Now it is the turn of the Maltese language. According to Regulation 1/1958 Maltese is an official language. Then the Council adopted Regulation 930/2004 setting up a transitional period of three years from May 1st 2004 during which the institutions would not be obliged to draft all acts in Maltese. But it was also agreed that the Council would review the operation of that Regulation and decide whether it should be extended for a further year.
The Council has now undertaken that review and adopted Regulation 1738/2006 which decides not to extend the period for a further year. That means all new acts of the institutions must be adopted and published in Maltese from April 30th 2007.
As for acts that have not already been translated and published in Maltese, they should be published in that language by December 31st 2008, according to Article 3 of Regulation 1738/2006.
Has anyone ever costed all this ? It would come as no surprise that the cost of translating into Maltese - a cost borne by all member States - exceeds the GDP of Malta!
While studying abroad in Austria this summer I learned about the EU's policy of translating all documents into each of the official languages. The professor pointed out the silliness of the policy, citing the huge cost and practical challenges. His example of a language that the EU should not bother with? Maltese. If anyone knows where I could go about learning this language I would appreciate some guidance. I imagine the pool of Maltese translators is quite small and profitable.
Posted by: Paul | December 03, 2006 at 09:18 AM