Mapping Best Multilingual Business Practices in the EU

INTRODUCTIONThis is the final report of the ‘Study on best multilingual business practices in the EU’,conducted by Bureau van Dijk Information Management for the DirectorateGeneral forTranslationintheEuropeanCommission.ThestudymapsbestmultilingualbusinesspracticesinEuropeanundertakingsandpresentsasetofrecommendationsbasedontheidentificationofcasestudiesinindividualcompaniesandanoverviewofmultilingualbusinessstrategiesintheEuropeanUnion.Theobjectivesofthestudyareto: analyse best practices for multilingualism in European companies taking intoaccounttheneedtotargetnewcustomersandnewmarketsandalsotobuildlastingstrategicrelationships;identifythebenefitsofthosebestpracticesforEuropeancompaniesandEuropeaninstitutionsforfuturereferencewithaviewtoimprovingeconomicactivity.The expected results of the study are twofold: the identification of best practices inmultilingualbusinessinEuropeancountries;andthedefinitionofrecommendationsbasedoncasestudiesinindividualcompanies.1.THEEUROPEANBUSINESSENVIRONMENTIn the European Union, multilingualism concerns a population of 500 million Europeancitizens, spread over 27 states, involving 23 official languages: Bulgarian, Czech, Danish,Dutch,English,Estonian,Finnish,French,German,Greek,Hungarian,Irish,Italian,Latvian,Lithuanian,Maltese,Polish,Portuguese,Romanian,Slovak,Slovenian,Spanish,andSwedish.Bywayofcomparison,thereare105officiallanguagesintheworld.InallEUcountries,theservicesector(banking,tourism,transport,insuranceetc.)generatesover 60% of gross domestic product (GDP). Although industry and agriculture are stillimportantsectors,theireconomicimportancehasdeclinedinrecentyears.ThesinglemarketisoneoftheEuropeanUnion'sgreatestachievements.IthashelpedtodismantleeconomicbarriersinEuropeandtoincreasecompetition,leadingtobetterqualitygoods and services and lower prices. These price reductions have been particularlyperceptible in the fields of air travel and communications. The single market has greatlyfacilitated trade between Member States. Goods, services, capital and people now movefreelybeyondnationalborders.Onaverage,tradebetweenEUMemberStatesrepresentstwothirdsoftotalEUtrade,althoughthelevelsvarybetweenMemberStates.5