Course: Translating for the EP - General information | DG TRAD External Translation Platform

Topic outline

1. Announcements

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Latest updates and news for external translators
- Translation forecast September - October 2025 File
- The procedure to add or replace individually named translators Call for tenders EP-TRAD/LUX/2024/OP/0001 File
  Practical points for 2025:
  
  NEW! The deadline for submission of applications to the autumn testing session is set at the 15th October.
  
  The autumn testing session in 2025 is set at 19th November.
  
  Completed requests should be sent to our mailbox dgtrad.etucontractsexecution@europarl.europa.eu. All requests made or finalised after the cutout date will be part of the invitations to the next round of testing.
  
  For further details, please consult the attached document.
- Session calendar and Public Holidays at the EP for 2025
  
  For your planning purposes, please refer to the current session calendar and the overview of the EPs public holidays provided below.
- Session calendars 2025 File
- Public holidays at the EP 2025 File
2. Translating for the European Parliament
Welcome to our "Translating for the European Parliament" Moodle Platform - your comprehensive guide as an external translator. This platform is designed to provide you with all the necessary information to navigate the translation process effectively.

Contract Implementation: This section clarifies your contractual relationship with DGTRAD. Learn how to utilise our IRIS platform, understand the criteria for assignment evaluations, and manage electronic invoicing efficiently.

Technical Requirements: This section details the technical specifications required for your translation assignments, ensuring you have the necessary tools and setups to meet project demands.

General Linguistic Requirements: This section provides a comprehensive overview of the general linguistic requirements applicable to the translation assignments.
3. Contract Implementation
3.1 Instructions for Contractors
This section provides you with detailed instructions for external contractors.
- List of contractors File
  
  You can find here the list of contractors under the contracts for external translation currently in force (T8 call for tender).
- Instructions for Main Contractors File
  
  Please download the detailed instructions for main contractors.
- Instructions for Secondary Contractors File
  
  Please download the detailed instructions for secondary contractors.
- Late Delivery Justification Form File
  
  Please use this form in case of late delivery of a translation.
- Quality, Penalties and Invoices presentation 2024 File
- 3.2 Instructions for IRIS platform
  
  Familiarise yourself with the processes on our software platform IRIS, from receiving translation assignments to uploading your completed task.
- Iris user guide File
  
  Please download the Iris user guide.
- Iris Video
- Please use the following link to access IRIS:
  EP Extranet with two-step authentication to reach IRIS
- 3.3 Evaluation of Translation Assignments
  Each translation assignment's quality is measured against the criteria outlined in the contract's quality requirements, using the designated error typology. The assessment is carried out on a randomly selected text sample.
- Infographic: Calculation of the Quality Mark
- Calculation of the Quality Mark File
  
  For more detailed information, please refer to the Calculation of the Quality Mark Guide.
- Evaluation Methodology for External Translators 2024
- RFI - Request for additional information on Quality Evaluation Report
  
  In order to request additional information on the evaluation report, external contractors can submit a duly completed form "RFI - Request for additional information on the evaluation report" available below and via the Iris application in the info section.
  
  After filling out the form, please send it via email to our contract execution email address: dgtrad.etucontractsexecution@europarl.europa.eu
- RFI: Request for additional information on the evaluation report File
  
  Please use this form to request additional information on the evaluation report.
- 3.4 e-Invoicing
  
  Since 2019, the European Parliament accepts invoices electronically via the European Commission's secure platform (now accessible as part of the F&T Portal).
  
  As a contractor of the European Parliament, you have the ability to establish a connection and transmit your invoices to the EP digitally.
  
  This e-Invoicing system allows suppliers to send electronic invoices, credit notes and other documents directly to the contracting authorities for payment. The platform efficiently forwards these documents to the contracting authority's back office for internal validation and processing. Additionally, it provides suppliers with updates on the status of their submitted documents.
- Infographic: e-Invoicing system
- NEW! eInvoicing - Access Form and "Cheat Sheet" Folder
- NEW! Best Practices to optimize your invoicing process using e-Prior File
- F&T / Supplier Portal User Guide File
  
  For more detailed information, please download the e-Invoicing Commission Manual.
- e-Invoicing Commission Manual File
  
  For more detailed information, please download the e-Invoicing Commission Manual.
- 3.5 Financial Identification Form (FIF)
  
  Regulatory provisions
  
  Article 86.3 (Treasury management) of the Financial Regulation (Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 September 2024 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union) states:
  
  Authorising officers shall inform the accounting officer of any change in the legal entity and payment details communicated to them by the payee and shall check that those details are valid before they authorise any payment.
  
  Please note that in compliance with these requirements and Article 17 of Internal Rules of the European Parliament, the Financial Identification Form must be used to collect and verify third party information for payment processing and legal entity registration.
  
  The new Financial Identification Form will become mandatory from April 1, 2025.
  
  Please note that the new form must be filled out electronically — no printing, no signature or stamp is required. Instead, supporting documents must be provided as necessary.
  
  The form and any supporting documents are to be sent to dgtrad.etucontractsexecution@europarl.europa.eu.
  
  You can find the new form and the instructions below.
- Financial Identification Form - new format File
- Financial Identification Form - instructions File

4. Technical Requirements

4.1 Pre-Treatment Packages
For the purpose of pre-treatment, we separate documents in two main categories: monolingual documents, i.e. documents translated from one source language, and multilingual documents, documents with several source languages.
Both monolingual and multilingual documents are further divided into one-column documents and two-column documents. One column documents are standard texts, two-column documents are EP specific documents containing amendments.
Two-column amendments have a standard format. On the left side they contain the original text, which can be amended. On the right side, they contain the proposed new text.
Depending on the type of document, the EP prepares the relevant pre-translation packages.
Infographic: Pre-treatment packages
For an overview on pre-treatment packages, please refer to the video below.
Pre-treatment packages presentation 2024 File

For more information, please refer to the presentation on Pre-treatment packages at the EP.
4.2 Monolingual documents

Inside each package, there are three folders: TMX folder, source and target language folders. Additionally, each package contains three pdf-files: page count report, Safe Working Protocol and general instructions for contractors.

The source language folder contains the original file in its original format, the SDLxliff conversion of the original file format and the pre-translated document against the Normative TM and/or the BRTM.

The target language folder contains the SDLxliff conversion of the original file format and the pre-translated document.

The TMX folder contains tmx files corresponding to references useful for translation, which have been imported into the translation memories according to the Safe Working Protocol (SWP).
For more information on monolingual documents, please refer to the following video.
General Instructions for External Contractors - Monolingual Documents File

Please download the General Instruction for External Contractors regarding monolingual documents.
4.3 Multilingual Documents
The pre-treatment package for a multilingual document contains individually zipped packages for each source to target language combination, as well as support files.
The content of the individual SL-TL zip package is different depending on whether: a) the source language is EN or any other language and b) the document contains two-column amendments or not.
General Instructions for External Contractors - Multilingual Documents File

Please download the General Instructions for External Contractors regarding multilingual documents.
Online training session on technical pre- and post-processing of multilingual amendments

Three part video recording of the 13th February 2025 training below:
Setting up a PR document with DocEP and Safe Working Protocol File

Here you can find a dedicated video on setting up a PR document in the target language with DocEP following the respective Safe Working Protocol (SWP).
Multilingual amendments - Original test package BG to ET File
Multilingual amendments - Original test package FI to MT File
Multilingual amendments - Original test package NL to SV File
Multilingual amendments - Pivot test package File

4.4 Safe Working Protocols

Please download the ETU safe working protocol for your project from the table below:

ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.1	ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.2
ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.3	ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.3.1
ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.3.2	ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.3.3
ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.3.4	ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.3.5
ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.4	ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.5.1
ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.5.3	ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.6.1
ETU Safe Working Protool 2.6.2	ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.6.3
ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.7.5	ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.7.6
ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.7.7	ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.8.1
ETU Safe Working Protocol 2.9	ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.1.1
ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.1.1B	ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.1.2
ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.1.2PRB	ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.1.3
ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.1.4	ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.1.5
ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.1.6	ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.2.1
ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.2.3	ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.3.1
ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.3.2	ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.3.3
ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.3.4	ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.3.7
ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.4.1	ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.4.3
ETU Safe Working Protocol 3.4.4	ETU Safe Working Protocol 4.1.2PA
ETU Safe Working Protocol 4.1.2PR	ETU Safe Working Protocol 4.1.3
ETU Safe Working Protocol 4.1.4	ETU Safe Working Protocol 4.1.6
ETU Safe Working Protocol 4.2.1	ETU Safe Working Protocol 4.2.2PA
ETU Safe Working Protocol 4.2.2PR	ETU Safe Working Protocol 4.2.3
ETU Safe Working Protocol 4.2.6	ETU Safe Working Protocol 4.2.7
ETU Safe Working Protocol 4.4	ETU Safe Working Protocol 5.1.1C
ETU Safe Working Protocol 5.1.1	ETU Safe Working Protocol 5.1.5
ETU Safe Working Protocol 5.3	ETU Safe Working Protocol 5.4.1
ETU Safe Working Protocol 5.4.1A	ETU Safe Working Protocol 5.4.2
ETU Safe Working Protocol 5.4.3	ETU Safe Working Protocol 5.6.1
ETU Safe Working Protocol 5.6.2	ETU Safe Working Protocol 5.6.3
ETU Safe Working Protocol 5.7	ETU Safe Working Protocol 5.8
ETU Safe Working Protocol 5.8FT	ETU Safe Working Protocol 5.9
ETU Safe Working Protocol 5.10	ETU Safe Working Protocol 6.1
ETU Safe Working Protocol 6.2

4.5 BoldItalics marco for Word

The BoldItalics macro is included in the pre-treatment package. The "SuggestBoldItalic" is a Visual Basic application designed to use with documents that feature a two-column format, such as the AM document type in the European Parliament. This application compares the content of the left-hand column with the content of the right-hand column, highlighting differences in bold and italics.

To launch the application, double-click the "SuggestBoldItalic.exe" file. It can process either the entire document or selected parts, based on your preference set before running the application. Note that it is only compatible with Microsoft Word.
BoldItalics macro for Word File

Please download the BoldItalics macro for Word for your assignment.
4.6 SPA+ Page Count

The page count module performs the page count calculation and generates the page count reports. It is an integral part of the Safe Working Protocol Automation (SPA) pre-treatment system.

The page count module provides the calculation of gross pages (the total number of translation pages) and net pages (the number of translation pages taking into account the potentially reusable segments from the Euramis retrieval). The calculation is done based on the self-alignment and retrieval TMX files of the original document sent for translation. The self-alignment TMX file is used for the calculation of gross and net pages, whereas the retrieval TMX file is used to calculate the net pages only.
Infographic: The SPA+ page count module
SPA+ Page Count Module File

For more information, please refer to the Functional Description of the SPA+ Page Count Module.
4.7 Segmentation Rules

The European Parliament uses specific segmentation rules, which are detailed in the translation memories provided to you. You are required to adhere to our segmentation rules when translating. Additionally, please preserve the segmentation of the original document whenever feasible.
Segmentation Rules File

Please download the Guide on Segmentation Rules.
Studio resources library Folder

Short video collection on interesting Studio features
4.8 EP Official Documents

DocEP is an MS Word add-in used in the European Parliament. It allows to create documents which contain the official standard phrases encoded in the Recueil de Modèles (RdM). Additionally, it adds the necessary tags, codes, styles and properties, which are used for publication of the documents in the Public Register (generation of a bibliographical note) and on Europarl (conversion into xml by Europarl services).

Please note that the requirements for translated documents stipulate that the wording and presentation must comply with the official RdM models. In addition, tagging, codes, styles and document properties must be correct in order for the documents to be published on the Europarl website and in the Public Register.

You can find information on the latest version of DocEP for external translators and installation instructions on the dedicated website https://www.europarl.europa.eu/portalep/Downloads/docep/repere/docep/Welcome.html.
Infographic: EP Official Documents
EP Official Documents: Presentation File

For more information, please refer to the presentation on the EP Official Documents.
DocEP Frequent Problems File

This document outlines the most frequent issues encountered by contractors during the installation of DocEP on computers that do not adhere to the EP's standard configuration. Before submitting a support request, please consult this document to determine if your issue is among those already identified.
DocEP Request for Assistance File

In case you need support or assistance, please refer to the Form DocEP Request for Assistance.

5. General Linguistic Requirements
- Infographic: Contractual Quality Requirements of the final translation.
- 5.1 Joint Handbook
  
  The Joint Handbook has been drafted by the legal and legal-linguistic services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission. The purpose of the Joint Handbook is to present guidelines regarding presentation and standard wording for acts subject to the ordinary legislative procedure.
  
  A PDF version in all languages is available below:
  
  BG
  
  CS
  
  DA
  
  DE
  
  EL
  
  EN
  
  ES
  
  ET
  
  FI
  
  FR
  
  GA
  
  HR
  
  HU
  
  IT
  
  LT
  
  LV
  
  MT
  
  NL
  
  PL
  
  PT
  
  RO
  
  SK
  
  SL
  
  SV
- 5.2 Inter-Institutional Style Guide
  
  The Inter-Institutional Style Guide represents an achievement in linguistic harmonisation unique in its field due to the number of language communities involved in its developments. It is intended to serve as a reference tool for written works for all European Union institutions, bodies and organisations.
  
  Its development required the establishment of an interinstitutional steering committee, which designated representatives for each institution and for each language, working under the leadership of a coordinating group based at the Publications Office.
  
  The effort of harmonising sometimes divergent practices is carried out taking into account the multilingual perspective of the institutions, which requires texts in all official languages to be comparable while retaining the specific character of each language.
  
  The Style Guide is available in all 24 official EU languages. You can change languages in the top right-hand corner.
- 5.3 Quality Handbook
  The Quality Handbook provides an overview of our quality and linguistic requirements. Additionally, it contains practical recommendations and guidelines for delivering the linguistic products and services we require.
- Quality Handbook File
  
  Please download the Quality Handbook for External Contractors.
- 5.4 Europarl and the EP Public Register
  
  Here you can discover how to find EP reference documents in Word format.
- Europarl and Parliament's Public Register URL
- 5.5 Terminology Resources
  
  The TermCoord Unit works closely with the European Parliament's External Translation Unit to provide contractors with all the resources available to translators in the language units. Contractors will find extensive material on their website linked below (Termbases, IATE, EurTerm, EU glossaries, Glossary links, DocHound, a list of external linguistic websites, widgets, search tools, etc.).
  
  Please use the following link to visit the TermCoord website: https://termcoord.eu/terminology-for-external-translators/
- Terminology at the EP presentation 2024 File
  
  For more information, please refer to the presentation on Terminology at the EP.
- Termbase Instructions for Assistants File
  
  Please download the Termbase Instructions for Assistant's, which detail how to access the Termbase functions, its usage, and recommend various settings.
- Termbase Instructions for Translators File
  
  Please download the Termbase Instructions for Translators, which detail how to access the Termbase function, its usage and recommend various settings.
- Terminology in Studio Folder
  
  Short video collection
6. Contacts
Here, you can find specific contact information tailored to your needs, whether you have questions related to assignments, technical or linguistic issues, or contract inquiries.

For any issues with assignments such as deadlines, reference documents, technical problems or quality of the originals, as well as for DocEP issues, please contact the relevant Group generic mailbox (DGTRAD ETU-A-Group, DGTRAD ETU-B-Group, etc.) as indicated on the purchase order. In case of doubt, please get in touch with dgtrad.etuplacementcoordination@europarl.europa.eu.

Please contact the external translation coordinator for the respective target language if you have any linguistic questions relating to your target language.

NB! The contact point on the contractor side for getting in touch with the ETCs should be the respective project managers.

BG
CS

DA

DE

EL

EN

ES

ET

FI

FR

GA

HR

HU

IT

LT

LV

MT

NL

PL

PT

RO

SK

SL

SV

For support in the use of the Iris portal, please contact dgtrad.etucontractsexecution@europarl.europa.eu.

For contract-related queries, including requests for information about the quality marks, please contact dgtrad.etucontractsexecution@europarl.europa.eu.

In case of any changes to the legal entity/postal address/bank account, please contact dgtrad.etucontractsexecution@europarl.europa.eu (please see Section 3.5 ‘Financial Identification Form’).

For issues related to invoicing and payments, please contact dgtrad.finance@europarl.europa.eu.

Placement Team: dgtrad.etuplacementcoordination@europarl.europa.eu

Head of Placement Team: Ms Tsveta Sergeeva

Team Coordinator: Ms Ciara Barker Murphy

Contract Management and Budget Execution Team: dgtrad.etucontractsexecution@europarl.europa.eu.

Head of the Budget Execution Team: Mr Richard Dobiáš

Head of the Contract Management Team: Ms Evelina Dimova

Head of the External Translation Unit

Mr Tom Skinner

Queries will be handled during the following official working hours of the EP:

- From Monday to Thursday, and on Fridays before a Strasbourg part-session (‘long Fridays’): 08h30 - 17h45
- Other Fridays (‘short Fridays’): 08h30 - 13h30

All times local Luxembourg time.
- Communication between DGTRAD and External Contractors File
  
  Explore our Communication Guidelines to ensure effective and professional interactions.

Topic outline

1. Announcements

2. Translating for the European Parliament

3. Contract Implementation

4. Technical Requirements

5. General Linguistic Requirements

6. Contacts