Making sure delegations from European Union member states understand each other when they meet in Brussels is no easy feat.

It is up to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Interpretation to make sure communication at meetings and conferences is smooth.

That was particularly challenging after 10 new member countries joined the EU in May this year, adding nine new official languages to the EU’s existing 11.

For the Directorate-General of Interpretation that involved more than a decade of preparation.

The problem was that professionally-trained interpreters in many of the candidate countries were few and far between.

It was up to the directorate-general – which every day provides between 700 and 800 interpreters for 60 meetings – to develop a pool of skilled people from which to recruit.

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