Governments agree deal on interpreters

Date: 23/03/2000

By Rory Watson

FREELANCE interpreters working for the European Commission will in future be guaranteed equal treatment with their colleagues in the Parliament under an agreement brokered by the Portuguese presidency.

After months of negotiations, Lisbon succeeded in winning foreign ministers' support this week for moves to ensure that interpreters will be subject to EU - not national - tax, no matter which institution they work for.

The decision restores the regime which was in place until the European Court of First Instance ruled in July 1998 that the arrangements for Commission-recruited freelancers were not sufficiently anchored in law.

The judgement raised the prospect of interpreters doing the same work in two Union institutions being treated differently, particularly over pay. By amending the staff regulation this week, foreign ministers ended this potential anomaly.

The breakthrough came after a climbdown by Spain. Despite Madrid's long-standing support for the proposal, outgoing Foreign Minister Abel Matutes unexpectedly abstained in a vote on the issue last month. His decision took both the Portuguese presidency and his own staff by surprise, and scuppered any chance of securing the necessary qualified majority. Five weeks later, again without any explanation, Matutes reversed his earlier stance and supported the scheme. Only Belgium, Denmark and Sweden, voted against, while Germany abstained.

The agreement means an end to the disruptive action which interpreters had been taking in the Council of Ministers since the end of February to draw attention to their grievance. This had involved stopping work for an hour once a week, bringing meetings of delegates, working groups and, on one occasion, the deliberations of both EU ambassadors and their deputies, to a hasty conclusion.

Freelance interpreters working for the European Commission will in future be guaranteed equal treatment with their colleagues in the Parliament under an agreement brokered by the Portuguese Presidency.