CELEX: 51996PC0456
Language: en
Date: 1996-10-02
Title: Amended proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the adoption of a multiannual programme to promote the linguistic diversity of the Community in the information society

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                               Brussels, 02.10.1996
                                               COM(96) 456 final
                                               95/0263 (CNS)
                          Amended proposal for a
                           COUNCIL DECISION
                     on the adoption of a multiannual
programme to promote the linguistic diversity of the Community in the information
                                     society
         (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2)
                             of the EC-Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                             EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
The Commission hereby presents a modified proposal for a Council decision amending
COM(95)486 - The Multilingual Information Society (MLIS)-
The modified proposal incorporates those amendments adopted by the European
Parliament during its' plenary session on 21.6.96, which were accepted by the
Commission.
1. Introduction
a) Background
The Commission adopted its' proposal on 8.11.95, and it was formally transmitted to the
EP, the Council, the ESC and the COR on 23.11.1995.
The Economic and Social Committee adopted a favourable opinion on 30.5.19961, the
Committee of the Regions adopted a favourable opinion on 13.6.19962.
The European Parliament adopted a favourable opinion on 21.6.19963 and proposed 56
amendments to the Commission's proposal4
b) Purpose of the Commission proposal
The purpose of the proposal is the adoption of a Council decision for a 3-year programme
(The Multilingual Information Society - MLIS) to promote the linguistic diversity of the
Community in the Information Society
2. EP amendments accepted bv the Commission
Of the 56 amendments adopted by the EP, 19 are accepted in full, 15 are accepted
partially or in principle, making a total of 34.
The Commission accepted those amendments that
    -    are coherent with views elaborated in the Commission's Communication (MLIS)
    -    are coherent with Community policies, improve cohesion, synergy, transparency,
         management
     -   improve clarity and precision
The short evaluation of the various amendments is presented in the annex to this
memorandum
^ E S 692/96
2
 CDR 6/96 fin.
3
  PE 250.124
4
  PE 250.124
 ---pagebreak--- 3. Amendments not accepted bv the Commission
Of the 56 amendments, 22 could not be accepted. The main reasons for non-acceptance
are :
               proposed change of the legal base (and the various amendments associated
               with it)
               duplication or overlap of arguments
               non-compliance with subsidiarity as interpreted by the Commission for this
               programme
               non-compliance with budget availability
The short evaluation of the various amendments is presented in the annex to this
memorandum.
4T Conclusion,
In accordance with Art. 189a of the EU Treaty, the Commission amends its' initial
proposal, incorporating the accepted and partially accepted amendments.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                                               Annex
Position of the Commission on the amendments presented bv the European Parliament
Amendment 1:      To address proposal to the EP and the Council (in view of the proposed
                  change of the legal base implying co-decision; see amendment 2)
Commission:       Not accepted as the change of the legal base is not accepted
Amendment 2:      Change the legal base to include Art 128 (1, 2), in addition to proposed Art
                  130(3) by the Commission
Commission:       Not accepted. The principal objective is to encourage industrial actions to
                  provide multilingual services. This suffices to chose one legal base (130).
                  There are cultural, social aspects or spin-offs, but that should not lead to a
                  double legal base.
Amendment 3:      Reference is made to an EP resolution on minority languages
Commission:       Accepted as a recital instead of a citation
Amendment 4:      Reference to be made to an EP resolution on languages and Catalan
Commission:       Not accepted; the Decision text becomes unnecessarily long and mentioning
                  one specific language does not reflect the intention to treat all languages on an
                  equal footing.
Amendment 5:      Reference to be made to other EP resolutions regarding the IGC
Commission:       Not accepted, citations or recitals should have a direct link with the MLIS
                  proposal
Amendment 6:      Citation to take into account the opinion of the CoR
Commission:       Accepted because the CoR makes a valuable contribution and the regions
                   often have special interests for languages spoken there.
 Amendment 7.     Recital to make reference to the promotion of linguistic diversity as a means to
                   conserve the cultural linguistic heritage with reference to Art 128.
 Commission:       This amendment is conceptually linked to the proposed change of the legal
                   base. The Commission proposes an alternative making reference to the
                   essential content of Art 128(4).
 Amendment 8:      Recital comparing the importance of cultural, social and economic aspects
 Commission:       Not accepted, the amendment does not really add value to all other texts
                   already referring to cultural aspects.
 Amendment 9:      Recital suggesting that there should be no discrimination between people on
                   the basis of language and other personal circumstances.
 Commission:       Accepted, reflects arguments in the MLIS Communication.
 Amendment 10:     Recital; Europeans should have access in their vernacular language.
 Commission:       Accepted goal of MLIS
 Amendment 11 : Recital; languages not used in the Information Society will degrade
 Commission:        Accepted, one of the Commission messages since long.
                                                                                               4-
 ---pagebreak--- Amendment 12: Recital, suggesting the IS will help the cultural and linguistic heritage to florish
Commission:   Not accepted, not because of disagreement but because the same arguments
              tend to be repeated too often, and this does not improve the transparency of
              the decision. Overlap with the Commission's 5th recital
Amendment 13: Recital, to add a reference to G7 meetings about the Information Society.
Commission:   Accepted, but with a change of the order of the phrases
Amendment 14: Recital ta replace the word "industry" by "language industry"
Commission:   The proposed narrowing does not conform to the intention to address the
              industry at large ; but "language industry" can be added in the recital as
              proposed by the Commission
Amendment 15: Recital meant not too refer explicitly to "industry"
Commission:   Partially accepted by adding the phrase "all concerned players" to "industry"
Amendment 16: Amendment meant to delete a Commission recital (linked to amendment 13)
Commission:   Not accepted for purely technical reasons
Amendment 17: Amendment to delete the Commission's 5th recital (linked to amendment 12)
Commission:   Not accepted, because amendment 12 is not accepted.
Amendment 18: Recital referring explicitly to non-official languages
Commission:   Not accepted, because languages should not be classified but rather treated as
              equal, at least in MLIS
Amendment 19: Recital; in fact these are 2 amendments to one recital, referring to (1) the
              responsabilities of the EU for the protection of linguistic heritage and (2)
              improving cohesion in the EU
Commission:   Responsabilities of the EU in this matter are not so explicitly stated in the
              Treaty and are in any case subsidiary responsabilities. Improving cohesion is
              accepted
Amendment 20: Recital referring to minority languages
Commission:    Sympathy for the amendment, but the MLIS is not capable to ensure survival
              of minority languages.
Amendment 21: Recital referring to the duty of the Community to set up an infrastructure for
              language resources
Commission:   Partially accepted, but the wording "duty" is too strong
Amendment 22: Recital, referring to cultural heritage
Commission:   No fundamental objection to the amendment, but it is really duplicating and
               overlaping other recitals
Amendment 23: Recital, referring to the important role of SMEs
Commission:    Agrees, accepted
Amendment 24:  Recital referring to cooperation with other programmes, IDA in particular
Commission:    Accepted, this conforms to Commission intentions.
Amendment 25:  Recital suggesting some Member States to use structural funds to finance
               national (language) developments
Commission:    Welcomes the suggestion, which really adds value                        _
 ---pagebreak--- Amendment 26:  Recital suggesting "structured" cooperation instead of mere cooperation
Commission:    Agrees, accepted
Amendment 27:  Recital, linking language learning actions to MLIS
Commission:    Accepts the importance and complementarity of language learning, but
               SOCRATES delà with language learning in schools. A recital in fact referring
               to SOCRATES should not appear in MLIS.
Amendment 28:  Recital suggesting tofinancecooperation with third countriesfromthe
               Community (MLIS ?) budget
Commission:    Not accepted; only small sums are available too facilitate cooperation, so no
               suggestions shall be made that substantial sums are available
Amendment 29:  Recital, suggesting tofinancedevelopments for minority languages
Commission:    Not accepted, this is a matter for Member States and moreover, there is no
               budget for this
Amendment 30:  Recital introducing interim programme evaluation
Commission:    Sympathises with the idea, but it must be practical. Evaluation in a too early
               stage makes no sense, so the modification is for an evaluation report 2 years
               after the start
Amendment 31 : Article 1, amendment reflects the (proposed) change of the legal base.
Commission:    Not accepted as amendment 2 is not accepted
Amendment 32:  Article 2, a small addition to letter c) of the article, by referring to
               bothCommunity and Member States.
Commission:    Accepted
Amendment 33:  Article 3, introducing the budgetary reference amount for the programme (20
               MECU); and minor changes
Commission:    Some sympathy, but cannot be accepted by the Commission because reference
               amounts should not be mentioned and the additional resources can at present
               not be found in the budget; minor change is an improvement.
Amendment 34:  Article 3 : the amendment refers tofinancialsupport for third countries and
               international organisations.
Commission:    Cannot be accepted, see also amendment 20.
Amendment 35:  Article 4, stating the Commission's responsability for coordination with other
                Community programmes
Commission:     Obvious, but useful to be mentioned explicitly
Amendment 36:   Article 4, the amendment limits the number of representatives per Member
                State in the Programme Committee
Commission:     Has sympathy with the idea to increase costftenefit, but the restriction is too
                rigid and not in agreement with the Comitology ruling
Amendment 37:   Article 5, sets the limit above which project proposals need voting by the
                programme Committee, to 1 MECU (EU contribution)
Commission:     Agrees, but wonders whether other Institutions will agree.
Amendment 38:   Article 6, introducing some concepts concerning programme evaluation
Commission:     Agrees with principles with some modification (see amendment 30)
                                                                                          6
 ---pagebreak--- Amendment 39: Annex I, 1, introducing the important role of SMEs
Commission:   Agrees
Amendment 40: Annex I, 1, suggesting European actors should operate on the global market
Commission:   Agrees, but suggests a somewhat simplified phrase
Amendment 41: Annex 1,1 ; to promote aspects of standardisation for language resources
Commission:   Fully agrees
Amendment 42: Annex 1,1 ; proposes ELRA to report regularly to the Commission
Commission:   Not accepted, ELRA does not depend on the Commission and thus cannot be
              obliged by the Commission; moreover, this organisation will not be
              mentionned in thefinaltext.
Amendment 43: Annex 1,1 ; proposal to investigate support for databases with limited
              economic potential
Commission:   Agrees to investigate (not necessarily to support eventually)
Amendment 44: Annex 1,1, proposal that standards implemented should be officially
              recognised in the Member States
Commission:   Agrees that standards should have some recognised status, but this issue is far
              too complex to refer to it in the way Parliament suggests.
Amendment 45: Linguistic amendment, droppedfromthe list of amendments
Amendment 46: Annex I, 2, proposal tofinancelesser-used language projects in bi-lingual
              areas
Commission:   Does not want to commit tofinancelanguage-specific projects; the
              situation sketched is far too specific
Amendment 47: Annex I, 2, introduces translation schools as actors
Commission:   Agrees, important, liaison with LEONARDO
Amendment 48: Linguistic amendment, dropped out of the list of amendments
Amendment 49: Annex I, 3, links the interoperability of information networks of the
              Community Institutions with MLIS.
Commission:   Has sympathy for the idea, but cannot accept that the MLIS is used as an
              instrument to achieve that goal
Amendment 50: Annex I, 3, refers to pilot actions to be centred on lesser-used languages
Commission:   Does not agree to give the priority to certain languages, even if there is
              sympathy for the concern behind the proposal
Amendment 51:  Annex I, 3, links support for lesser-used languages to such support for the
               new official Community languages
Commission:    The reason for support for the new official languages in the context of the
               multilingual systems of the Community Institutions is obvious. To link this
               with lesser-used languages is not. Again,, the Commission has sympathy with
               the idea behind and may discuss with Member States concerned how this
               problem can be tackled.
                                                                                         >
 ---pagebreak--- Amendment 52;  Annex I, 3 ; elaboration of synergies proposed between MLIS and other
               Community initiatives
Commission:    Agrees
Amendment 53:  Annex 11(2); small mainly textual changes ; elimination of the possibility to
               finance projects up to 100% is a very limited number of cases.
Commission:    Text changes accepted ; not accepted is the reference to projectsfinancedup
               to 100%
Amendment 54:  Annex 11(5) ; proposal to emphasise promoting the use of advanced tools
Commission:    Accepted, improvement
Amendment 55:  Annex 11(6) ; proposal to be more precise in referring to the Financial
               Regulation.
Commission:    Welcomes precision
Amendment 56 : with the views of national authorities.
               Annex 11(7) ; insists that support for (national) language observatories is in
               accordance
Commission:    Fully agrees, welcomes precision
Amendment 57:  Dropped, replaced by amendment 59
Amendment 58:   Annex 11(2) introduces a new partitioning of the budget envelope (20 MECU)
                by action line and makes 5 MECU out of the 20 MECU to depend on the
                Financial Perspectives (supposedly in Florence).
Commission:     Cannot acceptfinancialenvelopes in this Decision (no co-decision). The
                Commission refers to it's budget allocation as contained in the Financial
                Statement that is not part of the Decision however.
 Amendment 59:  Annex H, 7, proposes that all MLIS supported actions refer in their published
                reports to this support and bear the EU flag.
 Commission:    Agrees with the principle, but considers the flag a bit overdone.
                                                                                           8
 ---pagebreak---      Amended proposal for a Council Decision on the adoption of a multiannual
 programme to promote the linguistic diversity of the Community in the information
                                                society
Original version                                   Modified version
The Council of the European Union,                 The Council of the European Union,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing           Having regard to the Treaty establishing
the European Community, and in                     the European Community, and in
particular Article 130(3) thereof,                 particular Article 130(3) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the             Having regard to the proposal from the
Commission,                                        Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the                Having regard to the opinion of the
European Parliament *,                             European Parliament ^ ,
Having regard to the opinion of the                Having regard to the opinion of the
Economic and Social Committee^ ,                   Economic and Social Committee^ ,
                                                   Having regard to the opinion of the
                                                   Committee of the Regions3
Whereas the advent of the information              Whereas the advent of the information
society provides industry with new                 society provides industry and in particular
prospects for communication and trade on           the language industry with new prospects
European and world markets which are               for communication and trade on European
marked by a rich linguistic and cultural           and world markets which are marked by a
diversity;                                         rich linguistic and cultural diversity;
Whereas industry must work out specific            Whereas industry and all other players
and adequate solutions to overcome the             concerned must work out specific and
linguistic barriers if it is benefit fully from    adequate solutions to overcome the
the advantages of the internal market and          linguistic barriers if they are to benefit
remain competitive on world markets;               fully from the advantages of the internal
                                                   market and remain competitive on world
                                                   markets.
  OJNr..                                              OJ Nr..
  OJNr..                                              OJ Nr.
                                                    3
                                                      O.J. Nr
                                                                                               °l
 ---pagebreak---                                              Whereas the private sector in this field
                                             consists mainly of SMEs, which face
                                             considerable difficulties in addressing
                                             different language markets and must thus
                                             be supported, especially when considering
                                             their role as a source of employment.
Whereas it is necessary to encourage the     Whereas it is necessary to encourage the
use of technologies, tools and methods       use of technologies, tools and methods
which reduce the cost of transferring        which reduce the cost of transferring
information between languages, while also information between languages, while also
assuring the quality of translations,        assuring the quality of translations,
particularly in the case of literary         particularly in the case of literary
translation, which requires a specific       translation, which requires a specific
creative effort;                             creative effort;
Whereas the European Council in Corfu        Whereas the European Council meeting in
on 24 and 25 June 1994 stressed the          Corfu on 24 and 25 June 1994, stressed
importance of the cultural and linguistic    the importance of the cultural and
aspects of the information society, and      linguistic aspects of the information
whereas the European Council in Cannes       society, and whereas the European
on 26 and 27 June 1995, restated the         Council meeting in Cannes on 26 and 27
importance to the European Union of its      June 1995, restated the importance to the
linguistic diversity;                        Community of its linguistic diversity;
                                             whereas the G7 Conference of Ministers
                                             meeting in Brussels on 25 and 26
                                             February 1995, drew attention to the
                                             importance of linguistic and cultural
                                             diversity in the global information society;
Whereas the emergence of the information     Whereas the emergence of the information
society could afford the citizens of Europe  society could afford citizens greater
greater access to information and offer an   access to information and offer an
outstanding opportunity to exploit the       outstanding opportunity to exploit the
cultural and linguistic wealth and diversity cultural and linguistic wealth and diversity
of the Community;                            of the Community;
                                                                                          10
 ---pagebreak--- Whereas language policies are a matter for Whereas language policies are a matter for
the Member States, taking account of       the Member States, taking account of
Community law; whereas, however,           Community law; whereas, however,
promoting the development of modern        promoting the development of modern
language processing tools and their use is language processing tools and their use is
a field of activity in which Community     a field of activity in which Community
action is justified in order to achieve    action is justified in order to achieve
substantial economies of scale by          substantial economies of scale by
stimulating suitable cooperation between   stimulating suitable cooperation between
those involved in the various language     those involved in the various language
areas; whereas the measures to be taken at areas insofar as this may create an added
Community level must be commensurate       value for the Community or contribute to
with the objectives to be attained and     the social and economic cohesion of the
concern only thosefieldswhich are likely   Union; whereas the measures to be taken
to produce an added value for Europe;      at Community level must be
                                           commensurate with the objectives to be
                                           attained and concern only those fields
                                           which are likely to produce an added
                                           value for the Community;
                                           Whereas the Member States could
                                           envisage using the structural funds within
                                           the present regulatory framework to
                                           protect and develop their linguistic
                                           heritage within the Information Society.
                                           Whereas the European Parliament
                                           adopted the resolution4 on measures in
                                           favour of minority languages and cultures
                                            ; whereas the Council of Europe adopted
                                           the European Charter of regional or
                                           minority languages signed on 5 November
                                            1992.
                                           Whereas the Community should take into
                                           account the cultural and linguistic aspects
                                           of the Information Society.
                                           Whereas efforts must be made to ensure
                                           tfiat all European citizens have equal
                                           opportunities to participate in the
                                           information society, irrespective of their
                                           social, cultural, linguistic or geographical
                                           situation.
                                           Whereas it is essential to provide citizens
                                           with equitable access to information, for
                                           the latter to be available to them in their
                                           European vernacular language.
                                            4
                                              O.J. NrC68, 14.3.1983
                                                                                       W
 ---pagebreak---                                            Whereas languages that would remain
                                           excluded from the information society
                                           would run the risk of a more or less rapid
                                           marginalisation.
                                           Whereas access to information using a
                                           vernacular language should be enriched by
                                           the citizens' knowledge of other
                                           languages; whereas, consequently, this
                                           programme shall be supplemented by
                                           appropriate initiatives of the Community
                                           to expand the teaching of other
                                           Community languages in schools.
Whereas it is in the interests of the      Whereas the Community should support
Community to support efforts to set up an  efforts to set up an infrastructure
infrastructure encouraging the creation    encouraging the creation and exploitation
and exploitation of the language resources of the language resources required to
required to improve language services and  improve language services and tools and
tools and give a boost to R&D work;        give a boost to R&D work;
Whereas the Community should also          Whereas the Community should also
mobilise the language industries and help  mobilize the language industries and help
create an environment which is conducive   create an environment which is conducive
to their expansion;                        to their expansion;
Whereas the information and                Whereas the information and
communications technology industries       communications technology industries
should be encouraged to draw up            should be encouraged to draw up
standards which take account of linguistic standards which take account of linguistic
diversity and incorporate them in their    diversity and incorporate them in their
products and applications;                 products and applications;
Whereas it is useful for the European      Whereas it is useful for the Community
institutions and the administrations       institutions and the administrations
concerned in the Member States to          concerned in the Member States to
collaborate more closely in order to       collaborate more closely in order to
reduce the cost of developing and using    reduce the cost of developing and using
the language tools required to carry out   the language tools required making full
their tasks;                               use of the facilities of this programme and
                                           the Community's IDA programme of
                                           information exchange between
                                           administrations.
Whereas the actions to be carried out in   Whereas the actions to be carried out in
implementing this programme should be      implementing this programme should be
coordinated closely with initiatives       coordinated closely and in a structured
implemented under other Community          fashion with all Community initiatives
programmes with a view to setting up a     implemented under other programmes
multilingual information society;          with a view to setting up a multilingual
                                           information society.
                                                                                     \L
 ---pagebreak--- Whereas mutual benefits can be obtained  Whereas mutual benefits can be obtained
by involving international organisations by involving international organizations
and legal entitiesfromthird countries in and legal entities from non-member
the implementation of all or part of the countries in the implementation of all or
programme, while respecting the general  part of the programme, while respecting
policies of the Community towards these  the general policies of the Community
organisations,                           towards these organizations,
Has adopted this decision                Has adopted this decision
                                                                                »3
 ---pagebreak--- Article 1                                   Article 1
A Community programme which aims to:        A Community programme which aims to:
(a)             encourage the use of        (a)             encourage the use of
technologies, tools and methods which       technologies, tools and methods which
reduce the cost of transferring information reduce the cost of transferring information
between languages and the development       between languages and the development
of multilingual services,                   of multilingual services,
(b)              stimulate the expansion of (b)              stimulate the expansion of
the languages industries,                   the languages industries,
(c)              promote the development    (c)              promote the development
of multilingual services,                   of multilingual services,
(d)              promote the linguistic     (d)              promote the linguistic
diversity of the European Union in the      diversity of the Community in the global
global information society,                 information society,
is adopted for the period running from the  is adopted for the period running from the
date upon which this Decision takes effect  date upon which this Decision takes effect
until 31 December 1998.                     until 31 December 1998.
Article 2                                   Article 2
The following actions shall be undertaken   The following actions shall be undertaken
under the responsibility of the             under the responsibility of the
Commission and in accordance with the       Commission and in accordance with the
action lines contained in Annex I and the   action lines set out in Annex I and the
procedures for implementing the             procedures for implementing the
programme set out in Annex II:              programme set out in Annex II:
     support for attempts to construct an    (a)     support for attempts to construct
infrastructure for European language        an infrastructure for Community language
resources and encouragement for those        resources and encouragement for those
 involved,                                   involved,
     the mobilisation and expansion of the   (b)     the mobilization and expansion of
 language industries by encouraging the      language industries by encouraging the
 use of modern language technologies and     use of modern language technologies and
 tools and their incorporation into          tools and their incorporation into
 computer applications,                      computer applications,
     promotion of the use of advanced        (c)     promotion of the use of advanced
 language tools in the European public       language tools in the Community and
 sector.                                     Member States public sector.
                                                                                    "V
 ---pagebreak--- None of these actions should duplicate the     None of these actions should duplicate the
work being carried out in these fields         work being carried out in these fields
under Community or national                    under Community or national
programmes.                                    programmes.
Article 3                                      Article 3
1. The budgetary authority shall                1.      The budgetary authority shall
determine the appropriations for each          determine the appropriations for each
financial year, subject to the availability of financial year, subject to their utilization in
resources within the context of the            the previous financial year and the
financial outlook.                             availability of resources within the context
                                               of the financial outlook.
2.       The Community's financial             2.       The Community's financial
contribution to the shared-cost projects       contribution to the shared-cost projects
shall, as a general rule, be 50%.              shall, as a general rule, be 50%.
Article 4                                      Article 4
1. The Commission shall be responsible          1.      The Commission shall be
for the implementation of the programme.       responsible for the implementation of the
                                               programme and its coordination with
                                               other Community programmes and actions
                                               underway..
2. The Commission shall be assisted by         2.       The Commission shall be assisted
a comittee of an advisory nature               by a committee of an advisory nature
composed of representatives of the             composed of representatives of the
Member States and chaired by the               Member States and chaired by the
representative of the Commission.              representative of the Commission.
3. The representative of the                            The representative of the
Commission shall submit to the committee       Commission shall submit to the committee
a draft of the measures to be taken. The       a draft of the measures to be taken. The
committee shall deliver its opinion on the     committee shall deliver its opinion on the
draft within a time limit which the            draft within a time limit which the
chairman may lay down according to the         chairman may lay down according to the
urgency of the matter, if necessary by         urgency of the matter, if necessary by
taking a vote.                                 taking a vote.
      The opinion shall be recorded in the              The opinion shall be recorded in
minutes; in addition, each Member State        the minutes; in addition, each Member
shall have the right to request that its       State shall have the right to request that
position be recorded in the minutes.           its position be recorded in the minutes.
         The Commission shall take the         The Commission shall take the utmost
utmost account of the opinion delivered        account of the opinion delivered by the
by the committee. It shall inform the          committee. It shall inform the committee
committee of the manner in which its           of the manner in which its opinion has
opinion has been taken into account.           been taken into account.
                                                                                        lb
 ---pagebreak--- Article 5                                   Article 5
The procedure laid down in Article 4 (3)    The procedure laid down in Article 4(2)
shall apply to:                             shall apply to:
(a) the work programme for carrying         (a)     the work programme for carrying
out the action lines set out in Annex I,    out the action lines set out in Annex I,
(b) the content of the calls for proposals, (b)     the content of the calls for
                                            proposals,
(c) the selection of the actions proposed   (c)     the selection of the actions
for Community financing and the             proposed for Community financing and
estimated amount of this financing for      the estimated amount of this financing for
each action, where this amount is equal to  each action, where this amount is equal to
or exceeds ECU 0.5 million,                 or exceeds ECU 1 million,
(d) the procedures for evaluating the       (d)     the procedures for evaluating the
results of the programme,                   results of the programme,
(e) adaptation of the procedures for        (e)     adaptation of the procedures for
carrying out the programme laid down in     carrying out the programme laid down in
Annex II,                                   Annex II,
(f)     the decision to allow the           (f)     the decision to allow the
participation of legal entities from third  participation of international organizations
countries.                                  and legal entities from non-member
                                            countries.
Article 6                                   Article 6
Upon completion of the programme, the       Within 2 years after the start and upon
Commission shall present to the European    completion of the programme, the
Parliament, the Council and the Economic    Commission shall present to the European
and Social Committee an evaluation          Parliament, the Council, the Economic
report on the results obtained through      and Social Committee and the Committee
implementing the actions referred to in     of the Regions, an evaluation report on
Article 2.                                  the results obtained through implementing
                                            the actions referred by to in Article 2,
                                            based upon an analysis by independent
                                            experts.
                                            The evaluation reports will also contain a
                                            detailed appraisal of the effective presence
                                            of European Union languages in the
                                            principal information netwoks used in the
                                            Community.
Article 7                                   Article 7
This Decision is addressed to the Member    This Decision is addressed to the Member
States.                                     States.
 ---pagebreak--- ANNEX I, Action lines                         ANNEX I, Action lines
 1. Action Line 1: Supporting the              1. Action Line 1: Supporting the
 construction of an infrastructure for         construction of an infrastructure for
 European language resources                   European language resources
Language resources such as dictionaries,       Language resources such as dictionaries,
terminological databanks, grammar books,       terminological databanks, grammar books,
 collections of texts and voice recordings     collections of texts and voice recordings
 are an essential raw material for linguistic  are an essential raw material for linguistic
 research, the development of language-        research, the development of language-
 processing tools integrated into data         processing tools integrated into data
processing systems and for improving           processing systems and for improving
translation services. Considerable amounts    translation services. Considerable amounts
of money have already been invested by         of money have already been invested by
the Member States, the Commission and         the Member States, the Commission and
 some private companies on producing           some private companies on producing
language resources of varying size and        language resources of varying size and
complexity. The full utilisation of these     complexity. The full utilization of these
resources is currently being hampered by      resources is currently being hampered by
the fact that they are mainly monolingual     the fact that they are mainly monolingual
and their basic specifications sometimes      and their basic specifications sometimes
differ, thus limiting their wider use. In     differ, thus limiting their wider use. In
addition, they are often difficult to locate. addition, they are often difficult to locate.
The aim of this action line is to support     The aim of this action line is to support
efforts to construct a European               efforts to construct a European
infrastructure for multilingual language      infrastructure for multilingual language
resources.                                    resources. Most of the enterprises
                                              operating in this sector are SMEs, which
                                              are often innovative and efficient, but
                                              whose financial means are insufficient in
                                              view of the level of investments required.
1.1 The Commission will lend its support 1.1 The Commission will lend its support
for the starting up of the activities of the  for the starting up of the activities of the
                                              European language resources association
European language resources association       (ELRA), whose aims are to:
(ELRA), whose aims are to:
      - compile an inventory of the                 - compile an inventory of the
language resources available in the           language resources available in the
                                              Community,
Community,
      - introduce mechanisms to ensure              - introduce mechanisms to ensure
that they are disseminated throughout the     that they are disseminated throughout the
                                              Community,
Community,
                                                                                      i>
 ---pagebreak---       - promote the application of               - to promote and safeguard high
common standards to ensure their           standards and high quality of the language
                                           resources available in the Community.
compatibility and enable quality
certification.
                                           This support will also concern the
                                           exploitation of the linguistic know-how of
                                           the Community operators on the global
                                           market
1.2 The work in the field of terminology   1.2 The work in the field of terminology
covers a vast range of activities with     covers a vast range of activities with
                                           important implications for trade, science,
important implications for trade, science, the cultural sector and technology and the
the cultural sector and technology and the implementation of Community decisions,
implementation of Community decisions,     directives and regulations. This work is
directives and regulations. This work is   being undertaken by a very wide range of
being undertaken by a very wide range of   public and private operators who often
public and private operators who often     lack the means to coordinate their actions
                                           with those of their counterparts in other
lack the means to coordinate their actions Member States.
with those of their counterparts in other
Member States.
      The Commission will encourage the          The Commission will encourage the
launch of concerted actions between        launch of concerted actions between
                                           interested bodies in the different Member
interested bodies in the different Member
                                           States in areas which have priority in
States in areas which have priority in     attaining the objectives of Community
attaining the objectives of Community      policies. To this end, it will, where
policies. To this end, it will, where      necessary, make financial contributions to
necessary, make financial contributions to expenditure involved in the introduction
expenditure involved in the introduction   of concerted European action among the
                                           bodies concerned, particularly addressing
of concerted European action among the     standards, dissemination of information
bodies concerned, particularly addressing  and networking.
standards, dissemination of information    The Commission will investigate with the
and networking.                            Member States the feasibility of
                                           encouraging developments for databases
                                           of languages with limited economic
                                           potential.
                                                                                    i%-
 ---pagebreak--- 1.3 The availability of lexicographical    1.3 The availability of lexicographical
databanks and voice recordings which are   databanks and voice recordings which are
                                           suited to the development of data
suited to the development of data
                                           processing applications and cover all the
processing applications and cover all the  Community languages is essential in order
Community languages is essential in order  for a European language industry to
for a European language industry to        emerge. Most of the resources currently
emerge. Most of the resources currently    available in Europe are monolingual and
available in Europe are monolingual and    mutually incompatible, which makes them
                                           impossible to use for the production of
mutually incompatible, which makes them
                                           multilingual tools. In this field too, the
impossible to use for the production of    Commission will encourage the launch of
multilingual tools. In this field too, the concerted actions between public and
Commission will encourage the launch of    private sector operators in the different
concerted actions between public and       Member States with the aim of developing
private sector operators in the different  compatible vocal and lexicographical
                                           resources which conform to generally-
Member States with the aim of developing
                                           accepted standards.
compatible vocal and lexicographical       Standards will be those recognised in
resources which conform to generally-      accordance with Community policy.
accepted standards.
 1.4 The Commission will ensure that the    1.4 The Commission will ensure that the
concerted actions receiving its support    concerted actions receiving its support
have appropriate links with international  have appropriate links with international
work in this field.                        work in this field.
                                                                                      «*\
 ---pagebreak--- 2. Action Line 2: Mobilising and            2. Action Line 2: Mobilizing and
expanding the language industries           expanding the language industries
It is the private sector's role to produce  It is the private sector's role to produce
and market modern tools facilitating the    and market modern tools facilitating the
development of multilingual data            development of multilingual data
processing applications and information     processing applications and information
transfer between languages. Europe has a    transfer between languages. Europe has a
solid scientific and technological base in  solid scientific and technological base in
this field which has been strengthened by   this field which has been strengthened by
Community research and development          Community research and development
programmes, in particular the programmes    programmes, in particular the programmes
relating to information and                 relating to information and
communications technologies and             communications technologies and
telematic systems of general interest.      telematic systems of general interest.
However, the European market lags           However, the European market lags
behind when it comes to exploiting the      behind when it comes to exploiting the
advances made by research in the area of    advances made by research in the area of
language engineering. A concentrated        language engineering. A concentrated
effort needs to be made to speed up the     effort needs to be made to speed up the
process of getting new language             process of getting new language
processing technology onto the market,      processing technology onto the market,
particularly as part of the actions for     particularly as part of the actions for
disseminating and exploiting the results of disseminating and exploiting the results of
research carried out under the framework    research carried out under the framework
programme and the specific programmes.      programme and the specific programmes.
All the action lines proposed in the        All the action lines proposed in the
present programme seek to create an         present programme seek to create an
environment which is conducive to the       environment which is conducive to the
expansion of the language industries such   expansion of the language industries such
as language engineering and translation     as language engineering and translation
industries.                                 industries.
The aim of this action line is to spur the  The aim of this action line is to spur the
language industries into action by          language industries into action by
stimulating technology transfer and         stimulating technology transfer and
demand through a limited number of          demand through a limited number of
shared-cost demonstration projects which    shared-cost demonstration projects which
could act as a catalyst in certain key      could act as a catalyst in certain key
sectors.                                    sectors.
                                                                                     Xo
 ---pagebreak--- 2.1 A number of industries has                2.1 A number of industries has
experimented with controlled language to      experimented with controlled language to
facilitate drafting of technical documents    facilitate drafting of technical documents
and user support information. This            and user support information. This
approach improves general document            approach improves general document
management and allows effective use of        management and allows effective use of
machine-translation. A limited number of      machine-translation. A limited number of
shared cost projects will demonstrate the     shared cost projects will demonstrate the
cost-effectiveness of integrating controlled  cost-effectiveness of integrating controlled
language, authoring and translation tools,    language, authoring and translation tools,
in operational document management            in operational document management
systems for different industrial and          systems for different industrial and
business environments.                       business environments.
2.2 Localization of multimedia software,      2.2 Localization of multimedia software,
including translation of the spoken and       including translation of the spoken and
written word, is becoming increasingly in     written word, is becoming increasingly in
demand in the Information Society, to         demand in the Information Society, to
stimulate professionalism andto improve       stimulate professionalism and to improve
competitiveness of the localisation and the   competitiveness of the localization and the
multimedia industries, a call will be issued  multimedia industries, a call will be issued
to launch a small number of shared cost       to launch a small number of shared cost
projects, demonstrating the integration of    projects, demonstrating the integration of
localisation methodology and tools,           localization methodology and tools,
training of localisation staff and            training of localization staff and
developing best practice guidelines of        developing best practice guidelines of
particular importance for SME's.              particular importance for SME's.
2.3 The Commission will promote the use       2.3 The Commission will promote the use
of networks by the translation and            of networks by the translation and
interpretation industries. These give         interpretation industries. These give
access to advanced tools, including          access to advanced tools, including
electronic dictionaries, improve logistics,  electronic dictionaries, improve logistics,
allow integration with other functions, and  allow integration with other functions, and
generally improve the functioning of the     generally improve the functioning of the
translation market. A call for proposals     translation market. A call for proposals
will ask for the definition and              will ask for the definition and
implementation of European translation       implementation of European translation
directory services, the definition of an     directory services, the definition of an
open translation environment in Europe,      open translation environment in Europe,
and for pan-European tele-translation and    and for pan-European tele-translation and
tele-interpretation demonstrators with the   tele-interpretation demonstrators with the
involvement of the translation industry      involvement of the translation industry
and profession.                              and profession. In consultation with the
                                             performers concerned, including
                                             translation schools, the Commission shall
                                             examine the measures to be taken to
                                             stimulate modernization of this profession
                                             and to speed up its networking to increase
                                             its efficiency and bring it closer to
                                             potential users.
                                                                                      i\
 ---pagebreak--- 3. Action Line 3: Promoting the use          3. Action Line 3: Promoting the use
of advanced language tools in the            of advanced language tools in the
European public sector                       European public sector
On account of their linguistic obligations, On account of their linguistic obligations,
the European institutions, and the           the European institutions, and the
Commission in particular, have had to        Commission in particular, have had to
spend a substantial amount on acquiring      spend a substantial amount on acquiring
and perfecting advanced tools which have and perfecting advanced tools which have
become indispensable for the efficient       become indispensable for the efficient
processing of an increasing volume of        processing of an increasing volume of
translations and multilingual documents.     translations and multilingual documents.
In addition, through their daily translation In addition, through their daily translation
activities they are also helping to compile activities they are also helping to compile
important multilingual language resources important multilingual language resources
in the variousfieldsof Community             in the various fields of Community
activity. With the introduction of the       activity. With the introduction of the
Single Market and the removal of internal Single Market and the removal of internal
frontiers, there will be an increase in the frontiers, there will be an increase in the
transfer of information between              transfer of information between
administrations in the different Member      administrations in the different Member
States. These will be faced with an          States. These will be faced with an
increasing number of situations where        increasing number of situations where
they will need advanced language tools in they will need advanced language tools in
order to make communication with their       order to make communication with their
counterparts in other Member States          counterparts in other Member States
easier and cheaper. Transferring the         easier and cheaper. Transferring the
experience acquired by the European          experience acquired by the European
institutions in the processing of            institutions in the processing of
rnuitilingualism to the administrations in   rnuitilingualism to the administrations in
the Member States and sharing the            the Member States and sharing the
language resources which each produces       language resources which each produces
 can help achieve economies of scale and     can help achieve economies of scale and
reduce the cost of multilingual               reduce the cost of multilingual
communication.                               communication.
 The aim of this action line is to encourage The aim of this action line is to encourage
 cooperation between administrations in       cooperation between administrations in
 the Member States and the European           the Member States and the European
 institutions in order to reduce the cost of  institutions in order to reduce the cost of
 multilingual communication in the            multilingual communication in the
European public sector in particular by      European public sector in particular by
using advanced language tools . In this       using advanced language tools. In this
way, the European institutions can act as     way, the European institutions can act as
 powerful catalysts for the development of    powerful catalysts for the development of
the European language industry in the         the European language industry in the
 form of a public demand based on             form of a public demand based on
 common standards or technical                common standards or technical
 sp cific'rtions,                             specifications
 ---pagebreak--- 3.1 The long-term goal is the provision of   3.1 The long-term goal is the provision of
an efficient multilingual processing service an efficient multilingual processing service
which satisfies the requirements of the      which satisfies the requirements of the
Institutions and the administrative          Institutions and the administrative services
services concerned in the Member States.     concerned in the Member States. This
This will favour the establishment of an     will favour the establishment of an
infrastructure enabling each party to use    infrastructure enabling each party to use
the different linguistic tools available in  the different linguistic tools available in
the Community institutions and the           the Community institutions and the
different administrations without any loss   different administrations without any loss
of their current functions, whilst           of their current functions, whilst
encouraging convergence in future            encouraging convergence in future
dsvelopments. Calls for tender will be       developments. Calls for tender will be
issued for the development of tools and      issued for the development of tools and
systems which help reduce translation        systems which help reduce translation
time by making it easier to locate and re-   time by making it easier to locate and re-
use texts or sections of documents which     use texts or sections of documents which
have already been translated, as well as on  have already been translated, as well as on
access to terminological databanks.          access to terminological databanks.
Particular attention will also be devoted    Particular attention will also be devoted to
to tools and applications which make the     tools and applications which make the
task of interpreting easier.                 task of interpreting easier.
3.2 Work will continue on shared-cost        3.2 Work will continue on shared-cost
cooperation projects conducted with          cooperation projects conducted with
certain Member States in order to            certain Member States in order to improve
improve terminological tools and existing    terminological tools and existing compter-
compter-assisted translation systems, and    assisted translation systems, and will be
will be extended to include other            extended to include other interested
interested Member States.                    Member States.
3.3 A special effort will be made to bring   3.3 A special effort will be made to bring
the language tools for the new official      the language tools for the new official
Community languages up to the level of       Community languages up to the level of
the others.                                  the others.
                                             While taking care to avoid duplication,
                                              synergies shall be sought between the
                                              present programme and the other
                                              programmes relating to the information
                                              society, in particular the Fourth
                                              Framework Research and Development
                                              Programme, the integrated programme for
                                              SMEs and craft industries, and with IDA:
                                              "TEN-Telecom applications, INFO 2000,
                                              SOCRATES, LEONARDO, MEDIA and
                                              the proposed ARIANE programme".
4.    Accompanying measures                  4.     Accompanying measures
                                                                                      23
 ---pagebreak--- Achieving the multilingual information         Achieving the multilingual information
society calls for the devising of              society calls for the devising of
converging strategies on the part of the       converging strategies on the part of the
                                               public authorities, associations and
public authorities, associations and           institutions working to develop language
institutions working to develop language       resources and tools, the experimental
resources and tools, the experimental          users and the market operators producing
users and the market operators producing       and disseminating the information services
and disseminating the information services     or providing language processing tools,
                                               services and systems. To help in this, the
or providing language processing tools,        Commission will carry out the following
services and systems. To help in this, the     accompanying measures:
Commission will carry out the following
accompanying measures:
      organising concertation and                    organizing concertation and
coordination between the principal             coordination between the principal
                                               operators involved in developing a
operators involved in developing a
                                               multilingual information society,
multilingual information society,
      assessing progress made towards                assessing progress made towards
multilingual information society, and          multilingual information society, and
                                               identifying remaining barriers;
identifying remaining barriers;
      promoting technical standards which            promoting technical standards which
meet the linguistic needs of users;            meet the linguistic needs of users;
      launching promotional activities and           launching promotional activities and
user awareness campaigns and supporting        user awareness campaigns and supporting
                                               the exchange of best practice;
the exchange of best practice;
      exploring the possibilities for fruitful       exploring the possibilities for fruitful
collaboration with third countries and         collaboration with third countries and
                                               multilingual international organizations.
multilingual international organisations.
 ---pagebreak--- ANNEX II                                 ANNEX II
PROCEDURES FOR                           PROCEDURES FOR
IMPLEMENTING THE                         IMPLEMENTING THE
PROGRAMME                                PROGRAMME
1. The Commission shall implement the 1.    The Commission shall implement the
   programme in accordance with the         programme in accordance with the
   technical specifications set out in      technical specifications set out in
   Annex I.                                  Annex I.
   Where appropriate, the action lines       In principle, the action lines in the
   in the programme shall be carried         programme shall be implemented by
   out by means of shared-cost              means of shared-cost projects,
   projects, except in the case of          except in the case of developments
   developments exclusively for the         exclusively for the institutions of the
   institutions of the EU, in which case    EU, in which case the rate may be up
   the rate may be up to 100%. The          to 100%. The Community's financial
   Community's financial contribution       contribution to shared cost projects
   will not normally be more than 50%       will not be more than 50% of the
   of the cost of the projects, this        cost of the projects, this proportion
   proportion decreasing the closer the     decreasing the closer the project is to
   project is to being marketed.            the market. Universities, institutes
   Universities and other institutes        and other non-profit making research
   which do not have cost accounting        centres which do not have cost
   systems shall be reimbursed at 100%      accounting       systems    shall    be
   of their additional costs.               reimbursed at 100% of their
                                            additional costs.
   The selection of shared-cost projects    The selection of shared-cost projects
   is, in principle, based on the normal    is, in principle, based on the normal
   procedure for calls for proposals        procedure for calls for proposals
   published in the Official Journal of     published in the Official Journal of
   the European Communities. The            the European Communities. The
   objectives shall be set out in work      objectives shall be set out in work
   plans compiled in close cooperation      plans compiled in close cooperation
   with the market operators and the        with the market operators and the
   committee referred to in Article 4 of    committee referred to in Article 4 of
   the Decision.                            the Decision.
   In exceptional cases, having received 4. In exceptional cases, having received
   the opinion of the committee             the opinion of the committee
   referred to in- Article 4, the           referred to in Article 4, the
   Commission may consider proposals        Commission may consider proposals
   for projects which have not been         for projects which have not been
   requested but which might involve        requested but which might involve
   particularly promising and important     particularly promising and important
   developments for achieving the           developments for achieving the
   objectives of the programme and          objectives of the programme and
   which could not be submitted under       which could not be submitted under
   the normal procedure for calls for       the normal procedure for calls for
   proposals.                               proposals.
                                                                              2<T
 ---pagebreak---  Support for attempts to construct an 5.  Support for attempts to construct an
infrastructure for European linguistic    infrastructure for European linguistic
resources could take the form of          resources and/or the promotion of
concerted actions to coordinate the       the use of advances linguistic tools in
development        of      multilingual   the European public sector, could
linguistic resources, particularly        take the form of concerted actions to
through "concertation networks".          coordinate the development of
The        Community's         financial  multilingual linguistic resources,
contribution could cover up to            particularly through "concertation
 100% of the coordinating costs.         networks".       The      Community's
                                         financial contribution could cover up
                                         to 100% of the coordinating costs.
Projects financed entirely by the        Projects financed entirely from the
Commission under study and service       Community budget under study and
contracts shall be implemented           service       contracts    shall     be
through a call for tenders in            implemented through a call for
accordance with the Commission's         tenders by the Commission in
financial regulations. Transparency      accordance with the provisions of
will be ensured by the publication       the Financial Regulation and the
and regular dissemination of the         Regulation laying down provisions
work programme to professional           of the current Financial Regulation.
associations and other interested        Transparency will be ensured by the
bodies.                                  publication and dissemination of the
                                         work programme and the projects
                                         selected to professional associations
                                         and other interested bodies.
To implement the programme, the          To implement the programme, the
Commission shall also carry out          Commission shall also carry out
activities drawn up in accordance        activities drawn up in accordance
with the general objectives of the       with the general objectives of the
programme and the specific aims of       programme and the specific aims of
each action line. Such activities shall  each action line. Such activities shall
include      workshops,      seminars,   include      workshops,      seminars,
conferences, studies, publications,      conferences, studies, publications,
awareness      campaigns,      training  awareness       campaigns,     training
courses, participation in cooperative    courses, participation in cooperative
projects with the administrations in     projects with the administrations in
the Member States, the European          the Member States, the European
institutions     and      international  institutions      and     international
organizations,     helping     national  organizations, support for national
language observatories and specific      language         observatories       in
support for the development of           consultation with the national
language tools and resources for         authorities and specific support for
those Community languages most in        the development of language tools
need of such assistance.                 and resources for those Community
                                         languages most in need of such
                                         assistance.
                                         All activities receiving financial
                                         support must, at           appropriate
                                         occasions, show acknowledgement
                                         of European Union funding.
                                                                          2G
 ---pagebreak---                               FINANCIAL STATEMENT
1.   TITLE OF OPERATION
     Promotion of the multilingual information society (MLIS): muitiannual action
     programme to preserve and exploit linguistic diversity in Europe.
2.   BUDGET HEADING INVOLVED
     B5-403
3.   LEGAL BASIS
      Treaty on European Union, Article 130 (3).
4.    DESCRIPTION OF OPERATION
4.1 GENERAL OBJECTIVE
      The programme is based on the experience acquired by the Commission of the
      European Communities in managing research programmes in the field of language
      engineering and the development, for its own requirements, of language tools which
      facilitate translation and reduce its cost.
      This new programme has four principal objectives:
      • to stimulate the use of technologies, tools and methods which reduce the cost of
         transferring information between languages and the development of multilingual
         services,
      • to encourage the strengthening of the language industries,
      • to encourage the development of multilingual services,
      • to promote the linguistic diversity of the European Union in the global
         information society.
     The technological revolutions which are profoundly modifying the form and modes of
     human communication have an impact on the evolution of languages and their use.
     The appearance on the scene of a global information society is a challenge to
     linguistic cohesion and diversity in Europe. Economic pressures (the cost of
     rnuitilingualism) will tend to encourage the use of dominant languages through the
     networks. Those citizens who are not in a position to express themselves easily in
     those languagesriskmissing out on the benefits of the information society.
    However, the progress achieved in language engineering and language processing
    technologies means that there are now tools available which reduce the cost of
    translation andrnuitilingualismand make it easier to learn languages.
    The principal lines of action of the new programme are as follows:
                                                                                      1\
 ---pagebreak---      •    to support efforts to set up the infrastructure of European language resources and
          to encourage the operators involved,
     •    to mobilise and reinforce the language industries by promoting the use of modern
          language technologies and tools and their incorporation in computer applications,
     •    to promote the use of advanced language tools, in particular in the European
          public sector.
4.2 PERIOD COVERED AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR RENEWAL
     Three years, covering the period from 1.1.1996 to 31.12.1998.
5. CLASSIFICATION OF EXPENDITURE OR REVENUE
5.1 NCE
5.2 DA
5.3 Type of revenue
     Any revenue will be reemployed in accordance with Article 27 of the Financial
     Regulation of 21 December 1977, as most recently amended by Regulation 610/90 of
     13 March 1990.
6. TYPE OF EXPENDITURE/REVENUE INVOLVED
6.1 Provision of services
   Projectsfinancedin whole by the Commission under study and services contracts will
   be implemented through calls for tender in accordance with thefinancialregulations of
   the Commission. These services will generally concern studies, the organisation of
   coordination meetings, workshops and demonstrations of language tools for the
   European institutions. They will derive, in particular,fromthe implementation of action
   lines 2 and 3 and the accompanying measures. Transparency will be ensured by
   publishing the work programme and communicating it to commercial associations and
   other interested bodies.
5.2 Subsidy for joint funding with other sources in the public and private sectors
      Shared-cost projects and joint projects will normally be selected following the usual
      procedures of calls for proposals published in the Official Journal of the European
      Communities. This type of funding applies, in particular, to the activities provided for
      in the three action lines for joint development projects. The content ©f the calls for
      proposals will be drawn up in doss consultation with market operators and the
      programme committee. The principal criterion for supporting projects through im
      calls for proposals will be their potential contribution to attaining the objectives of the
      programme. The Community's financial contribution to shared-cost projects will not
      normally exceed 50%. The Community'sfinancialinvolvement may of course be as
      high as 100% in the case of projects involving exclusively the institutions of the
                                                                                                2£
 ---pagebreak---      European Union. Specific supplementary bonuses may also be granted to encourage
     the development of a European language resources infirastructure, the participation of
     SMEs and initiativss concerning those Community languages for which the advanced
     language tools are least developed. The Community'sfinancialcontribution to the
     projects involved may cover up to 100% of the coordination costs.
7.       FINANCIAL IMPACT
7.1 Method of calculating total cost of operation (relationship between individual
    costs and the total cost)
     The volume of appropriations required tofinancethe Community contribution to
     implementing the MLIS programme takes account of thefinancialparameters derived
     from previous experience and activities and the nature of the actions proposed with a
     view to achieving the specific objectives set out in point 9.1.
7.2 Itemised breakdown of costs
     Commitment by line of action (current costs in million ecus):
I                                              1996           1997        1998      TotaT"!
  Supporting the construction of an             0.5            0.5         1.0       2.0    1
  infrastructure for European language
  resources
  Mobilising and expanding the                   1.0           1.9         1.5        3.5   j
1 language industries
rPromoting the use of advanced                  2.0            2.5         2.5        7.0   I
| language tools in the European public
j sector
  Accompanying measures                         0.5             1.0        1.0        2,5
  TOTAL                                         4.0            5.0         6.0   1     15    j
          FRAUD PREVENTION MEASURES (AND RESULTS OF MEASURES
          TAKEN)
          Overall monitoring will be exercised by a committee composed of delegates of the
          Member States. Specific monitoring criteria and procedures will be laid down at
          the start of the programme and applied periodically during the implementation
          phase of the programme. The Commission officials, if necessary assisted by
          independent experts, will verify the proper implementation of the projects and
          studies before payment, taking into account the contractual obligations and
          principles of good management. Administrative checks will be carried out by the
          Commission. Verification will be by the Court of Auditors under the terms of the
          Treaty. At the and of the programme an evaluation report will be drawn up by
          independent experts on the results obtained in implementing the lines of action.
          ELEMENTS OF COST-EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS
 9.1 Specific and quantifiable objectives; target population
      Specific objectives
                                                                                           t%
 ---pagebreak--- Supporting the construction of an infrastructure for European language resources
Language resources such as dictionaries, terminological databanks, grammar books,
collections and the like are an essential raw material for linguistic research, for the
development of operational language processing tools and the improvement of
computer-assisted translation systems. Considerable sums have already been invested
by the Member States, the Commission and certain private companies in an effort to
produce language resources of varying scale and complexity. Exploitation of these
resources is currently hampered by the fact that they are mainly monolingual, their
basic specifications are sometimes disparate - which limits their use - and they are
often difficult to locate. The objective of this line of action is to support the efforts
being undertaken by producers and users, with a view to facilitating their
 identification, structuring, distribution and utilisation at Community level.
Mobilising and expanding the language industries
 This line of action will essentially involve promoting the modern language processing
 tools in those sectors of activity to which they are particularly well-suited and in
 which they are likely to considerably reduce translation costs: product labelling,
 controlled-language drafting and computer-assisted translation of documentation and'
 user notices, adapting software to different language markets, etc. It will also aim to
 promote the use of language tools and means of communication to strengthen the
 efficiency and competitiveness of the European translation industry and interpreting
 services.
Promoting the use of advanced language tools in the European public sector
 This line of action aims to exploit the Commission's prior investment, for its own
 requirements, in thefieldof machine translation and multilingual tools, and to act as a
 catalyst for the development of the market through public demand. The objective is to
  allow the other European institutions and the civil services of the interested Member
  States to use these tools and to set up cooperation projects to share the development
  costs needed to cover the Community's new working languages.
Accompanying measures
  In addition to the measures to strengthen coordination of the suitable initiatives in the
  language field undertaken under various Community programmes, and to speed up
  their impact, the accompanying measures will involve the organisation of strategic
  coordination meetings with the principal market operators, launching studies and
  strategic surveys so as to monitor the development of the market and evaluate the
  impact of the programme, stimulating standardisation work, launching promotion
  measures and measure to increase user awareness, and encouraging cooperation and
  the exchange of best practice in public and private bodies which are taking steps to
  adapt to a multilingual society and market. These measures will also involve
  examining opportunities for advantageous cooperation with third countries and
  multilingual international organisations.
 Target population
                                                                                         3a
 ---pagebreak---     The target groups comprise:
    -    the national language departments or institutions with strategic and executive
         responsibilities in the Member States and regions,
    -    language "professionals": translators, terminologists, publishers of grammar
         books and dictionaries, teachers of languages and specialised bodies and institutes
         in the Member States,
    -    creators of language resources and the specialised bodies which process them
         to give them a structure,
    -    computer service companies and software publishers specialised in the production
         of language processing tools,
    -   major groups of users of these tools (export-oriented industries, providers of
        information services and international communications, software publishers,
        administrations and institutions which need to communicate in several languages,
        etc.).
9.2 Grounds for the operation
    Subsidiarity
    Language policies are the responsibility of the Member States. Nevertheless,
    promoting the development of modern language processing tools and their use is a
    field of activity where Community action is justified in order to achieve
    substantial economies of scale through promoting suitable cooperation between the
    operators involved in the various language zones. The activities under the programme
    will be commensurate with the objectives to be achieved and will involve only those
    fields likely to achieve an added value at European level.
    Choice of ways and means
    The costs will be reduced as much as possible through competition by means of calls
    for tenders and proposals. The Commission contribution to shared-cost projects will
    coordination meetings should avoid any duplication of effort and promote synergy.
    The choice of ways and means takes account of the guidelines set out in the
    Bangemann report and in the Commission action plan COM (94) 347, as well as of
    the consultations held with industry, users and the representatives of the Member
    States in preparing the programme.
    Spin-oft and multiplier effects expected
     Promoting the development of the language industries and the use of modern
     language tools has spin-off benefits of great interest to the Community:
          promotion of an industry and services which create jobs,
          reduction in the cost of translating and transferring information between
          languages (the number of pages translated in the Community in 1988 was
          estimated at 100 million),
          new outlets offered by linguistic adaptation, of products and services to local
          markets,
          strengthening of the cohesion of the Community in its linguistic diversity,
 ---pagebreak---          preservation of the cultural and linguistic diversity of the Community in the global
         information society.
    The Community's means of action - shared-cost projects and support for joint projects
    have a multiplier effect through the supplementary funding contributed by the
    partners taking part in these projects. Moreover, they achieve afiirthermultiplier
    effect by encouraging investment by the market operators.
    Factors of uncertainty
    The main factors of uncertainty which might affect the specific results of the
    programme concern the readiness of the private sector to invest in the development of
    modern language processing tools before the market for such products has taken off.
9.3 Monitoring and evaluation of the operation
    Some of the projects will be devoted to developing indicators for monitoring the
    rnuitilingualism market in Europe, in terms of both developing the supply of products
    and the industry and demand. In the veryfirstyear of the programme, a
    methodologicalframeworkwill be laid down for the systematic collection of data in
    the various fields.
    An analysis of these annually-updated indicators will allow an assessment of the
    effectiveness of the measures taken in the course of the programme. Before the end of
    the programme an evaluation report will be drawn up on the results achieved in
    implementing the lines of action.
 10. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURE (PART A OF SECTION 3 OF THE
          GENERAL BUDGET)
     The expenditure is calculated per year.
10.1      Additional staff in the Commission
          Implementation of the proposed action will require the additional allocation of 2
          officials (1 A-grade post and 1 C-grade post, cost = ECU 160 000). Effective
          mobilisation of the necessary administrative resources will depend on the
          Commission's annual decision on the allocation of resources, taking account in
          particular of the additional staff and sums approved by the budgetary authority.
          Additional requests can in no way prejudice the decision which the Commission
          will have to take on the allocation of resources.
 10.2     Amount of staff and administrative expenditure involved
          The annual amounts of administrative expenditure are as follows:
 10.2.1 National experts seconded
           A-1520
           Total expenditure: ECU 70 000
                                                                                            31
 ---pagebreak---        Two national officials will have to be seconded to coordinate the MLIS projects
       between the EU and the national/regional levels.
10.2.2 Meetings of experts
       A-250
       Total expenditure: ECU 120 000
       To prepare the work programme, the Commission will consult outside experts
       and representatives of users, industry administrations and research.
       9 meetings are planned, with 1 participant per Member State (cost = 880 x 15 x 9
       = 118 800, rounded up to ECU 120 000).
10.2.3 Meetings of the Committee
       A-2510
       Total expenditure: ECU 40 000
       The MLIS programme committee mentioned in the Council Decision will hold an
       average of 3 meetings per year, with 1 participant per Member State (cost: 880 x
       15 3 - 39 600, rounded up to ECU 40 000).
10.2.4 Official travel
       A-130
       Total expenditure: ECU 50 000
       Total official travel costs for Commission staff and the seconded national experts
       are estimated at ECU 50 000 and will be taken from the overall amount allocated
       toDGXm.
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 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                                                   ISSN 0254-1475
                                                           COM(96) 456 final
                                             DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                  15 16 01
                                     Catalogue number : CB-CO-96-465-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-78-08914-1
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
L-2985 Luxembourg
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