CELEX: 51989PC0020R(01)
Language: en
Date: 1989-02-07
Title: Amended Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION concerning a specific programme for the completion of a machine translation system of advanced design (EUROTRA) (presented by the Commission pursuant to the third paragraph of Article 149 of the EEC Treaty)

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 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                          COM ( 89) 20 final / 2 SYN 137
                                          Brussels , 7 February 1989
                                Amended
                           Proposai for a
                          COUNCIL DECISION
     concerning a specific programme for the completion of a
          machine translation system of advanced design
                              ( EUROTRA )
           ( presented by the Commission pursuant to the
        third paragraph of Article 149 of the EEC Treaty )
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 ---pagebreak---                           Amended Proposal for a Council Decision
                             concerning a specific programme for
                      the completion of a machine translation system
                                of advanced design ( EUROTRA )
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community and
  in particular Article 130 Q paragraph 2 thereof ,
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ,
 In cooperation with the European Parliament
 Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee ^) f
Whereas Article 130 K of the Treaty stipulates that the Framework Programme
 shall be implemented through specific programmes developed within each
 activity ;
Whereas the Council , by adopting the Framework Programme of Community research
 and technological developement ( 1987 - 1991 )               acknowledges the interest
 of an action on linguistic problems within the activity 8.4 , Dissemination and
utilization of S / T research results .
Whereas by       its Decision 82 / 752 / EEC of 4 November 1982         ,  as amended by
Decision 86 / 591 / EEC of 26 November 1986 ^) on account of the accession of
Spain and Portugal , the Council has adopted a European Economic Community
research      and   development   programme    for   a  machine  translation   system  of
advanced design ( EUROTRA ),
Whereas the Eurotra programme has been assessed by a panel of independent
experts , whose recommendations have been incorporated by the Commission in the
definition of the orientations for the third phase .
Whereas by its Decision 88 / 445 / EEC of 25 July 1988                , the Council has
adopted the transition of the EUROTRA programme to its third phase ,
Whereas in agreement with the opinions of the Management and Coordination
Advisory Committee " Linguistic Problems " ( CGC-12 ) of 6 May 1986 and 25 January
1988 , the financial requirements for the completion of the third phase of the
EUROTRA programmme have been estimated at an extra amount of 6.5 Million ECU ,
Whereas      the   Management    and    Coordination   Advisory   Committee   "Linguistic
Problems " ( CGC-12 ) has delivered its opinion ,
(1)
(2)
( 3)0 . J. N° L 302 , 24.10.1987  ,  P· i
( 4)0 . J. N° L 317 , 13.11.1982  ,  p. 19
( 5)0 . J. NO L 341 ,   4.12.1986 ,  p.39
( 6)0 . J. N° L 222 , 12.08.1988  ,  p. 1
 ---pagebreak---  Whereas the Scientific and Technical Research Committee ( CREST ), has been
 consulted ,
 HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION      :
 Article 1
 1 . A specific programme for the completion in 1990 of a machine
     translation system of advanced design ( EUROTRA ) is hereby adopted .
 2 . The content and the duration of the programme are set out in the
     Council       Decision 82 / 752 / EEC , as amended by  Council   Decision
     86 / 591 / EEC .
 3 . The detailed rules for the implementation of this specific programme
     are set out in the Annex to the present Decision .
Article 2
The amount deemed necessary for the completion of the EUROTRA programme
 shall be T_ million ECU , in addition to the 5.5 million ECU initially
provided for by Decision 82 / 752 / EEC .
Article 3
This Decision is addressed to the Member States .
Done in Brussels ,
For the Council
The President
 ---pagebreak---                                    ANNEX
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this specific programme is the completion of a
machine translation system of advanced design capable of dealing with
all official languages of the Community , as set out in Annex I to the
Council Decision 82 / 752 / EEC .
Following the recommendations of the Independent Assessment panel , a
reorientation of the specific objectives and priorities         shall  be
undertaken . This reorientation concerns in particular :
( a ) the implementation of an operational system prototype . The basic
parameters shall be maintained . i.e . the creation of an operational
system prototype for a limited subject field and for a limited number
of text types with a vocabulary <of approximately 20 000 entries .
Specific attention shall be given to the following aspects :
-    Terminology      : methods    for terminological control in machine
     translation , and the utilization of existing 1terminology resources
      ( e.g . Eurodicautom ) shall be itested .
-    Lexicography : methods for the creation of large-scale machine
     dictionaries shall be explored , where possible in cooperation with
     producers of monolingual and bilingual dictionaries .
( b ) Basic software
Advanced software architectures shall be investigated with a view to
providing efficient implementation of the basic software for      EUROTRA
and especially for the rule interpreter .
( c ) Linguistic specifications
Special attention shall be given to the aspects of extensibility in
order to ensure progressive improvement of the system beyond the end
of the present programme .
( d ) Training
In order to achieve a better balance of specialist expertise in the
field of machine translation and natural language processing , the
training aspects of the programme shall be reinforced .
 ---pagebreak---                                        2
 ( e ) Preparation for the industrial development of EUROTRA
In order to ensure a smooth transition to the industrial development
phase of the system , the following preparatory actions shall be
undertaken       :
-     specification of a practical EUROTRA system and of possible sub-
      and by-products ;
      definition of a development strategy ;
      preparation     for   the    participation of   industrial  partners
      ( technical and financial )
      clarification of organizational and legal aspects . especially
      property rights .
The indicative internal breakdown of the amount of 7.0 million ECU
deemed necessary for the completion of the EUROTRA programme is as
follows (1 000 ECU ) :
( a)     Community contributions to the national groups          4 400
(b)      Basic software                                          1 100
(c)      Linguistic specifications                                 200
(d)      Training , workshops , supplies . etc .                   300
(e)      Preparation for industrial development                  1 000
                                                    TOTAL        7 000
 ---pagebreak---                                                        ANNEX IV
              CREATION OF A MACHINE TRANSLATION SYSTEM OF ADVANCED DESIGN
                                           ( EUROTRA )
                                    FINANCIAL STATEMENT " B "
  1    Budget article    concerned :     Article   7389    ( Line  8.4  of the Framework
       Programme )
 2     Legal basis
       Article 130 Q.2 of the EEC Treaty
       Council Decision 82 / 752 /EEC of 4 November 1982 O )
       Council Decision 86 / 591 / EEC of 26 November 1986 ( 2 )
       Council Decision 87/ 516 / Euratom , EEC of 28 September 1987 O )
       Council Decision 88 / 445 / EEC of 25 July 1988 on the transition to Phase III
       of the Eurotra programme (^)
       Proposal for a Council Decision on the completion of a specific programme
       on a machine translation system of advanced design ( Eurotra )
 3     Description , aims and justification
       3.1  Description
            Eurotra is a Research and Development programme aimed at creating a
            machine translation system of advanced design capable of handling all
            the official languages of the Community .
            The costs of the programme are shared .             The bulk of the work is
            carried out in specialist national research centres under contracts
            of association . The principal responsibility of each centre is the
            analysis and synthesis of its own language , and the transfer of other
            languages towards it .
      3 .2  Aims
            On completion of the programme an operational prototype system should
            be available in a limited field and for limited categories of text ,
            which would provide the basis for a development on an industrial
            scale at a later stage .
      3.3   Justification
            The aim of the programme is the creation of tools capable of lowering
            the language barriers which are an obstacle to communications and
            trade within the Community and beyond its frontiers , while respecting
            the cultural requirement to preserve the wealth and variety of
            European languages .
( 1 ) OJ No L 317 of 13 . 11 . 1982 , p. 19
( 2 ) OJ No L 341 of 4 . 12 . 1986 , p. 39
( 3 ) OJ No L 302 of 24 . 10 . 1987 , p. 1
( 4 ) OJ No L 222 of 12 . 08 . 1988 , p.    1
                                                                                         é
 ---pagebreak---                                            2
           A compromise was reached in the Coreper discussions which resulted in
           Decision 06 / 591 / EEC of 26 November 1906 , extending the Eurotra
           programme to embrace Spain and Portugal : of the 11 million ECU
           proposed by the Commission to finance the extension , Coreper proposed
           that 4.5 million ECU should be used for the second phase of the
           programme , and that the Council decision on the financing of the
           third phase ( 6.5 million ECU ) should be deferred .
           The proposal for a Decision now placed before the Council refers to
           additional finance for Phase III of the programme , a decision on
          which was deferred when the programme was extended to embrace Spain
          and Portugal . It includes also the increase of 500.000 ECU further to
           the amendment of the European Parliament of 14 December 1988 .
5  Financial implications of the extension           of  the   Eurotra      programme to
   e mbrace Spain and Portugal in Phase III
   The Council established the duration of Phase III of the programme at two
   years . The funds required for Phase III (a decision on which was deferred
   by the Council ) are estimated by „ the Commission at 12 million ECU , of
  which 5.5 million ECU were approved by the Council in its Decision
   82 / 752 / EEC of 4 November 1982 . The present proposal therefore relates to
   the balance of 6.5 million ECU , as well as the additional 500.000 ECU
  which corresponds to the amendment of the European Parliament .
  The overall costs of the third phase ( '000 ECU ) break down as follows ( the
   figures in brackets refer to the 7 million ECU which are the subject of
  the present proposal ):
   (a)    Community contributions to national teams          8 400    (4   400 )
   ( b)   Basic software                                     1 600    (1   100 )
   (c)    Linguistic specifications                             700   (    200 )
  (d )    Training workshops , equipment , etc.                 500   (    300 )
   (e)    Preparatory work for transfer to
          an industrial system                               1 300    (1 . 000 )
                     Total                                12 500    ( 7.QQQ )
  To this must be added 7 million ECU of national contributions , bringing
  the total cost of Phase III to 19,5 million ECU .
  Member States' contributions to the financing of work done by national
  teams are negotiated in the contracts of association and should in
  principle be maintained for Phase III .
  The following tables summarize the financing of the programme :
                                                                                         ?
 ---pagebreak---                                              3
     Table 1
     Cost and duration of each phase :
      ( 'ÔÔO ECU )
     Phase I ( two years )                            2 000
     Phase II ( three years )                        13 000
     Phase III ( two years )   5 500 + 7 . 000 =     12 500
            Total                                   27 500
     Table 2
     Financing of Phases I and II as commitment and payment appropriations in
     Budget years 1982 to 1988
     ( ' 000 ECU )
    Year            Commitments              Payments
     1982               1 000                    800
     1983               1 000                    800
     1984           token entry                  400
     1985               4 200                  1 500
     1986               3 950                  2 650
     1987               3 500                  4 500
     1988 *             1 350 **               4 350 ***
    Total            15 000                 15 000
    Table 3
    Planned financing of Phase III , 1988–1990 ( '000 ECU )
    Item 7389
    Budgeted research appropriations :
    Year            Commitments              Payments
    1988
    1989                4 650                  2 000
    1990                2.350                  2 800
    1991                                       1 700
    1992                                         500
    Total             7.000                  7.000
    Budgeted operating appropriations : ni 1
#   earmarked for Eurotra        in  the    budget    for   1988 under Article 751
    ( multilingualism )
**  total commitment appropriations 4 500 000 ECU
#** total payment appropriations 6 000 000 ECU
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