Working with EU institutions -- style, terminology, and process
The European Commission, European Parliament, Council of the EU, and EU agencies each publish style guides and terminology databases that govern how their documents should be written and translated. IATE (Interactive Terminology for Europe) contains millions of validated term entries. The EU translation style guide runs to hundreds of pages. Translators unfamiliar with these resources produce output that, while linguistically accurate, fails the institutional review because it does not follow the established conventions.
Our EU institutional translation team has worked directly within European institutions or with organisations that regularly submit documentation to them. They know the style requirements, the preferred terminology sources, and the formatting conventions for official documents.
Who needs EU institutional translation
This service is used by a specific range of clients with direct dealings with EU bodies.
- Companies applying for EU funding, grants, and Horizon Europe projects
- Manufacturers submitting technical documentation to ECHA, EFSA, or EMA
- Law firms representing clients in EU competition or antitrust proceedings
- Trade associations submitting position papers to EU consultations
- National authorities and regional bodies communicating with EU institutions
- NGOs submitting reports or complaints to EU oversight bodies
All 24 official EU languages
The EU operates in all 24 official languages, from Bulgarian to Swedish. We maintain active translator relationships across all 24, with particular depth in the major Western European languages (Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch) and growing capacity across Central and Eastern European languages. For less common pairings, we can confirm capacity before you commit to an order.
EU funding applications and project documentation
Horizon Europe proposals, Structural Funds applications, and LIFE programme documentation must meet specific format and language requirements. A mistranslation in a funding proposal can affect the evaluation score and the likelihood of award. We have assisted Italian research consortia, SMEs, and local authorities with translated funding applications and the ongoing reporting documentation required during project execution.