contributed to a more accurate update of the BIA. 
This exercise will be followed by the risk assessment of the critical processes (see Action 4.2). 

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Chapter 2
COMPLIANCE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERNAL  CONTROL STANDARDS (ICS) 

2.1 Compliance with ICS 

The time frame for becoming fully compliant with the ICS – a key strategic action – was postponed to 
2015  as  a  consequence of  the  extension of  the  Centre’s  current  ‘Strategy  2012-2014: Embracing  the 
challenges’ to 2015. 

On 20 January 2015, the Centre's senior management assessed the compliance and effectiveness with 
the ICS. 

On  the  basis  of  the  methodology  for  assessing  and  reporting  on  the  adequacy  of  the  internal  control 
system, management concluded that the level of implementation to achieve compliance had not been 
reached for ICS 10 ‘Business Continuity’, ICS 11 ‘Document Management’, and ICS 14 ‘Evaluation of 
Activities’.  The  measures  that  needed  to  be  implemented  for  the  Centre  to  become  compliant  were 
included in the work programmes for 2014, 2015, and 2016. 

The results of the implementation of the ICS Action Plan are detailed in Annex VII. Regarding ICS 10 
‘Business  Continuity’, the  Centre’s  move  to  the  Drosbach  building  required  considerable  redrafting  of 
the BCP.  

As  regards  ICS  7  ‘Operational Structure’,  because  of  the  Centre’s  size,  it  is  unable  to  implement  the 
mandatory  mobility.  Three  jobholders  with  sensitive  functions  had  been  in  their  posts  for  5 years  in 
2014,  but  no  jobholders  with  sensitive  functions  had  been  in  their  posts  for  more  than  7 years.  The 
Director considered therefore that the mitigating checks in place reduced the risk to an acceptable level. 

2.2 Effectiveness of ICS 

In view of various constraints in 2013, such as the move to the Drosbach building, the level of progress 
achieved of several actions in the ICS Action Plan was not as initially foreseen. Management confirmed 
that  that  all  efforts  should  henceforth,  as  a  priority,  be  focused  on  compliance  with  ICS,  in  order  to 
achieve  the  target  of  100%  set  for  strategic  action  II.D.4.,  ‘Further  strengthen  the  Internal  Control 
system by implementing the requirements relating to the Internal Control Standards (ICS) to ensure full 
compliance’. 

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PART IV.
MANAGEMENT ASSURANCE 

Chapter 1
REVIEW OF THE ELEMENTS SUPPORTING ASSURANCE 

The  declaration  of  assurance,  provided  by  the  Authorising  Officer,  based  on  all  information  at  her 
disposal, is structured around four pillars or ‘building blocks’: 

(1)  assessment  by  management  (controls  and  supervisory  checks,  monitoring  reviews,  and 

self-assessments); 

(2)  assurances  and/or  recommendations  from  independent  monitoring  and  assessment  sources 

(data protection, results from audits and evaluations during the reporting year); 

(3)  follow-up of reservations and action plans resulting from audits from previous years, and follow-

up of observations from the Discharge Authority; 

(4)  management assurances. 

Weaknesses that result in reservations being issued relate to the reasonable assurance concerning the 
use  of  resources,  sound  financial  management  or  legality  and  regularity  of  underlying  transactions. 
Such weaknesses can be defined on the basis of quantitative or qualitative criteria. 

The  key  financial  and  non-financial  indicators  on  legality  and  regularity  and  sound  financial 
management  (see  Annex VIII)  show  no  instances  of  inadequate/ineffective  controls  that  exposed  the 
Centre to the key risks. 

In 2014, a total of 17 exceptions were handled according to the procedure for recording of exceptions 
(‘Register of exceptions’), adopted by management in 2011. The increase of the number of exceptions 
recorded is mainly due to a greater awareness of the procedure. Most exceptions referred to formal or 
procedural errors which did not expose the Centre to key risks and which were addressed immediately 
in order to prevent any future reoccurrence.  

After  careful  consideration  of  the  results  of  controls  and  supervisory  checks,  monitoring  reviews  and 
self-assessments, the management considered that the actions implemented to date gave reasonable 
assurance  about  the  architecture  of  the  internal  control  system  and  that  this  system  was  operating 
properly as a whole and could therefore be considered as adequate. 

The controls and supervisory checks provided no evidence of significant and/or repetitive errors in the 
reporting  by  departments,  the  reporting  on  budget  execution,  reports  by  the  Accounting  Officer  and 
financial  reports,  reporting  on  delegations  and  related  reporting,  reporting  on  human  resources, 
reporting on security, information security, personal data protection and business continuity, reports on 
translation quality and the report on ex-post financial control. 

In the opinion of management, monitoring reviews show no instances of inadequate/ineffective controls 
that exposed the Centre to key risks. Performance and effectiveness reviews on a quarterly basis, semi-
annual reviews of the achievements of the work programme, and reporting on project management on a 
monthly basis are key safeguards that have increasingly become part of the routine for all departments. 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 39 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter 2
RESERVATIONS 

In line with the quantitative and qualitative principles established by the Translation Centre to define the 
materiality  criteria  on  which  to  base  a  decision  about  whether  to  include  a  reservation  in  the  annual 
Declaration  of  Assurance  in  the  Annual  Activity  Report,  the  Authorising  Officer  of  the  Centre  has  not 
issued any reservation. 

Chapter 3
OVERALL CONCLUSIONS ON ASSURANCE 

Based on all the facts presented in the previous sections, and in the light of the opinions expressed by 
the  Court  of  Auditors  on  the  reliability  of  the  accounts  and  on  the  legality  and  regularity  of  the 
transactions  underlying  the  accounts,  it  can  be  stated  that  the  Translation  Centre  operates  in  an 
environment where the risks are appropriately managed.  

Furthermore, the control procedures put in place guarantee the legality and regularity of the underlying 
transactions, and the resources assigned to the activities described in this report have been used for 
their intended purpose and in accordance with the principles of sound financial management. 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 40 

 
 
 
PART V.
DECLARATION OF ASSURANCE 

I, the undersigned, Acting Director of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union, 

In my capacity as Authorising Officer, 

Declare that the information contained in this report gives a true and fair view. 

State that I have reasonable assurance that the resources assigned to the activities described in this 
report  have  been  used  for  their  intended  purpose  and  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  sound 
financial  management,  and  that  the  control  procedures  put  in  place  give  the  necessary  guarantees 
concerning the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions. 

This reasonable assurance is based on my own judgement and on the information at my disposal, such 
as  the  results of  the  self-assessment,  ex-post  controls,  the  observations  of  the  Internal  Audit  Service 
and  the  lessons  learnt  from  the  reports  of  the  Court  of  Auditors  for  years  prior  to  the  year  of  this 
declaration. 

Confirm that I am not aware of anything not reported here which could harm the interests of the Centre. 

Luxembourg, 12 February 2015 

(signed)  

Marie-Anne Fernández 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 41 

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ANNEXES 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 42 

C.  Comparative breakdown by target language 2014/2013 

Language 

Ranking 

Pages 

% 

Ranking 

2014 

2013 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

19 

18 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

EN 

FR 

DE 

IT 

ES 

HR 

BG 

PT 

EL 

LT 

NL 

CS 

SK 

SL 

ET 

PL 

LV 

RO 

SV 
HU 
DA 
FI 
MT 
GA 
Others (1) 
Total (2) 

41 304.5 

14.92 % 

33 838 

12.22 % 

17 955.5 

10 916 

10 812 

9 627.50 

9 262.5 

8 828.5 

8 809.5 

8 753 

8 725.5 

8 647 

8 601 

8 571 

8 523 

8 506.5 

8 489 

8 407 

8 409.5 

8 395 

8 179.5 

8 165.5 

7 166.5 

936.5 

6 997.5 

276 827 

6.49 % 

3.94 % 

3.91 % 

3.48 % 

3.35 % 

3.19 % 

3.18 % 

3.16 % 

3.15 % 

3.12 % 

3.11 % 

3.10 % 

3.08 % 

3.07 % 

3.07 % 

3.04 % 

3.04 % 

3.03 % 

2.95 % 

2.95 % 

2.59 % 

0.34 % 

2.53% 

100% 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

9 

10 

7 

14 

13 

18 

15 

16 

19 

8 

21 

12 

20 

11 

17 

22 

23 

24 

Pages 

55 457 

36 574 

22 811 

14 987 

14 831 

10 915 

8 189 

8 142 

8 817 

7 754 

7 792 

7 633 

7 740 

7 719 

7 615 

8 504 

7 578 

7 860 

7 594 

7 894 

7 658 

7 572 

7 087 

1 700 

4 765 

295 188 

(1) 

(2) 

Key to abbreviations 

NO, IS, KA, AR, TR, RU, MK, ZH, UK, SQ, SR, FA, HY, PS, SO, TI, UR, AZ, ME, FO, JP, KO, CA, EU, HI, GL, LB, 
HE, VI, ID, KL. 

Volume of translation in pages (including pages translated for the ongoing operation of the Translation Centre). 

BG (Bulgarian),  ES (Spanish),  CS (Czech),  DA (Danish),  DE (German),  ET (Estonian),  EL (Greek),  EN (English), 
FR (French),  GA (Irish),  HR  (Croatian),  IT (Italian),  LV (Latvian),  LT (Lithuanian),  HU (Hungarian),  MT (Maltese), 
NL (Dutch),  PL (Polish),  PT (Portuguese),  RO (Romanian),  SK (Slovak),  SL (Slovene),  FI (Finnish),  SV (Swedish), 
AR (Arabic), AZ (Azerbaijani), BS (Bosnian), CA (Catalan), EU (Basque), FA (Farsi), FO (Faroese), GL (Galician), 
HE (Hebrew),  HI (Hindi),  HY 
IS (Icelandic),  JP (Japanese),  KA (Georgian), 
(Indonesian), 
KL (Greenlandic),  KO (Korean),  LB (Luxembourgish),  ME  (Montenegrin),  MK (Macedonian),  NO (Norwegian), 
RU (Russian), SO (Somali), SQ (Albanese), SR (Serbian), TI (Tigrinya), TR (Turkish), UK (Ukrainian), UR (Urdu), VI 
(Vietnamese) and ZH (Mandarin Chinese).  

(Armenian), 

ID 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 45 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
D.  Statistics on translation deadlines 

Clients 

ACER 

BEREC 

CCE-EMPLOI 

CDT/CDT-CA 

CEDEFOP 

CEPOL 

CHAFEA 

CJUE 

CONSEIL 

CPVO 

CSJU 

EACEA 

EACI 

EAHC 

EASA 

EASO 

EBA 

ECA 

ECB 

ECDC 

ECHA 

ECSEL 

EDA 

EDPS 

EEA 

EFCA 

EFSA 

EIB 

EIGE 

EIOPA 

No of documents 
delivered* 

No of documents 
sent within the 
deadline 

Deadline 
+ 
1-2 day(s) 

Deadline 
+ 
3-5 days 

Deadline 
+ 
1 week 

33 

91 

2388 

818 

63 

60 

78 

18 

87 

200 

23 

576 

73 

4 

307 

336 

561 

18 

244 

198 

33 

91 

2363 

769 

63 

60 

78 

18 

87 

200 

23 

576 

73 

4 

307 

336 

560 

18 

242 

195 

3411 

3342 

53 

6 

757 

211 

93 

253 

9 

184 

251 

52 

6 

756 

210 

86 

253 

9 

184 

250 

25 

2 

47 

1 

2 

3 

46 

1 

1 

7 

1 

22 

1 

1 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 46 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Clients 

EIT 

EMA 

EMCDDA 

EMSA 

ENISA 

ERA 

ERC 

ESMA 

ETF 

EU-LISA 

EU-OSHA 

EUROFOUND 

EUROJUST 

EUROPOL 

F4E 

FCH JU 

FRA 

FRONTEX 

GSA 

IMI JU 

INEA 

OHMI 

OMBUDSMAN 

REA 

SJU 

Total 

% 

No of documents 
delivered* 

No of documents 
sent within the 
deadline 

Deadline 
+ 
1-2 day(s) 

Deadline 
+ 
3-5 days 

Deadline 
+ 
1 week 

57 

9073 

169 

32 

56 

384 

72 

279 

230 

179 

57 

9071 

168 

32 

56 

384 

72 

279 

230 

179 

1492 

1491 

945 

24 

275 

36 

46 

916 

71 

23 

24 

199 

11383 

722 

31 

92 

38214 

100% 

944 

1 

275 

36 

46 

916 

71 

23 

24 

199 

11315 

722 

31 

92 

37958 

99.3% 

2 

1 

1 

1 

23 

36 

25 

7 

129 

0.3% 

119 

0.3% 

8 

0% 

* This does not include Community trade marks, which are always sent within the contractual deadline. 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 47 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
1005 

Office for Harmonization in the Internal 
Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM) 

1006  OHIM trade marks 
1007  Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) 
1008  European Police Office (Europol) 

1009 

1010 

1012 

European Foundation for the Improvement of 
Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) 

European Centre for the Development of 
Vocational Training (Cedefop) 

European Union Agency for Fundamental 
Rights (FRA) 

1014  European Investment Bank (EIB) 
1015  European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) 

1016 

The European Union’s Judicial Cooperation 
Unit (Eurojust) 

1017  European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) 
1018  European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) 
1019  European Railway Agency (ERA) 

1020 

1021 

1022 

1023 

1024 

European Network and Information Security 
Agency (ENISA) 

European Centre for Disease Prevention and 
Control (ECDC) 

European Agency for the Management of 
Operational Cooperation at the External 
Borders (Frontex) 

Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive 
Agency (EACEA) 
Executive Agency for Small and Medium-
sized Enterprises 
(EASME) 

9 616 580 

8 322 618 

1 293 962 

15.55% 

18 018 263 
107 333 
210 704 

18 726 809 
105 669 
142 276 

-708 546 
1 664 
68 428 

-3.78% 
1.57% 
48.10% 

692 942 

694 507 

-1 566 

-0.23% 

57 663 

119 761 

-62 098 

-51.85% 

1 335 679 

1 026 498 

309 181 

30.12% 

8 368 
163 112 

17 969 
366 108 

-9 602 
-202 996 

-53.43% 
-55.45% 

222 104 

166 446 

55 658 

33.44% 

59 997 
995 599 
559 356 

78 548 
1 145 500 
932 565 

-18 551 
-149 901 
-373 209 

-23.62% 
-13.09% 
-40.02% 

28 839 

99 647 

-70 808 

-71.06% 

103 634 

57 514 

46 120 

80.19% 

189 492 

390 081 

-200 589 

-51.42% 

430 704 

408 288 

22 416 

5.49% 

14 572 

22 720 

-8 148 

-35.86% 

1025  European Police College (CEPOL) 

34 024 

116 121 

-82 097 

-70.70% 

1026 

Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food 
Executive Agency (Chafea) 

1027  European GNSS Agency (GSA) 
1028  European Defence Agency (EDA) 
1029  European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) 
1030  European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) 
1031  Fusion for Energy Joint Undertaking (F4E) 
Innovation and Networks Executive Agency 
(INEA) 
European Institute of Innovation and 
Technology (EIT) 

1033 

1034 

84 661 

139 995 

-55 334 

-39.53% 

3 678 
13 225 
2 872 104 
157 311 
38 045 

2 861 
9 094 
3 048 557 
168 107 
93 193 

817 
4 131 
-176 453 
-10 797 
-55 148 

28.54% 
45.43% 
-5.79% 
-6.42% 
-59.18% 

61 224 

49 465 

11 759 

23.77% 

29 826 

15 479 

14 347 

92.68% 

1035 

European Research Council Executive 
Agency (ERCEA) 

8 177 

10 203 

-2 026 

-19.85% 

1036  Research Executive Agency (REA) 

9 422 

8 632 

790 

9.15% 

1037  Clean Sky Joint Undertaking (CSJU) 

1038 

European Institute for Gender Equality 
(EIGE) 

1039  SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU) 

12 540 

30 005 

-17 465 

-58.21% 

200 112 

189 768 

10 344 

5.45% 

17 848 

20 477 

-2 629 

-12.84% 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 49 

1040  European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) 
Joint Undertaking to implement a Joint 
Technology Initiative in Embedded 
Computing Systems (ARTEMIS) 

1041 

1042 

Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint 
Undertaking (IMI JU) 

1043 

1044 

Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking 
(FCH JU) 

European Nanoelectronics Initiative Advisory 
Council Joint Undertaking (ENIAC JU) 

608 809 

589 610 

19 199 

3.26% 

18 978 

4 462 

14 516 

325.32% 

4 370 

34 445 

-30 075 

-87.31% 

3 950 

14 849 

-10 899 

-73.40% 

0 

14 453 

-14 453 

-100.00% 

1045  European Asylum Support Office (EASO) 

1 085 014 

1 398 136 

-313 122 

-22.40% 

1046 

1047 

Agency for the Cooperation of Energy 
Regulators (ACER) 
European Securities and Markets 
Authority(ESMA) 

26 920 

9 027 

17 893 

198.22% 

336 658 

667 806 

-331 148 

-49.59% 

1048  European Banking Authority (EBA)  

574 688 

535 521 

39 167 

7.31% 

1049 

1050 

1051 

1052 

3000 

3002 

European Insurance and Occupational 
Pensions Authority (EIOPA) 
Body of European Regulators for Electronic 
Communications (BEREC) 
European Agency for the operational 
management of large-scale IT systems in the 
area of freedom, security and justice (eu-
LISA) 
Electronic Components and Systems for 
European Leadership Joint Undertaking 
(ECSEL JU) 
European Commission – DG Employment, 
Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities 
(DG EMPL) 
Interinstitutional projects with the institutions 
(IATE) 

3004  Council of the European Union (Council) 
3005  European Court of Auditors (ECA) 

3008 

Court of Justice of the European Union 
(CJEU) 

3010  European Central Bank (ECB) 
3011  European Ombudsman (Ombudsman) 
4000  Bank interest 
4010  Miscellaneous repayments 
4020  Grant from the Luxembourg Government 

Total revenue 

84 702 

1 226 365 

-1 141 663 

-93.09% 

38 025 

119 508 

-81 483 

-68.18% 

297 090 

50 822 

246 268 

484.57% 

0 

0 

0 

N/A 

1 529 937 

1 681 175 

-151 238 

-9.00% 

664 154 

588 422 

75 732 

12.87% 

133 800 
11 614 

244 069 
14 149 

-110 269 
-2 535 

-45.18% 
-17.92% 

98 698 

83 424 

15 274 

18.31% 

168 234 
303 467 
141 788 
92 349 
0 
47 035 473 

22 038 
508 887 
228 929 
6 085 
243 250 
50 210 831 

146 196 
663.38% 
-205 420 
-40.37% 
-38.06% 
-87 141 
86 264  1417.65% 
-100.00% 
-6.32% 

-243 250 
-3 175 358 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 50 

  
 
Change in budgetary implementation excluding Title 10 

Description 

Budget (excluding Title 10) 
Commitments entered into 
Appropriations cancelled 
Payments made 
Appropriations carried over 

2014 
49 343 630 
44 643 009 
4 700 621 
40 498 298 
4 144 711 

Implementation 
2014 

n/a 
90.47% 
9.53% 
82.07% 
8.40% 

2013 

46 989 600 
43 563 562 
3 426 038 
40 542 361 
3 021 201 

Implementation 
2013 

n/a 
92.71% 
7.29% 
86.28% 
6.43% 

% 
Change 
n/a 
-2.24% 
2.24% 
-4.21% 
1.97% 

Total  expenditure  for  the  year  was  EUR  44 643 009  or  90.47%  of  funds  provided  for  in  the  budget  (excluding  Title 10, 
‘Reserves’). 

Appropriations cancelled – 2014 budget 

5% 

31% 

64% 

Staff (EUR 1 398 548)

Building, equipment and
sundry operating
expenditure (EUR 876
466)

Operational expenditure
(EUR 2 429 606)

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 52 

 
 
 
 
 
 
D.  Budget outturn 

Budget revenue 
Translation 

Terminology 

Term lists 

Interinstitutional cooperation – IATE database 

Other operating revenues 

Revenue from operations 

Financial income 

Grant for rent from Luxembourgish Government 

Miscellaneous 

Budget expenditure 
Title 1 – Staff 

    Payments 

    Appropriations carried over 
Title 2 – Buildings. equipment and miscellaneous operating 
expenditure 
    Payments 

    Appropriations carried over 

Title 3 – Operational expenditure 

    Payments 

    Appropriations carried over 

Budget outturn for the financial year 

Other 
    Appropriations carried forward and subsequently cancelled 

    Exchange rate differences 

Balance of the outturn account for the financial year 

    Outturn for the previous year 

Allocation to reserves 
    Reserve for pricing stability  

    Usage and cancellation of reserve for pricing stability  

2014 

2013 

% change 

47 035 473 

44 729 576 

161 274 

1 090 787 

664 154 

155 546 

50 210 831 

47 359 285 

96 875 

-6.32% 

-5.55% 

66.48% 

1 676 735 

-34.95% 

588 422 

12.87% 

11 250 

1282.63% 

46 801 336 

49 732 568 

-5.89% 

141 788 

0 

92 349 

228 929 

-38.06% 

243 250 

-100.00% 

6 085 

1417.62% 

44 643 009 

43 563 562 

2.48% 

22 618 624 

187 758 

22 356 774 

1.17% 

233 658 

-19.64% 

4 558 659 

1 472 575 

5 161 162 

-11.67% 

996 171 

47.82% 

13 321 016 

2 484 378 

2 392 464 

257 248 

257 201 

47 

2 649 712 

7 128 691 

-4 757 909 

-11 030 971 

4 106 560 

13 024 425 

1 791 372 

2.28% 

38.69% 

6 647 269 

-64.01% 

228 573 

228 573 

12.55% 

12.52% 

0 

-11760.00% 

6 875 841 

-61.46% 

3 867 811 

-3 614 961 

84.31% 

31.62% 

-3 723 567 

196.25% 

0 

n/a 

    Usage of reserve relocation expenses 

0 

1 250 000 

-100.00% 

    Usage of reserve for exceptional investments (e-CdT) 

    Reserve for disputed salary increase 

    Usage and cancellation of reserve for disputed salary increase 

Budget outturn to carry forward 

686 002 

-777 000 

2 257 500 

5 020 494 

339 106 

102.30% 

-1 480 500 

-47.52% 

0 

n/a 

7 128 691 

-29.57% 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 53 

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
ANNEX IV – ESTABLISHMENT PLAN OF THE TRANSLATION CENTRE  

Function groups 
and grades 

Filled on 31.12.2014 

Authorised under the budget 

AD 16 

AD 15 

AD 14 

AD 13 

AD 12 

AD 11 

AD 10 

AD 9 

AD 8 

AD 7 

AD 6 

AD 5 

AST 11 

AST 10 

AST 9 

AST 8 

AST 7 

AST 6 

AST 5 

AST 4 

AST 3 

AST 2 

AST 1 

Subtotal AD 

Sub-total AST 

AST/SC 6 

AST/SC 5 

AST/SC 4 

AST/SC 3 

AST/SC 2 

AST/SC 1 

Sub-total AST/SC 

TOTAL 

TOTAL STAFF 

Permanent posts 
0 

Temporary staff 
0 

Permanent posts 
0 

Temporary posts 
0 

0 

1 

0 

4 

9 

7 

3 

10 

2 

5 

0 

41 

0 

0 

1 

4 

2 

2 

1 

3 

0 

0 

0 

13 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

54 

0 

0 

0 

4 

7 

6 

6 

5 

20 

17 

24 

89 

0 

0 

1 

0 

3 

2 

9 

14 

12 

5 

2 

48 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

137 

191 

0 

1 

0 

10 

9 

8 

3 

8 

2 

4 

0 

45 

0 

0 

1 

4 

2 

2 

2 

3 

0 

0 

0 

14 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

59 

1 

0 

0 

4 

8 

6 

11 

7 

24 

19 

12 

92 

0 

0 

1 

0 

3 

2 

12 

14 

13 

7 

0 

52 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

144 

203 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 55 

 
ANNEX V – HUMAN AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES BY ACTIVITY 

A.  Human and financial resources forecast for 2014 (included in the amended work programme for 2014) 

Activities 

Human resources (*)(**) 

Total 

Officials 

TA 

CA 

Title 1 

Financial resources (**) 
Title 3 

Title 2 

Total budget 

Total 
(%) 

64.9% 
25.9% 
2.3% 
6.9% 

Core activity: translation 
Support activities 
External outreach  
Management and supervision 
activities 

Provisions 
Overall total 

145.9 
58.3 
5.2 
15.6 

31.2 
13.6 
2.4 
11.8 

99.7 
37.7 
2.8 
3.8 

15 
7 
0 
0 

17 036 197 
4 834 528 
741 038 
2 631 437 

3 805 891 
1 511 240 
164 793 
455 676 

14 703 000 
937 000 
705 000 
0 

100% 

225 

59 

144 

22 

25 243 200 

5 937 600 

16 345 000 

35 545 088 
7 282 768 
1 610 831 
3 087 113 

777 000 
48 302 800 

(*) Expressed in full-time equivalents (FTE).  
(**) Rounded-up figures. 

B.  Human and financial resources actually used in 2014 to achieve the objectives set  

Activities 

Human resources (*)(**) 

Core activity: translation 
Support activities 
External outreach 
Management and supervision 
activities 

Total 
(%) 

66.5% 
25.4% 
2.2% 
5.9% 

Total 

Officials 

TA 

CA 

Title 1 

Financial resources (**) 
Title 3 

Title 2 

Total budget 

143.8 
55.0 
4.8 
12.8 

28.4 
12.9 
2.2 
10.5 

96.2 
35.9 
2.6 
2.3 

19.2 
6.2 
0 
0 

15 707 625 
4 445 183 
634 336 
2 019 238 

4 126 695 
1 345 635 
128 046 
430 857 

14 455 553 
686 002 
663 839 
0 

34 289 873 
6 476 820 
1 426 221 
2 450 095 

Overall total 

100.0% 

216.4 

54.0 

137.0 

25.4 

22 806 382 

6 031 233 

15 805 394 

44 643 009 

100.0% 

(*) Expressed in full-time equivalents (FTE).  
(**) Rounded-up figures. 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 56 

Budget 
(%) 

73.6% 
15.1% 
3.3% 
6.4% 

1.6% 
100%¤ 

Budget 
(%) 

76.8% 
14.5% 
3.2% 
5.5% 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
VI(c) Procurement 

Designation 

Contract 
signature 

Results 

Q3 2014 

Q3 2014 

Q3 2014 

LEG14-01DE: provision of services relating to the translation of 
texts in the legal field from English and French into German 
LEG14-02ES: provision of services relating to the translation of 
texts in the legal field from English and French into Spanish 
LEG14-03EN: provision of services relating to the translation of 
texts in the legal field from German, Spanish, French and Italian 
into English 
AO  LEG14-04FR:  provision  of  services 
the 
translation  of  texts  in  the  legal  field  from  German,  English, 
Spanish and Italian into French 
LEG14-05SCEN: provision of services relating to the translation 
of  texts  in  the  legal  field  from  English  into  Bulgarian,  Czech, 
Danish,  Greek,  Estonian,  Finnish,  Croatian,  Hungarian,  Italian, 
Lithuanian,  Latvian,  Maltese,  Dutch,  Polish,  Portuguese, 
Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian and Swedish 
GENAFF14:  services  of  translation  in  the  general  affairs  field 
from EN into HR, IS, NO and TR 
Services of translation in various fields from EN into AR and RU  Q2 2015 

Q2 2014 

Q1 2015 

Q2 2015 

relating 

to 

I

N
O
T
A
L
S
N
A
R
T

 Done 

 Done 

 Done 

Done  

Launched  

Launched  

the 

in 

Included 
GENAFF14 
 Done  

FIN14: services of translation in the field of finance and banking 
from EN into all official EU languages except GA 
TM14: services of translation of standardised technical texts in 
the industrial/intellectual property field 

I

.

  Provision of environmental friendly professional office supplies 
N
M
D
A

Provision of toilet paper and paper towels 

European Commission - supply of computers - DESKTOP III 
European  Commission  -  acquisition  of  storage  equipment  - 
NESTOR III 
European  Commission  -  Software  for  Innovation  Diversity  and 
Evolution - SIDE  
CDT  WANS  III  -  provision  of  services  relating  to  high  speed 
data links and internet services 
Court  of  Justice  -  Operation  and  development  of  IT  and 
telecommunication infrastructure 
European Parliament - ITS14 

R
E
T
U
P
M
O
C

Q4 2014 

Q3 2015 

Launched 

Q3 2014 

 Launched 

Q4 2015 

 Done 

Q3 2015 
Q3 2015 

 Done  
 Done  

Q3 2015 

 Done  

Q2 2015 

Postponed to 2015 

2015 

 Launched 

 Partly done 

Some lots 
signed  in 
Q4  2014 
and some 
to 
be 
signed  in 
2015 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 58 

 
 
 
 
 
VI(d) Follow-up of observations from the discharge authority 

Reference  Discharge in respect of the implementation of the 

Reply and measures taken by the Centre 

2. 

7. 

budget of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the 
European Union for the financial year 2012 
Budget and financial management 
Notes with concern that according to the Court of Auditor’s 
report,  the  Centre  held  cash  and  short  term  deposits 
amounting to EUR 35 million at the end of 2012; notes that 
the Centre cannot adjust prices during the year in order to 
balance 
it  has 
income  and  expenditure,  although 
occasionally  refunded  its  clients  in  order  to  reduce  the 
surplus; calls on the Centre, together with the Commission, 
to propose a remedy of this situation.  

Prevention and management of conflicts of interests 
and transparency 
Acknowledges that the Centre will assess its policy on the 
prevention and management of conflicts of interests on the 
basis  of  the  Commission’s  Guidelines  on  the  Prevention 
in  EU 
and  Management  of  Conflict  of 
Decentralised  Agencies;  calls  on  the  Centre  to  inform  the 
discharge  authority  of 
the  assessment  results  once 
available; 

Interest 

The  Centre  is  fully  aware  of  generating  a  budget  surplus,  but  it  must  be 
noted  that  the  2012 surplus  was  generated  mainly  by  external  factors 
beyond the Centre’s control, especially as a result of the higher volume of 
pages  invoiced  than  forecast.  Based  on  the  cost  analysis  and  revenue 
simulations,  the  Centre  reduced  its  2014 prices  considerably  in  order  to 
reflect not only changes in the cost of its products, but also to consume part 
of the surplus.  
The budget for 2014 was therefore constructed as a negative budget from 
the  outset,  showing  a  deficit  of  EUR 4 106 650  that  is  balanced  by  the 
‘Reserve  for  pricing  stability’  created  in  2011.  As  an  additional  measure, 
and for the first time in its history, the Centre submitted a proposal to the 
Management  Board  to  further  reduce  prices  in  mid-2014  in  order  to 
distribute back to its clients the positive financial results of 2013. 
The  budget  for  2015,  which  was  adopted  by  the  Management  Board  on 
29 October 2014,  is  again  prepared  on  the  same  principle  in  order  to 
consume part of the previous years’ surplus. 

On  the  basis  of  the  Commission’s  Guidelines  on  the  Prevention  and 
Management  of  Conflict  of  Interest,  the  Centre  has  presented  a  policy 
which  was  adopted  by  the  Management  Board  on  29 October 2014.  The 
Centre  has  informed  the  European  Parliament  of  the  decision  of  its 
Management Board and the follow-up actions taken. The Centre has also 
published 
the  Director  and  senior 
management staff. 

the  declarations  of 

interests  of 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 59 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012 discharge: Performance, financial management and control of EU agencies 

Reference 

2012 discharge: Performance, financial management 
and control of EU agencies 
Reflection on agencies: a common approach 

Reply and measures taken by the Centre 

6. 

21. 

42. 

Regrets that Member States have failed to conclude 
headquarters agreements with ten agencies on their 
territory, including three in France and one each in Estonia, 
Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Spain and the United 
Kingdom; expresses concern that this may have serious 
implications for the staff of the agencies and calls on the 
Member States concerned to conclude such agreements 
before the start of the next budget discharge procedure; 

Democratic accountability 

Reminds all the agencies of their obligation to submit to the 
discharge  authority  a  report  drawn  up  by  their  director 
summarising  the  number  and  nature  of  internal  audits 
conducted  by  their  internal  auditor,  the  recommendations 
made  and  follow-up  given  to  those  recommendations,  as 
provided  for  in  Article  72(5)  of  Regulation  (EC,  Euratom) 
No 2343/2002; 

Management of budgetary resources 

On  10 July 2014, 
agreement with the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. 

the  Translation  Centre  signed 

the  headquarters 

The Commission's Internal Audit Service (IAS) conducted an internal audit 
on  the  Centre’s  Business  Continuity  Management  in  2012.  Details  of  all 
recommendations  from  the  IAS  and  the  Centre’s  Internal  Audit  Capability 
that still remained to be addressed at the end of the year – none of which 
were  critical  –  are  provided  alongside  the  Director's  evaluation  of  the 
the  Centre’s 
corresponding 
residual 
Activity Report 2013  (CT/CA-002/2014EN),  adopted  by  the  Management 
Board on 19 March 2014. 

impact  of 

risks 

the 

in 

Takes  note  of  the  agencies’  explanations  as  regards  the 
difficulty in avoiding carry-overs in operational expenditure; 
believes, nevertheless, that in a number of cases there is 
room for improvement , in particular by means of a better 

In  the  last  few  years,  the  Centre  has  made  significant  efforts  to  minimise 
the level of budget appropriations carried over. In 2013, only 7% of budget 
appropriations  were  carried  over.  The  best  indicator  that  the  Centre  is 
carrying  over  justified  commitments  only  is  the  fact  that  only  5.5%  of  the 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 60 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
management of commitment appropriations, better internal 
planning  and  revenue  forecasting  and  more  stringent 
budgetary discipline; 

commitments  carried  over  were  subsequently  cancelled,  the  majority  of 
these  relating  to  provisional  commitments  that  are  to  a  large  extent 
dependent on best estimate and expert assumptions. 

Conflicts of interest and transparency 

73. 

in 

that 

interest 

following 

line  with 

the  publication  of 

Considers 
the 
Commission’s guidelines, the agencies may need to redraft 
their  policies  for  the  prevention  and  management  of 
them 
conflicts  of 
the 
to  bring 
Commission’s  guidelines  and 
the  Court  of  Auditors’ 
recommendations  without  hesitation;  acknowledges  that 
most agencies planned to review their respective policy on 
the  prevention  and  management  of  conflicts  of  interest 
based  on  those  guidelines,  and  calls  on  the  agencies  to 
report to the discharge authority on this matter as well as 
on  the  actions  taken  in  the  framework  of  the  2012 
discharge follow-up before the end of 2014; 

The  Centre  has  revised  its  policy  on  conflicts  of  interest,  which  was 
submitted  to  the  Management  Board  for  adoption  on  29 October 2014. 
Subsequently,  the  Centre’s  internal  procedures  have  been  adapted 
accordingly.  The  Centre  has  updated  the  list  of  Management  Board 
members  published  on  its  website.  The  Centre  has  also  published  the 
declarations of interests of the Director and senior management staff. 

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

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ANNEX X - GLOSSARY 

Common name / 
Abbreviation  
ACER 
ARTEMIS JU 
BEREC 
CCE-EMPLOI 

CdT 
Cedefop 
CEPOL 
CFCA 
Chafea 
CJEU 
Commission 
CoR 
CPVO 
CSJU 
EACEA 
EACI 
EAHC 
EASA 
EASO 
EBA 
ECA 
ECB 
ECDC 
ECHA 
ECSEL JU 
EDA 
EDPS 
EEA 
EESC 
EFSA 
EIB 
EIGE 
EIOPA 
EIT 
EMA 
EMCDDA 
EMSA 
ENIAC JU 
ENISA 

Agencies / bodies / offices / Institutions 

Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators 
ARTEMIS Joint Undertaking 
Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications 
Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal 
Opportunities (DG-EMPL) 
Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union 
European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training 
European Police College  
Community Fisheries Control Agency 
Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency 
Court of Justice of the European Union 
European Commission 
Committee of the Regions of the European Union 
Community Plant Variety Office 
Clean Sky Joint Undertaking 
Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency 
Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation 
Executive Agency for Health and Consumers 
European Aviation Safety Agency 
European Asylum Support Office 
European Banking Authority 
European Court of Auditors 
European Central Bank 
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control 
European Chemicals Agency 
ECSEL Joint Undertaking 
European Defence Agency 
European Data Protection Supervisor 
European Environment Agency 
European Economic and Social Committee 
European Food Safety Agency 
European Investment Bank 
European Institute for Gender Equality 
European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority 
European Institute of Innovation and Technology 
European Medicines Agency 
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction 
European Maritime Safety Agency 
ENIAC Joint Undertaking 
European Network and Information Security Agency  

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

Page 70 

 
Common name / 
Abbreviation  
ERA 
ERCEA 
ESMA 
ETF 
eu-LISA 

EU-OSHA 
Eurofound 

Eurojust 
European Council 
Europol 
EUSC 
F4E 
FCH JU 
FRA 
Frontex 

GSA 
IMI JU 
INEA 
OHIM 
Ombudsman 
REA 
SJU 
SRB 

Agencies / bodies / offices / Institutions 

European Railway Agency 
European Research Council Executive Agency 
European Securities and Markets Authority 
European Training Foundation 
European Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT 
Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice 
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work 
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working 
Conditions 
Eurojust 
Council of the European Union 
European Police Office 
European Union Satellite Centre 
Fusion for Energy Joint Undertaking 
Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking 
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights 
European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the 
External Borders of the European Union 
European GNSS Agency 
IMI Joint Undertaking 
Innovation and Networks Executive Agency 
Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade marks and Designs) 
European Ombudsman 
Research Executive Agency 
SESAR Joint Undertaking 
Single Resolution Board 

-

N
N
E

-
1
0
0
-
5
1
-
A
A

-
F
T

:
r
e
b
m
u
n

e
u
g
o
a
t
a
C

l

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union  

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