Translation Traineeship at the Council of the European Union: in the thick of it
During my MA Degree in Conference Interpreting and Translation Studies at the University at Leeds I attended several Professionalisation Talks and seminars about translation and interpreting within the European institutions, and I took part in a study visit to Brussels organised by my university in partnership with the SCIC department. Therefore, I was aware of the role of translation and interpreting within the institutional landscape and doing a traineeship in one of the institutions has always been a dream of mine.
Finding out that I had been chosen for a traineeship both at the Council of the European Union and at the European Commission was obviously a dream come true. I decided to embark on a five month traineeship at the Council and I packed my bags and moved to Brussels, where I started this experience at the beginning of February.
I must admit that it took me a good three weeks/a month to start to like (and eventually love!) Brussels, but that is a whole different kettle of fish!
The trainees at the Council come from different backgrounds and nationalities, so this means that this environment is truly multicultural, just like the EU project itself. Out of the total number of trainees (around 65), only ten of us are doing translation traineeships, so I have had a chance to experience and reflect on the role of the institutions in a broader sense. The Traineeships Office of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union has organised a wide range of training sessions, including seminars on the rules and procedures of the Council, the function of the European External Action Service, the Committee of the Regions, and the European Economic and Social Committee. This has been extremely beneficial as it has allowed me to explore the inner workings of the institutions and actually understand the EU framework as a whole. Additionally, as a Council trainee I have benefited from a study visit to the institutions in Strasbourg. There we had a chance to visit the EU Parliament (where we even sat in on a plenary session and had a chance to listen to a debate about fake news), the Council of Europe, and the European Court of Human Rights.
Since I am speaking of professional development and opportunities for growth, I would like to mention that what truly impressed me about the Council, and the way translators were included and integrated within this institution, is the fact that linguists are encouraged to take part in Working Party meetings, thus having the opportunity to be at the forefront of the decision-making and deliberating process and have the chance to meet European experts in the areas of interest of the institutions.
Obviously, an article about the Council would not be complete without mentioning the European Councils (aka summits), the highlight of any European semester. Official Council translators have the chance to be a part of the summit team, thus dealing with terminology and with the translation of the Summit Conclusions in a fast-paced environment. As trainees, we were not in charge of the translation of such sensitive documents, but we did have the chance to follow this procedure and understand how the summit workflow is organised, and of course, anxiously wait in the “Emergency Room”, the designated space for the translators from the 28 countries.
As far as translation proper is concerned, I will start from the beginning. As soon as I started my experience here, I was assigned a mentor/supervisor who I shadowed for the first couple of weeks. This proved invaluable, since it helped me understand the overall role of translators within the Council, but it also gave me an opportunity to ask questions, try to clarify any doubts about the workflow within the translation department, and discover the translation tools used at the Council in an informal, yet professional environment.
After this initial stage, I became more autonomous and started gradually experiencing the workload of an official translator. The types of projects I was getting started getting increasingly longer and the difficulty started increasing as well. Since I started my traineeship, I have worked not only on a variety of text types (Council Directives, Regulations, Decisions, agendas, minutes, press releases, content for the website) but also on a wide array of topics ranging from Fisheries, Foreign Affairs, Budget, Immigration, Foodstuff Quality, Intellectual Property, Technical Harmonisation, Western Balkans Region, among many, many others.
The Translation Service at the Council of the European Union is also in charge of delivering training sessions for its employees and trainees. Therefore, I have had the opportunity to attend workshops on the use of IATE and Eur-Lex, and I will attend terminology meetings to discuss the developments in this field. I will also take an active role in the terminology team within my language unit and work on improving IATE entries and doing terminological work, which is something I am truly looking forward to.
I feel that my traineeship here has given me the chance to explore situations and topics that were outside of my comfort zone and not directly linked to my studies in Conference Interpreting and Translation Studies, but it has also allowed me to improve and put into practice what I have learned during my MA Degree and what I have already been doing on the private market, in an institutionalised, regulated environment.
The traineeship offers you a great deal of opportunities, but at the same time it is up to you to make the most out of them and to experiment and experience as much as possible in this unique environment. Also, as a final remark, I would also like to add that it is essential to get out of the EU bubble in Brussels! Discover Belgium and Brussels, go beyond Place Jourdan and Place du Luxembourg and immerse yourself in the real Bruxelloise experience.
As the end of this five-month traineeship approaches, writing this blog article makes me feel strangely nostalgic at the thought that such an exciting, life-changing, and rewarding experience will come to an end. But in the meantime, I will enjoy a glass of Kriek beer and a mitraillette and bask under the Belgian sun (a rare occurrence in this neck of the woods).
Are you also interested in applying for a translation traineeship at one of the EU institutions? Do you have questions about the application process or about the traineeship proper? Feel free to contact me, and hopefully I will be able to share my experience with you!
