“Ik ben Martijn, jurist-linguïst bij het Europees Hof van Justitie in Luxemburg. Na mijn rechtenstudie in Leiden en een periode als universitair docent wilde ik ervaring opdoen op het gebied van Europees recht. Dus solliciteerde ik bij meerdere Europese instellingen, waaronder het Hof van Justitie. Ik had meer bepaald een stage bij de directie Onderzoek en Documentatie op het oog, maar uiteindelijk was het mijn huidige afdelingshoofd die me van een algemene lijst sollicitanten plukte met de vraag of ik geen interesse had in een stage bij de Nederlandstalige vertaalafdeling. Nu had ik weliswaar een perfecte kennis van het Engels, maar een zeer beperkte achtergrond in het Duits en het (veel belangrijkere) Frans. Maar het afdelingshoofd had er wel vertrouwen in.

En zo geschiedde. Dankzij de uitstekende begeleiding vertaal ik vijf jaar later niet alleen uit die drie talen, maar ook uit het Spaans, en ben ik begonnen het werk van anderen te reviseren. Wat mij het meeste aan dit werk bevalt, is dan ook de mogelijkheid en in feite het vereiste om je taalkundige kennis te blijven ontwikkelen.

Maar ons werk is ook vanuit juridisch oogpunt erg interessant. We krijgen stukken onder ogen uit elke stap van de (inhoudelijk uiteenlopende) zaken voor het Hof: van verzoekschrift of prejudiciële vraag tot de einduitspraak. Specifiek in zaken waarin aan het Hof een vraag wordt gesteld door een Nederlandse of Vlaamse rechter spelen wij bovendien een rol bij de verwerking van deze vragen met het oog op de vertaling naar alle andere officiële talen.

Daarnaast is Luxemburg een heel fijne stad om in te wonen. Heel groen, maar ook levendig en natuurlijk erg internationaal. Dat geldt ook voor het Hof zelf, waar je per definitie samenwerkt met mensen uit alle uithoeken van de Europese Unie. En ik kan uit eigen ervaring zeggen dat dit echt een verrijking is, niet alleen professioneel: ik heb inmiddels vrienden uit heel Europa en heb mijn Spaanse verloofde op het Hof … het hof gemaakt. Kan het nog mooier?

Toen ik hier begon, als toch wel erg nerveuze stagiair, had ik nooit kunnen dromen dat ik ruim vijf jaar later in Luxemburg een leven zou hebben opgebouwd.”

“Ik ben Ingrid en werk al meer dan 20 jaar als jurist-linguïst bij het Hof van Justitie. Ervaren collega’s leerden mij de kneepjes van het vak. Dankzij hen kon ik al snel zelfstandig vertalen. Tegenwoordig ondersteun ik nieuwe collega’s door kwaliteitscontrole te verrichten. Het werk schenkt me nog steeds bijzonder veel voldoening.

Of ik nu vertaal of controleer, het blijft boeiend om steeds met zeer verschillende juridische, veelal actuele, onderwerpen bezig te zijn: asielproblematiek, grote kartelzaken, bescherming bedreigde diersoorten, om er maar enkele te noemen. Ook al woon ik nu in Luxemburg, via de zaken bij het Hof ben ik steeds in zekere zin betrokken bij de grote maatschappelijke problemen in de verschillende lidstaten, dus ook in Nederland.

Voor de vrije tijd buiten het werk is Luxemburg een heerlijk land om in te wonen, vooral ook voor natuurliefhebbers: er zijn ontelbare wandelroutes door prachtige landschappen en je hoeft er nooit ver voor te reizen.”

“Trabalhar como jurista-linguista no Tribunal de Justiça permite ter um conhecimento profundo da jurisprudência da União num alargado domínio de áreas do Direito, como por exemplo Direito da Concorrência, do Ambiente, Penal ou Fiscal. Também permite ter uma perspetiva dos sistemas jurídicos e da legislação nacional dos Estados-Membros. É um trabalho enriquecedor e desafiante, que exige um bom conhecimento de diferentes línguas da União. Por outro lado, os juristas-linguistas estão também envolvidos em vários projetos, como por exemplo no âmbito da terminologia, das ferramentas informáticas de tradução, prestando ainda apoio aos outros serviços do Tribunal de Justiça.”

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“Working as a lawyer-linguist in the ECJ allows you to have a broad knowledge of European case-law in a wide range of subjects, including competition, environmental, criminal or tax law. It also gives you an overview of the Member States legal systems and national legislations. It is a fulfilling and challenging job, which requires a good command of several EU languages. Lawyer linguists are also involved in a number of other projects, for example in the field of terminology, software tools and support to other Units and services of the Court.”

“I have been working as a lawyer-linguist for the Spanish translation unit of the Court of Justice of the European Union since 2017. My main tasks include translating and revising translations of documents of the Court of Justice (judgments, orders, opinions...). Furthermore, I analyse and summarise references for a preliminary ruling submitted by Spanish courts.

My job allows me to combine my two areas of specialisation, i.e. the law and languages. In addition to working in a multilingual environment, carrying out my tasks autonomously and learning new languages, I consider it a privilege to translate the case law of the Court of Justice into my mother tongue and to be in close contact with developments and changes in European Union law.”

“I have been an official for the past year and a half, but I have been at the Court of Justice, first as a trainee then a temporary agent, since 2017 (with a break to continue my legal training). I trained as a translator, which I followed up with a law diploma – a requirement for lawyer linguists at the Court of Justice – before coming to Court as a trainee with the English language translation unit.

My working languages are French, German, Italian, Spanish and Greek – one of the aspects of working for the EU that I appreciate the most is how multilingualism is an integral part of everything we do, so my languages are put to practical use on a daily basis!”

“I joined the English translation unit at the Court of Justice after completing a degree in French and Czech, followed by a law conversion course and then the LPC. I was keen to use my language skills and was interested in legal drafting, so the job appealed to me from the outset.

However, while legal writing skills are an important part of our work, the role of a lawyer-linguist involves much more than translation. We are called on to liaise with members of the Judges’ chambers on the precise meaning and nuances to be given to a finished translation and in my time here I have been involved in terminology work, mentoring and recruitment. I have followed a wide range of training courses, covering the latest information technology tools, European and comparative law and personal development. We are also encouraged to acquire additional languages, in my case Spanish and Polish.

In my view, a career as an EU lawyer-linguist is stimulating and rewarding for anyone who enjoys word-play and problem solving. It is also fascinating to work at the forefront of the latest developments in EU law.”

“I have been working for the Court since 2011, starting as a stagiaire (intern) in the English Translation Unit – now, I advise the Unit on Quality Management issues, in addition to translating from French, Italian, Polish and Romanian (the last two of which I had the opportunity to learn through the Court’s language classes) and correcting freelance and in-house colleagues’ translations from these languages.

My background is primarily in modern languages – my degree was in French and Italian – so it is a real joy to work in an institution and a country where I get to use them every day! Working as a lawyer linguist has also helped me to expand and consolidate my knowledge of EU law (I obtained the Graduate Diploma in Law and completed the Legal Practice Course before coming to Luxembourg) and to gain a deeper insight into the legal systems of the individual Member States.”

"Crisis management encompasses the response to emergencies, in Europe and around the world. Organised along the pillars of civil protection and humanitarian aid, crisis management, for DG ECHO, means tight deadlines, coordination with the other EU institutions and the Member States and with international organisations, travel, and, most of all, the sense that you are doing something that brings tangible benefits to millions. I work in communication – keeping the public informed on what the Union is doing in response to crises from the COVID-19 pandemic to the activation of the civil protection mechanism for Ukraine, to the organization of humanitarian air bridges to the strengthening of the EU’s firefighting fleet. Every day brings something different."

" My name is Emmanuel, I am from France, and I speak English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German – the five languages of the Office. The EUIPO, where I started working back in 2008 as an external Project Manager, was my first European institution. A couple of years later I started working in International Cooperation, which brought me closer to IP - and I loved it. A few years later, after a period working for the European Parliament, I passed a competition for IP professionals and went onto work in Design examinations in the Operations Department of the EUIPO.  
I deeply enjoy my work within the Operations department, especially the balance between examining designs (core business) and being part of more horizontal projects such as Artificial Intelligence applied to trade marks and designs (mostly for image recognition and automatic classification). One of the activities that I love getting involved in is delivering presentations and conferences to international stakeholders. For instance, next October I'll be going to Cameroon to train African examiners on designs. In the past, I also had the chance to visit Latin American countries such as Costa Rica, Peru, or Ecuador in the context of International Cooperation. 
Alicante is a great place to live if you are an outdoor enthusiast. I enjoy activities such as sailing and hiking. Alicante has a manageable size, and it was not difficult at all to adapt when I first arrived."
 

“European transport policy touches upon everyone’s daily lives. That is what I realised soon after I started working in the Transport Committee of the European Parliament 15 years ago. I am now in DG MOVE (Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport) in the inter-institutional relations team.

In this coordination unit, you have a very good overview of the DG and the pending ad upcoming MOVE proposals. It’s a perfect position to understand the working methods and dynamics of other institutions as well. It is extremely interesting to closely follow the proposals though the different stages of the co-legislation process and to see how the text evolves in the Council working parties/Coreper meetings and parliamentary Committees/plenaries, and later during the trilogue negotiations”.