Europe is not «lost in translation». It lives in and by translation and interpretation. The 11th conference of the European Federation of National Institutions for Language (EFNIL) dealt with the importance of these two significant communicative techniques for mutual understanding within multilingual Europe. The articles by official representatives of the different European institutions inform about the facts of day-to-day interpretation and translation in Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg. Experts discuss translation and interpretation under various general aspects including a historical perspective. Reports on the training and activities of interpreters and translators in several European countries follow. A discussion of the demands and suggestions for translation and interpretation in Europe concludes the thematic part of the book.

Gerhard Stickel is Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Mannheim and was director of the Institut für Deutsche Sprache. He was a co-founder of the European Federation of National Institutions for Language (EFNIL) and has been president of this network of central language institutions of the EU states since 2003.