The future of multilingualism
The principle of institutional multilingualism is sometimes contrasted with the use of a lingua franca, or single language, for reasons of convenience or economy. However the benefits of multilingualism for citizens far outweigh its costs.
The purpose of multilingualism is to serve the public, and it offers undeniable benefits. The cost-benefit analysis of multilingualism in the European Union is positive from every perspective. The benefits are well-known, albeit difficult to measure precisely: they include the possibility of addressing the institution in one’s own language, the availability of all EU laws in that language, and the safeguarding and promotion of all the national languages and, consequently, the culture, values and traditions of the Member States. The cost is more easily measured but is nonetheless contentious; it must be controlled as far as possible, while also preserving quality.
Multilingualism support tools, which are undergoing significant technological development, enable marked productivity increases and harmonisation of work. For example, neural machine translation, translation editing tools, voice recognition tools and remote interpreting facilities are all used effectively to assist the Court’s staff. Jobs are no longer the same as they were a few years ago, and they are changing more quickly than ever.
The language services strive to embrace change and technological developments, including increasingly artificial intelligence, in order to fully capitalise on those developments, without compromising on quality, without which the need for multilingualism would lose its legitimacy.
Thus, tasks that were once long and tedious are now semi-automated, allowing staff more time to devote to the substantial tasks that machines cannot properly perform. Legal and linguistic issues are delicate and require the services of a specialist. The professional lawyer-linguist or interpreter now work in an ‘enhanced’ environment: they use technology judiciously and responsibly, in order to guarantee the best quality of service at the best cost, for the benefit of the public.
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