Interpreters are very important in the European Parliament, because they allow the deputies to understand each other. Indeed, every member of the Parliament can express himself in the language of his choice, so the role of the interpreters is to see to it that every meeting takes place as if everyone spoke the same language. However, we mustn't mistake interpreters for translators : a translator is somebody who translates by writing and an interpreter translates a speech orally.

	The Parliament is the most important employer in the world for the interpreters and the translators, who constitute near a third of its staff (about 1500 persons). The medium number of the interpreters mobilized during plenary sessions, where a simultaneous interpreting is assured into and from all official languages of the Union, is between eight hundred and a thousand. 

The interpretation is mainly used for:
- The plenary sessions;
- The meetings of parliamentary committees, parliamentary delegations, joint parliamentary assemblies;
- The meetings of political groups;
- The press conferences;
- The conference of presidents

	Interpreting is not a translation word for word, but the transmission of a message, taken in a language and faithfully transcribed into another one. Working in real time, the interpreters perform under pressure, simultaneously delivering the message of the original speech into another language. They listen and speak at the same time, that's why they must have a selective listening which allows them to focus on the message rather than words. 

	Interpreters work thirty minutes maximum in a row, because they must be as concentrated as possible, and they can't take the time to think about what they have to say, but they must translate directly into the other language, they have a quick rhythm to follow. They are installed in special booths, and they follow the intervention by using headphones, and translate into a microphone. The field of vision from the booth must allow to see the conference, because interpreters need to see the different reactions of the members of the parliament.

	Interpreting is very complex. Indeed, the speaking time available for each member of the plenary sessions is limited, so the European deputies speak very quickly, and sometimes they read their notes prepared beforehand. It is then extremely difficult for the interpreters to understand and speak simultaneously. Moreover, the puns are sometimes very difficult to translate, and it may be impossible to transcribe a pun into another language, because the meaning of the sentence is not the same anymore. Moreover, each interpreter works from the original language into his mother tongue. There are 506 language combinations which are possible (23x22 languages) and all the languages are treated equally, that's why it's not always easy to find a person able to translate a rare laguage into another one. In this case, a system of relay is used : the speech is translated, but the interpreters use a third language, which is a pivot language.

	The meetings of parliament are essentially in Strasbourg and Brussels, but sometimes, they take place in other countries, that’s why the interpreters travel a lot. 

	Finally, interpreting is an hard job, but it is also very interesting and rewarding for people who love languages.