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Matthew Vella
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has reacted with assuredness that Maltese identity within the European Union’s institutions is far from dented after government received a three-year derogation that has placed the Maltese language on the backburner in Brussels.
The derogation, news of it first revealed last week in MaltaToday, effectively means that before May 2007, not all acts, including judgements of the European Court of Justice will be translated into our mother tongue. The derogation was ordered barely twenty-four hours into 1 May 2004, when Maltese were celebrating EU accession over the Grand Harbour.
Lawrence Gonzi told MaltaToday the EU was right to appreciate Malta’s limited resources cannot compare large states and that the derogation was “therefore more than justified.”
“Just glance at the contributions in the Maltese language given by the Maltese delegates in EU conferences. Check on the ever-growing Mediterranean and maritime dimensions which Malta is gradually enhancing within the EU. How many Europeans have watched and touched our identity through the May 1 showcase celebrations broadcast all over Europe?” Gonzi told MaltaToday, certain that despite the achievement of Maltese as an official EU language, the derogation is defensible due to lack of preparedness by the government to provide translators and interpreters.
“We have gladly taken upon us a monumental task to translate EU official documents because we are proud of our national language. The derogation will allow us time to overcome the challenge which we proudly achieved.”
The Council of Ministers’ regulation states that not all EU documents would be translated in Maltese, due to the lack of qualified staff. It was revealed through contacts between the Maltese authorities and the EU that the current situation regarding recruitment of Maltese linguists and the resulting lack of qualified translators, had made it impossible to guarantee the drafting in Maltese of all acts adopted by the institutions.
In December 2006, the Council of Ministers will review the situation of Malta’s translation effort to determine whether to extend the transitional period for a further period of one year.
Gonzi told this newspaper the translation of legal documents is a “very specialised, time-consuming and technical task which is not found attractive by large numbers of people.” He said Government had done its best to attract competent linguists and young graduates to translation duties, also offering suitable payment, putting up the necessary frameworks and structures for the work to be done.
“The size of the task is obviously enormous. I do not think that the fact that we do not as yet have an adequate large pool of translators in any way reflects badly on the government. Government has done all that was possible in the circumstances, it has been flexible in its approach and, given the size of Malta's population, I do not think it has done at all badly given the large number of pages already translated. Adding to this, it is worth noting that Translating and Interpreting are two distinct professions and on both counts we are working with the EU to provide the necessary training to create a cadre of individuals in both professions.”
The Nationalist government only made provision for the training of translators in 2003 when a two-year MA in ‘Translation and Interpretation’ was finally set up at the University of Malta, but which has still not delivered enough candidates for the required staff complement.
Lawrence Gonzi told MaltaToday that whilst there are already 50 individuals following the post-graduate course which will be completed in 2005, over 120 individuals answered a call for applications issued recently to follow a Masters Degree in Interpreting. It is envisaged that a Masters Degree for translators will also be available.
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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