The German EU Council Presidency Translator

Abstract

This contribution describes the German EU Council Presidency Translator (EUC PT), a machine translation service created for the German EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2020, which is open to the general public. Following a series of earlier presidency translators, the German version exhibits important extensions and improvements. The German EUC PT is the first to integrate systems from commercial vendors, public services, and a research center, using a mix of custom and generic translation engines, and to introduce a new webpage translation widget. A further important feature is the close collaboration with human translators from the German ministries, who were provided with computer-assisted translation tool plugins integrating machine translation services into their daily work environments. Uptake by the public reflects a huge interest in the service, showing the need for breaking language barriers.