The SUNDEF trip to Brussels on April 22-23, 2001
was an eye-opener for the students. Our friend at the European Parliament, Mr. Fran Cole, Staff Interpreter, gave an informative lecture in the morning. He explained the history of the Parliament, its scope (40-50,000 employees), its legal, political, and economic roles and curbs on those roles, and "hot" topics at present--including plans to expand to 11 more countries. This last issue is of great interest, because of the delicate diplomacy and legal procedures to bring the new countries into conformity with European regulations regarding trade, agriculture, the environment, and the judiciary. Expansion is also of interest because of the new markets it will create, and the jobs that it will generate for language specialists. Because the EP is committed to multilingualism (ie. each language enjoys equal status), language experts constitute a considerable part of the EP budget. And to accomodate new members states, the EP will need to hire many more interpreters.
Mr. Cole recommended to students considering a career in international studies to complement their expertise in French with another Romance language and an Eastern European language or two, especially Polish. Where many fields are in a slump at present, there is a growing market for interpreters and translators.
After Mr. Cole's lecture and the Q&A session, we broke into two groups and discreetly joined meetings in progress of EP committees on various sorts of trade. This was a fascinating opportunity to see multilingualism in action, and to witness some of the intricacy of creating legislation for the European Union. After another meeting in the afternoon, we were received by a Member of Parliament, Mr. Struan Stevenson (UK-Scotland), who explained his work at the EP, the problems he's encountered on the Fisheries Committee, and his prognostic for expansion plans.
The visit went without a hitch (apart from one student's delayed re-entry to Angers. Beware of Brussels traffic jams.). We learned a great deal about the European Union, and especially, we derived a heightened appreciation for the slow and careful processes by which the Union is governed. The news on future job markets for language specialists was much appreciated too!
For a sample itinerary click here