This report acknowledges the importance of multilingualism for the Parliament to enable people to access information, exercise their democratic rights and be fully aware of what the Parliament does. Multilingualism and interpretation are essential if the Parliament is to be transparent and they also enable legislators to work on highly technical legislative information in their own language and that of their citizens.
The focus is therefore primarily on efficiency for those within Parliament who use the interpretation services rather than EU citizens. Efficiency and cost-effectiveness are extremely important but these factors must not erode the availability of live and accessible information in the language of listeners/viewers across the EU. Consideration of EU citizens and their needs is central to the S&D Group’s approach to this issue.