CELEX: 51989PC0603
Language: en
Date: 1989-12-05
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION ADOPTING A SPECIFIC PROGRAMME CONCERNING THE PREPARATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN OPERATIONAL EUROTRA SYSTEM

I
         COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                               COM(89) 603 final - SYN 228
                                               Brussels, 5 December 1989
                                     Proposal for a
                                    COUNCIL DECISION
             adopting a specific programme concerning the preparation of
                   the development of an operational EUROTRA system
  uip
                             (presented by the Commission)
- "ill
 ---pagebreak---                                                             C&nt< >
                  Communication fro» the Commission to Counoil
      Subject : Proposal for a Counoil Deoision adopting a specific
                programme concerning the preparation of the development
                of an operational EUROTRA system.
•JT4 •** v
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                 - 2-
I.  BACKGROUND
1.  The Framework Programme 1987-1991C1) foresees under action line
    8.4. with regard to linguistic problems the following actions :
          completion by 1990 of a first multilingual prototype machine
          translation system (for nine official Community languages)
          (EUROTRA)
          For this point the Commission has submitted to Council a
          proposal on 1 June 1988^2) and amended it on 7 February
          1989(3) incorporating a number of recommendations of the
          European Parliament, and Council has adopted its Decision on
          20 June 1989(4)
          support to the industrial development of a machine
          translation system, development of methods and tools for the
          reusability   of    lexical   resources    in    computerized
          applications and creation of standards for lexical and
          terminological data.
          These points are the subject of the present proposal.
2.  Action line 8.4. of the Framework Programme foresees a tota"
    expenditure of 55 million ECU. This amount is subdivided amone
    the various specific programmes as follows :
          VALUBC5)                                  38 million ECU
          Phase 3 of EUROTRA                          7 million ECU
          present speoifio programme proposal       10 million ECU
          TOTAL                                     55 million ECU
    The present proposal takes into account these factors and the
    duration of the current EUROTRA programme (ending on 30 June
    1990).
(1) OJ n» L 302 Of 24.10.1987, p. 1
(2) COM (88) 270 final
(3) COM (89) 20 final/2 - SYK 137
(4) OJ n*# L 200 Of 13.7.1989, p. 15
(5) OJ n L 200 Of 13.7.1989, p. 23
 ---pagebreak---                                 - 3 -
II. STARTING CONDITIONS OF THE PROGRAMME
3.  The proposal builds on the achievements of the current EUROTRA
    programme.
    The objective of the programme is the creation of a machine
    translation system of advanced design (EUROTRA) capable of
    dealing with all official languages of the Community.
    On completion of the programme an operational system prototype
    should be available in a limited field and for limited categories
    of text, which would serve as a basis for development of a
    practical system in the period following the current programme.
    The practical results likely to be obtained by the end of the
    third phase include among others :
         for each of the nine languages analysis and synthesis
         modules with a broad coverage of the linguistic phenomena
         which occur in the text types chosen (handbooks, manuals,
         scientific articles in the field of telecommunications);
         for each of the languages the general vocabulary which is
         used in these texts (approx. 8.000 entries);
         the technical terminology of a number of       subfields of
         telecomunications (approx. 12.000 entries);
         transfer modules with this coverage for a     representative
         number of language pairs (approx. 50);
         a number of linguistio research results achieved during the
         final year of the programme which should be incorporated in
         the future Implementations.
    It is planned to carry out an intermediate evaluation of the
    progress of the EUROTRA programme during the second half of 1989.
    As far as possible the same experts as those who carried out the
    programme assessment in 1987 will be invited to conduct this
    evaluation. The evaluation report should become available before
    the end of 1989.
 ---pagebreak---                                      4 -
     T
       n the Council Decisions of 25 July 1988(6) on the transition of
     EUROTRA to the third phase and of 20 June 1989(?) on the
     completion of the programme, these initial objectives have been
     maintained. In addition, following the recommendations of tr.e
     panel of independent experts who assessed the programme in 198;'
     and of the Energy, Research and Technology Committee of the
     European Parliament a number of additional actions have bee^
     included in the programme of work of the third phase of EUROTRA.
p    These additional actions aim in particular at the preparation f c
     the     implementation    of  a   practical EUROTRA     system,   thr.
     involvement of enterprises, setting up cooperation schemes
     between research institutions and enterprises and training of
     researchers and engineers.
6.   In the course of 1989 the Commission          has   launched  studies
     covering the following points :
            outline definition of a practical BUROTRA system including
            qualitative and quantitative performance, user and system
            maintenance environments, sub-, by- and spin-off produr-
            and systems, development strategies, actors, time scale...
            costs etc. Among other things this study should provide
            enterprises with elements which will allow them to make use
            of the research results of the EUROTRA programme for product
            development;
            system analysis of the general architecture of EUROTRA. This
            study aims at the definition of a basis for further
            technological   development   both   in    view   of   machine
            translation and other applications;
            design studies to define the system development, testing and
            research environment. They should lead to a number of
            recommendations and specifications covering the various
            system components needed for the development of large scalo
            systems, especially in view of the economic feasibility of
            such development ;
            a project definition study for the re-usability of lexical
            resources in computerized applications.
     In addition the Commission supports, and participates actively
     in, an international project, called "Text Encoding Initiative"
     which was launched by professional associations and aims at the
     definition of a proposal for international standards concerning
     textual and lexical data.
(6) OJ N e . L £22 Of 12.08.1988, p.l
(7) OJ H c . L 200 Of 13.07.1989, p. 15
 ---pagebreak---                                   - 5 -
III. OBJECTIVES AND CONTENT OP THE PROGRAMME
7.   Considering the time-scales and the levels of financing foreseen
     for the proposed programme, the objectives are necessarily
     limited.
     The programme is foreseen to last for a period of 2 years from 1
     July 1990 to 30 June 1992 with an average Community funding of
     5 million ECU per annum.
8.   Following the actions foreseen in the Framework Programme • the
     objectives of this proposal are articulated under three main
     headings :
     (i)  Preparation for the development of an operational EUROTRA
          system.
          The main objective of the actions under this heading is to
          create, starting from the EUROTRA prototype and building on
          the results of a number of ESPRIT projects, appropriate
          conditions for its further development. This includes
          further research aiming at the improvement of the linguistic
          performance of the system. The main action lines include :
          (a) Implementation    of a stable and        efficient   system
              development and testing environment: it should include :
              -   a streamlined rule formalism with special emphasis on
                  expressive   power,    reversibility,    declarativity,
                  modularity and control mechanisms;
              -   an efficient rule interpreter     capable of handling
                  large dictionaries,     grammars   and   texts at an
                  acceptable speed;
              -   a data base system for the storage and management of
                  large dictionaries, grammars and text corpora;
              -   a user environment for the creation and maintenance
                  of large dictionaries and grammars;
              -   a testing environment      with  special   emphasis  on
                  interactive testing .
          (b) Language speciflo    linguistic research and development
              work aiming at the   extension of the prototype system and
              at the improvement    of its linguistic performance. This
              action line should   include :
 ---pagebreak---                       - 6 -
    Review of the existing linguistio implementations
    The existing linguistio implementations will have to be
    adapted to the revised framework and environment, so
    that they can be used as a stable basis for further
    extensions foreseen within the present programme and
    beyond.
    Extension of the linguistio coverage
    The grammatical coverage is to be gradually extended so
    as to deal with phenomena occurring in new text types.
    Special attention should be given to the optimal use of
    the modularity of the system architecture to capture
    text type and subject field specific phenomena.
    Experimentation with relayed transfer
    The basic principle consists in using one interface
    structure as a pivot through which transfer from and
    into all other languages transits. The economio stake
    for a practical multilingual system (awaiting an
    interlingual solution) is the reduction of the geometric
    progression of individual language pairs (72 for nine
    languages) to exactly one transfer from and into each
    language. The success of this experimentation would
    greatly enhance the economic feasibility of a truly
    multilingual system with equal coverage of all
    directions of translation.
    Incorporation and testing of research results
    EUROTRA is designed as an evolutionary system able to
    inoorporate new researoh results. When such results
    become available, they must be integrated in the
    relevant modules and extensively tested with regard to
    their effectiveness for the solution of the problems
    which they are intended to solve, mostly in three
    areas :
    -  the resolution of ambiguities;
    -  the reduotion of complex transfer;
    -  the extension of the interlinguality of the interface
       structure.
    Ultimately, they aim at the improvement of the quality
    of translation.
(o) Linguistio  research  QiSkSlQ and  applied)—ol—general
    interest
    To ensure the evolution of EUROTRA, a continuing effort
    of linguistio research is necessary.
 ---pagebreak---                             - 7 -
         An initial sot of priority areas is expected to be
         defined as an outcome of the system review undertaken
         during the third phase and the evaluation at the end of
         the EUROTRA programme.
         Strategically the systematic and exhaustive use of
         general linguistio knowledge is to be given priority. It
         is, however, well-known that certain classes of problems
         cannot be solved on the basis of linguistic knowledge
         alone, and that "extra-linguistic" knowledge is needed
         for their solution (common sense world knowledge,
         domain-specific        knowledge,       discourse-specific
         knowledge).
         Since considerable research efforts are being made
         outside the present programme in relation to knowledge
         bases, expert systems, inferencing, advanced information
         systems etc., the main thrust will be in the use of the
         research results obtained in such projects and in
         experimentation in cooperation with such projects.
     (d) Research in system architectures
         EUROTRA is designed as an intelligent knowledge based
         system (IKBS) which at present incorporates linguistic
         specialist knowledge and eventually will incorporate,
         or    interface    with,    extra-linguistlo    knowledge.
         Considerable effort is being put elsewhere in knowledge
         representation/engineering, expert systems and advanced
         hardware     arohiteotures      (parallel,    associative,
         connectionist machines). In order to give EUROTRA and
         language technology in general a sufficient potential
         for innovation, a permanent effort is necessary to
         explore    the   possibilities    offered   by   the new
         developments and eventually to experiment their use for
         natural languages.
(ii) Development of methods and tools for the reusability of
     lexical resources in computarlzed applications.
     The objectives of this action line are twofold:
     Oe) Use of existing lexical and terminological resources for
         building EUROTRA dictionaries
         The     availability    of     large-scale    high-quality
         dictionaries and terminological resources is crucial for
         a practical MT system and any other application
         involving natural language. This action line is to
         provide methods and tools for this purpose. The project
         definition study under way will provide the necessary
         details.
 ---pagebreak---                                 - 8 -
        (f) Re-usabillty of lexical and grammatical resources
            The purpose of this aotion line is to demonstrate that
            modules developed for EUROTRA can actually be used in a
            variety of applications with some natural language
            component. It Involves pilot and demonstrator projects
            in cooperation with those responsible for relevant
            application projects.
   (iii)  Creation of standards for lexical and terminological data:
          In every    field    of technology    the availability of
          international standards is a necessity. For linguistic
          technologies the Commission considers the creation of sue:,
          standards as a long-term objective. Within the present
          programme the only realistio actions to be envisaged must
          be of a preparatory nature including prenormative research
          and stimulatory actions, such as :
          (g)  Active participation in initiatives      aiming at the
               creation     of     such    standards    (dictionaries,
               terminologies, corpora).
          (h)  Stimulation    of   activities   aiming   at provide
               adequate terminological ooverage of the offic
               languages in key areas of soienoe and technology.
9. The results expected from this programme are :
        a set of stable, efficient and user-friendly software tools
        and a tested methodology for large-scale system development;
        a set of tools and methods          for  building large-scale
        dictionaries by the extensive       use  of existing lexical
        resources;
        a set of tools and methods for the           incorporation  of
        specialized terminological collections;
        for all nine Community languages well-tested implementations
        of analysis and synthesis modules with broad grammatical
        coverage and a representative lexioal coverage (no large-
        scale lexicographio work is foreseen in this programme,
        pending the outcome of the work on the reusability of
        lexical and terminological resouroes);
        should   the experimentation     with relayed     transfer be
        successful, the translation from eaoh language into all
        other languages, otherwise the translation between a
        representative number of language pairs;
 ---pagebreak---                                 - 9 -
          experience of cooperation models aiming at the developrent
          of a practical multilingual translation system, and cf a
          number of intermediate sub-, by- and spin-off products;
IV. ORGANIZATION AND ACTORS
10. EUROTRA involves the active participation of all twelve Merber
    states. This participation is implemented through contracts of
    association with the Member States which determine also the ratio
    of Community and national contributions to the programme.
11. In general the responsibility of each national research teaa is
    the analysis and synthesis of its own national language and the
    transfer from the other languages into its own language. The work
    on the Dutch language is done jointly by the Netherlands and
    Belgium and on the French language by France and Belgium. Ireland
    is responsible for the coordination of the terminological wcrk,
    while Luxembourg provides general infrastructural support for
    documentation and testing and distribution of the software and
    Belgium is also responsible for eleotronio lexicographic work of
    general interest.
12. All national teams participate aotively in basic and applied
    lingulstio research of general interest. This work is coordinated
    by the project team in the Commission with the support of a
    number of researchers from the national teams whose work is
    financed 100 % from Community funds.
13. The design of the general system framework and of the rule
     formalism and the initial prototype implementation of the
     software were carried out under a similar schema as the general
     lingulstio research. In the course of the third phase, software
     development and maintenance have progressively concentrated in
     the Commission project team with the assistance of experts from
     the European software industry. This work is also fully financed
     from Community funds.
 ---pagebreak---                                - 10 -
14. In the course of the third phase, the virtually closed schema of
    the contracts of association has been opened to additional
    research institutes and enterprises, who have been entrusted with
    a number of system analysis, feasibility and design studies.
15. In the light of the experience gained with the organizational
    structure of EUROTRA, the following schema is proposed for this
    programme :
    (a)  The design and specifications of the system development and
         testing environment are expected to be ready for the start
         of this programme. It is estimated that some 20 % of t:
         overall budget is necessary for its implementation, whi
         should be fully financed from Community funds.
    (b)  The language-specific R#D work described under point 8
         letter b should continue and be co-finanoed by the
         Community   and the Member     States based on the same
         arrangements as the current contracts of association. It is
         proposed that about 40 % of the Community funds should be
         destined for this purpose.
    (c)  The actions of a more exploratory nature, especially those
         desoribed under point 8, letters o, d, e and f should
         carried out as cooperative ventures between industi.
         research Institutes and existing EUROTRA teams and be co-
         financed on a 50-50 basis by the Community and the
         participants. The projeots will be seleoted through calls
         for proposals/tenders. 30 % of the overall budget should be
         used for this purpose.
    (d)  The Commission is aware of the soaroity of expertise and
         talent in the field of maohine translation and computational
         linguistics. It is therefore proposed to reserve 10 % of the
         Community budget to award grants to graduate students to
         enable them to participate in the work of the EUROTRA teams
         or of the other participants in the programme.
    (e)  The Commission will maintain the programme management and
         coordination function. It is estimated that 8 additional
         temporary staff are required for the implementation of this
         specifio programme.
 ---pagebreak---                                    - 11 -
        (f) The Commission proposes that in the execution of this
             Programme it should be assisted by an Advisory Committee,
             which should among others, take over the role of the present
             CGC-12.
   V.   7INANCTAL ESTIMATIONS
   16.  The overall budget of 10 million ECU should be subdivided as
        follows (in 1,000 ECU) :
                                 EC           National       TOTAL
                            Contributions   Contributions
. SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AND
  TESTING ENVIRONMENT          2.000                          2.000
. NATIONAL RESEARCH TEAMS                                     8.000
  - Community contribution     4.000
  - National contribution                      4.000
. COOPERATIVE PROJECTS                                        6.000
  - EC contribution            3.000
  - participants                               3.000
. TRAINING                     1.000                          1.000
. TOTAL                       10.000           7.000         17.000
 ---pagebreak---                                 - 12 -
17.  The Commission requests the Council to adopt the proposal
     for a decision concerning a speoifio programme for
     development of an operational EUROTRA system
     which is annexed to this communication.
VII. âXuLEXEû.
I.   Proposal for a Council Decision adopting a specifio programme
     for the preparation of the development of an operational EUflOT^
     system .
II.  Opinion of CGC-12 of 26 June 1989.
III. Financial Statement.
 ---pagebreak---                                  - 13 -               ANNEX I
                             Proposal for a
                            COUNCIL DECISION
      adopting a specific programme concerning the preparation
         of the development of an operational EUROTRA system
TEE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES.
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Article 130q, (2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission^1),
In cooperation with the European Parliament(2),
Having     regard   to     the   opinion  of the Economic  and Social
Committee^3),
Whereas Article 130k of the Treaty provides that the Framework
Programme is to be implemented through specific programmes
developed within each activity;
Whereas by Decision 87/516/Euratom, EEC^4) the Council adopted a
Framework programme of Community research and technological
development (1987 to 1991) providing inter alia for activities on
linguistic problems (action line 8.4;, Including the preparation of
the development of an operational machine translation system;
Whereas by Decision 82/752/EEC^5), the Council            adopted a
Community research and development programme for           a machine
translation system of advanced design (EUROTRA);
Whereas Decision 86/591/EEC(6) amended Decision        82/752/EEC  on
account of the accession of Spain and Portugal;
Whereas by Decision 88/445/EEC^7), the Council approved           the
transition of the EUROTRA programme to its third phase;
Whereas by Decision 89/410/EEC(8), the Council adopted a specific
programme for the completion of EUROTRA;
Whereas Decision 82/752/EEC provided that on oompletion of the
EUROTRA programme an operational system prototype should be
available in a limited field and for limited categories of text;
(1)  OJ NO
(2)  OJ NO
(3)  OJ NO
(4)  OJ NO  L 302, 24.10. 1987, P- 1.
(5)  OJ NO  L 317, 13.11..1982, P- 19.
(6)  OJ NO  L 341, 04.12. 1986, P. 39.
(7)  OJ NO  L 222, 12.08. 1988, P- 1.
(8)  OJ NO  L 200  13.07. 1989, P- 15.
 ---pagebreak---                                - 14 -
Whereas Decision 82/752/EEC included in the programme of work for
the third phase of the EUROTRA programme the preparation of a
proposal for the further development of the system;
Whereas the objectives of the EUROTRA programme are expected to be
achieved by 30 June 1990;
Whereas the results of the programme are expected to constitute a
solid basis for the preparation of the development of an
operational multilingual machine translation system for the nine
official Community languages;
Whereas the programme is expected to make an important contribution
to the economic, social and cultural cohesion of the Community, and
to reconcile the benefits of its linguistic plurality with the
attainment of the internal market;
Whereas the programme constitutes the first step towards the
development of a practical machine translation system;
Whereas additional efforts will have to be made by the Community,
the Member States and European Industry in order to reach this
objective;
Whereas the Scientific and Technical Research Committee (CREST) has
been consulted;
Whereas the Management and Coordination Advisory Committe
"Linguistic Problems" (CGC-12) has delivered a favorable opinion;
Whereas an estimate of the amount of the financial contribution of
the Community deemed necessary for the exeoution of this programme
should be made;
Whereas this amount is included in the financial forecast annexed
to the interinstitutional agreement of 29 June 1988(9);
Whereas the appropriations effectively available will be determined
by the budgetary prooedure aooording to the provisions of the
aforementioned interinstitutional agreement,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Artiole 1
A specifio researoh and technological development programme
concerning the preparation of the development of an operational
EUROTRA system as defined in the Annex is hereby adopted for a
period of two years from 1 July 1990.
(9) OJ NO L 185, 15.7.1988, p. 33.
 ---pagebreak---                                 - 15 -
Article 2
 1.   The amount of Community funds deemed necessary for the
      execution of the programme adopted by this Decision is
      ECU 10 million, including expenditure on 5 temporary staff.
2.   The appropriations to be made available eaoh year shall be
     determined in the budget.
Article 5
Detailed rules for the implementation of the programme and the
rate of the Community's financial participation are set out in the
Annex.
Article *
The Commission shall conduct an evaluation of the results achieved
at the beginning of 1992 and shall transmit a report on this
subject to the Council and the European Parliament. This report
shall be established having regard to the objectives set out in
Annex and in accordance with Article 2, (2) of Decision
87/516/Euratom, EEC.
Article g
1.   The Commission shall be responsible for the execution of the
     programme.
2.   The contracts concluded by the Commission shall regulate the
     rights and obligations of eaoh party including the methods of
     disseminating, protecting and exploiting the research results.
Article 6
1.   The Commission shall be assisted by a committee of an advisory
     nature oomposed of the representatives of the Member States
     and chaired by the representative of the Commission.
2.   The representative of the Commission shall submit to the
     committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The committee
     shall deliver its opinion on the draft, within a time limit
     whioh the ohairman may lay down aocording to the urgenoy of
     the matter, if necessary by taking a vote.
3.   The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in addition,
     each Member State shall have the right to ask to have its
     position recorded in the minutes.
4.   The Commission shall take the utmost account of the opinion
     delivered by the committee. It shall Inform the committee of
     the manner in which its opinion has been taken into account.
 ---pagebreak---                                - 16 -
Article 7
In accordance with Article 13On of the Treaty, the Commission is
hereby authorised to negotiate agreements with international
organisations,    third   countries   participating   in   European
cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technological Research
(COST) and European countries having conoluded framework agreements
for scientific and technical cooperation with the Community, with a
view to associating them wholly or partly with the programme.
Where framework agreements for scientific and teohnioal cooperation
between European countries and the European Communities have been
concluded, organisations and entreprises established in those
countries may participate in a project undertaken within this
programme.
Article 8
This Deoision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels,                                   For the Counoil
                                                    The President
 ---pagebreak---                                       - 17 -
                                  A N N £_X
1.  Objectives
    This programme c o n s t i t u t e s      the     first    step    towards    the
    development of an operational machine t r a n s l a t i o n system of
    advanced design,       capable        of      dealing with a l l        official
    Community languages. The s p e c i f i c o b j e c t i v e s of the programme
    are :
(a) Creation    Ql   the    conditions           for    the    transition     to   an
    operational system
          implementation of a development, testing and research
          environment capable of supporting large-scale systems;
          extension of the linguistic coverage and large-scale
          testing of the analysis and synthesis modules for all
          languages covered by EUROTRA;
          the definition        of common             methods    for large-scale
          development      for         machine translation             and      other
          applications involving natural language;
          experimentation and evaluation of relayed transfer, using
          an interface structure as pivot;
          research, prototype implementation and evaluation of new
          linguistic models aimed at the improvement of the
          interlinguality of the interface structure and control of
          overgeneration;
          research, prototypical implementation and evaluation of
          methods for the use of subjeot-field and text-type
          specific     knowledge           for        translation       and     other
          applications.
(b) Advancement of work on lexicography and terminology
          definition    of     common methods              and    tools    for    the
          integration    of     existing          lexical    and    terminological
          collections;
        ' participation      in      the       definition       of    international
          standards for t e x t u a l , l e x i c a l and terminological data.
 ---pagebreak---                                   - 16 -
(c) Training and coopérative p r o j e c t s
         training of    researohers     and engineers        through a grant
         scheme;
         setting-up, experimentation and evaluation of cooperation
         schemes between research i n s t i t u t e s and industry.
2.  Priority nfitl <™ llnftfl *nrt «nljmfclfln   ATMI  tff^TllftftlflOJltfiPt
    2.1. System development, testing and research environment
    On the basis of the critical review of the prototype
    implementations and the specifications produced by the end of
    June 1990 the implementation of a system development, testing
    and research environment will be commissioned to the European
    software industry on a turn-key basis.
    This environment should have the following characteristics :
         a powerful and user-friendly formalism for desoribing
         linguistic facts (to encode dictionaries and grammars);
         a special-purpose data management system for the creation
         and maintenance of large-scale dictionaries and grammarr
         with special user services for the addition, inspeoti
         and modification of the linguistio data;
         an efficient rule interpreter capable of dealing witix
         large dictionaries, grammars and texts;
         a set of testing tools with                 special attention        to
         interactive      run-time      testing       and     oorreotion      of
         dictionaries and grammars.
    The system development environment will pay special attention
    to modularity to ensure the re-usability of the linguistic
    resources created through the possibility of oombining the
    various modules in different ways to fulfil speoial tasks and
    of interfacing them with external applications.
    2.2. Language-gpeoiflo Research and Development work
         2.2.1. Review       and      extension        of     thS     existing
                 implementations
         For each of the nine languages oovered, the analysis and
         synthesis modules produced by the EUROTRA programme will
         be thoroughly reviewed to ensure their generality and
         adjusted to the features of the revised formalism.
         On the basis of these revised implementations the
         grammatical coverage will be gradually extended to
         include additional text and discourse types. No large-
         scale lexical and terminological development work is
         planned for this phase pending the outcome of the
         research     on     the     re-usability        of     lexical     and
         terminological resources (see 2.3 below).
 ---pagebreak---                              - 10 -
      2.2.2. Relayed transfer
     The research and experimentation are to determine the
     feasibility of this approach and the optimal strategy for
     its Implementation.
2.3. Llnguistio research of general Interest
This action line is intended to gradually improve the
linguistlo performance of the system and the quality of
translation. It will be organized along three main directions
     general     linguistic      research         to          increase    the
     interlinguality of the interface structure and to reduce
     overgeneration;
     use of subject-field specific knowledge (terminologies,
     classification schemes, paradigmatic relations, domain
     models, knowledge bases etc.);
     use of text and discourse type-specifio constraints to
     reduce overgeneration.
It can be predicted that some progress will be made in the
course of this programme, but additional efforts must be
foreseen for the future.
2.4. Research i n t o advanced system a r c h i t e c t u r e s
To create a potential for innovation and keep pace with the
fast advancement of hardware and software technologies a
continuous research into new formalisms, software and hardware
architectures is to be foreseen, which will lead in selected
cases to experimentation and prototype Implementations (e.g.
parallel system architectures).
2.5. Re-usability of lexical and temlnologloal resources
The details of this aotion line will be defined through
project definition studies to be carried out in 1989 and 1990.
It is expected to have two main components :
     development of methods and tools for the conversion of
     the formalized parts of existing dictionaries which oover
     mostly orthographic       phonological, morphological and
     syntactlo information;
     research into the utilization of non-formalized portions
     of    dictionaries      which    ooncern             mostly      subject
     classification, discourse types, definitions and examples
     or citations. This is an advanced research topic whose
     outcome cannot be predicted now.
 ---pagebreak---                                  - 20 -
   2.6. Standards for textual, lexical and terminologie! data
   This activity i s c l o s e l y related to the re-usability of
   linguistio resources in the future. The Commission will
   support and stimulate international a c t i v i t i e s in this field
   in close oooperation with professional associations and
   national and international standards organizations.
   2.7. education and training
   A number of research grants w i l l be awarded to post-graduate
   students to participate in the research and development work
   In the projects outlined hereabove.
   2.8. Evaluation
   At the end of the programme the results will be evaluated by
   independent experts.
5. Modalities of Execution
   The various action lines pursue different objectives which
   demand different forms of organizational, contractual and
   financial schemes.
   3.1. Services Contracts
   The implementation of the system development, testing and
   research environment (action line 2.1) which will provide all
   participating parties with a common set of tools, will be
   entrusted to industrial contractors on the basis of calls for
   tenders. It will be financed fully from the Community budget.
   3.2. National research teams
   The work concerning the different languages (aotion line 2.2)
   will be oarrled out by national research teams in the member
   States, and oo-financed by the Community and the member
   States.
   3.3. Shared cost projects
   The linguistio researoh of general Interest (aotion line 2.3),
   research and development into advanced system architectures
   (aotion   line   2.4)    and      re-usability    of     lexical and
   terminological resources (action line 2.5 ) will be carried
   out as cooperative ventures between industries, research
   centres and EUROTRA        teams. The      specif io projects and
   contraotors will be selected on a call for tenders/proposals
   basis. The Community contribution to these projects will be in
   general 50%.
 ---pagebreak---                               - 21 -
    3.4. Grants
    Grants will be awarded to qualified post-graduate students.
    3.5. Subsidies
    The Commission     will award     subsidies  to professional
    associations and standards organisations for action line 2.6.
4.  Indicative break-down of the expenses
    The indicative break-down of the amount of 10 million ECU
    deemed necessary for the- execution of the programme is as
    follows (in 1000 ECU) :
(a) System development environment                          2,000
(b) EC contribution to the national research teams          4,000
(c) Shared-cost research projects                           3,000
(d) Training, subsidies, evaluation                         1,000
             Total                                         10,000
 ---pagebreak---                                   - 22 -
                                                              AHHEL2
    OPINION OP THE MANAGEMENT AND COORDINATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE
                      LINGUISTIC PROBLEMS (CGC-12)
                             of 26 JUNE 1989
 Subjeot :    Draft proposal for a speoific       programme for the
              preparation   of   the industrial   development   of a
              practical EUROTRA system
At its meeting of 26 June 1989 the Committee has examined the
revised draft of the Communication to Council and the proposal for
a Council Decision annexed to it concerning a specific programme
for the preparation of the development of a practical EUROTRA
system (doc CGC-12/193/89 rev.l).
The Committee notes that the programme proposed covers the aotlons
foreseen under line 8.4 of the Framework Programme 1987-1991 which
includes with regard to linguistio problems in addition to the
completion of the EUROTRA programme decided by Council on 20 June
 1989 :
      support to the industrial development of a machine translation
      system;
      development of methods and tools for the reusability of
      lexical resources in computerized applications and;
      creation of standards for lexical and terminological data.
The Committee notes that for this speciflo programme 10 million ECU
are earmarked, of which 5 will become available only on 1992 as the
contribution to the overhang of the Framework Programme, and that
therefore the objectives of this programme must be necessarily
limited.
The Committee endorses the objectives and priorities set out in the
proposal and considers them realistio with respect to the
resources and time scales of this programme. It stresses the
Importance of a Community policy in the domain of lexicography.
The Committee welcomes the proposed mode of execution of the
programme by which in addition to R&D carried out by national
research teams under contraots of association, cooperative projeots
are foreseen which are to stimulate the involvement of industry
through oooperatlon with universities. It considers also that the
use of 10% of the resources earmarked for training through grants
and exchange of researchers is an effective measure to improve the
situation, with regard to the scarcity of qualified researchers and
engineers in this subjeot field.
The Committee reiterates the urgent need for a global Community
polioy and a strateglo R&D programme in the field of linguistio
technologies, which it expressed in its opinion of 27 February
1989, and expects that its recommendations will be taken into
account in the Commission's proposal for the revision of the
Framework Programme.
 ---pagebreak---                                - 23 -
                                                     AHMBE III
    SPECIFIC PROGRAMME FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT
           OF AN   OPERATIONAL     E U R 0 T R A  SYSTEM
                        FINANCIAL STATEMENT
1.  Budget item concerned : Item B7389 (EUROTRA)
2.  Legal basis
    Article 130 Q, (2) of the EEC Treaty
    Council Decision 87/516/Euratom, CEE of 28 September     1987^)
         Council Decision     /    /CEE of                       (2)
3.  Description, aims and justification
    3.1. Description
           The objective of the programme is to support the
           development of a machine translation system by turning
           the achievements of the current EUROTRA programme,
           namely, an operational system prototype in a limited
           field and for limited categories of text, into the
           basis for further development .
           The programme spans nine aotlon lines, from the
           implementation of a system development, testing and
           research environment, through activities leading to
           the   reusability    of    lexical   and   terminological
           resources, to a final evaluation by independent
           experts. The various lines will have different
           contraotual and financial schemes.
    3.2 Alios
           On oompletion of the programme, the following results
           are expected :
           - a set of software tools and a tested methodology for
             large scale system development;
           - a set of tools and methods for building large-scale
             dictionaries from existing lexical resources;
           - a set of tools and methods for the incorporation of
             terminological oolleotions;
           - well    tested   Implementations    of   analysis   and
             synthesis modules in all nine Community languages
             with broad grammatical ooverage and a representative
             lexical ooverage;
(1) OJ NV L 302 Of 24.10.1987, p
(2) OJ N*. L             Of
 ---pagebreak---                                 - 24 -
             - the implementation    of relayed    transfer if the
               corresponding experimentation is successful;
             - a strategy for the industrial development of a
               practical multilingual translation system and of a
               number of related products;
             - a strategy for the development of a generalized
               linguistio technology reusable in a large variety of
               applications.
     3.3. Justification
             The main objeotive of the programme is to oreate,
             starting from the BUROTRA prototype, the appropriate
             conditions for a large-scale industrial development.
             This includes the development of methods and tools for
             the reusability of lexical resources in computer
            applications as well as the creation of standards for
             lexical and terminological data.
4.   Financial implications.
     The overall costs of the duration of the programme, 1.7.1990 -
     30.6.1992, break down as follows ('000 ECU) :
(a) System development and testing environment                 2 000
(b) Community contribution to the national research
     teams                                                     4 000
(c)  Cooperative projects                                      3 000
(d)  Training, subsidies, evaluation                           1 000
                  Total                                       10 000
To this must be added 7 million ECU of national contributions
(4 million to the national researoh teams and 3 million ECU of
contributions from participants to cooperative projeots) bringing
the total oost of the programme to 17 million ECU.
The planned     finanolng  of  the  programme,  1990-1992,   is   the
following :
Item B7S89
Budgeted researoh appropriations :
Xear        commitments                              Payments
1990        2 000*                                     100
1991        3 000                                    2 800
1992        5 000* '                                 5 000
1993                                                 2 100
*    earmarked for the specific programme in the 1990 preliminary
     draft budget
*•   contribution to the overhang of the Framework Programme, 1987-
     1991
 ---pagebreak---                                - 25 -
Budgeted operating appropriations :
The preliminary draft budget for 1990 foresees under item B7389
five temporary posts (2A + IB + 2C) for this speoifio programme.
The administrative expenditure related to these posts has been
included in the appropriations requested for chapter A29 of the
1990 preliminary draft budget.
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                                                      DOCUMENT                  « .
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