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ANNEX - Provisions applicable to Staff Interpreters and Conference Interpreting Agents at the European Parliament
Article 1 - Definitions
Article 2 - Interpreters' duties
Article 3 - Working hours
Article 4 -Organisation of interpreting
Article 5 - Assignments to other institutions
Article 6 - Simultaneous interpreting assignments
Article 7 - Late assignments
Article 8 - Early assignments
Article 9 - Daily span
Article 10 - Interpreting teams
Article 11 - Breaks
Article 12 - Overruns
Article 13 - Guaranteed evenings off
Article 14 - Child care and assignments in Strasbourg
Article 15 - Rest time after evening and night interpreting assignments in the three usual places of work
Article 16 - Rest time after intercontinental missions
Article 17 - Plenary sessions
Article 18 - Conciliation committee meetings
Article 19 - Meetings of political groups in Strasbourg
Article 20 - On-call duty and standby duty
Article 21 - Missions
Article 22 - Missions outside the three usual places of work
Article 23 - Compensatory leave ('Récupération')
Article 24 - Training and technical standards
Article 25 - Follow-Up Group on Working Conditions
Article 26 - Final clauses
      ANNEX - I - Specific provisions applicable to Conference Interpreting Agents (ACIs)
            Article 1
            Article 2
            Article 3
            Article 4
            Article 5
      ANNEX - II A non-exhaustive list of interpreters' quantifiable and non-quantifiable noninterpreting duties and tasks

Provisions applicable to Staff Interpreters and Conference Interpreting Agents at the European Parliament

DECISION

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

- HAVING REGARD TO the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, laid down in Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 OJ L 56, 4.3.1968, p. 1 as amended ("the Staff Regulations") and, in particular, Article 55 thereof;
- HAVING REGARD TO the Agreement on Working Conditions and the Pecuniary Regime for Auxiliary Conference Interpreters (ACIs) recruited by the Institutions of the European Union;
- HAVING REGARD TO the opinions delivered by the Staff Committee on 17 July 2018, the Committee on Equal Opportunities and Diversity and the Data Protection Officer on 18 July 2018;

WHEREAS
- high-quality interpretation is a priority for DG LINC, interpreters and the European Parliament as a whole;
- interpretation services at the European Parliament are provided both by staff interpreters and Conference Interpreter Agents (ACIs);
- the European Parliament increasingly provides interpretation for other European institutions and bodies;
- it is appropriate to take into account the specific aspects of the profession of interpreter and to define the administrative provisions to this end;
- the above considerations warrant the adoption of specific working conditions for interpreters, within the meaning of Article 55, that guarantee the smooth provision of interpreting services and protect interpreters' well-being and work-life balance;

HAS DECIDED:

Sole Article

The 'Provisions applicable to Staff interpreters and Conference Interpreting Agents' annexed hereto shall take effect as from 8 September 2018.

Klaus WELLE

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ANNEX = Provisions applicable to Staff Interpreters and Conference Interpreting Agents at the European Parliament

Article 1 - Definitions

For the purpose of these provisions, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) 'simultaneous' is a mode of interpreting where the interpreter sits in a booth, listens to the speaker in one language through headphones, and immediately conveys the speaker's message into a microphone in another language;
(b) 'valise' is a specific form of simultaneous interpreting where the interpreter does not sit in a booth but is physically present in the same space as the speaker and other participants, listens to the speaker in one language through headphones and immediately conveys the speaker's message into a microphone in another language, using portable interpreting equipment (the 'valise');
(c) 'whispering' ('chuchotage') is a mode of interpreting where the interpreter is situated in the same room as the speaker and next to ideally not more than three interpretation users and interprets for them simultaneously in a whisper;
(d) 'consecutive' is a mode of interpreting where the interpreter is in the same room as the speaker and follows his/her speech while taking notes and then presents the interpretation;
(e) 'active language' is a language into which interpretation is provided;
(f) 'passive language' is a language from which interpretation is provided;
(g) 'asymmetric team' is a team of interpreters providing interpretation into a number of active languages that differs from the number of passive languages;
(h) 'pivot' is an interpreter providing interpretation into his/her main active language from a passive language not covered in all booths on the team;
(i) 'retour' is interpretation from an interpreter's main active language into a different active language;
(j) 'team leader' is the interpreter designated to lead a team of interpreters assigned to a meeting or mission and liaise with the organisers;
(k) 'interpreting assignment' is any assignment in simultaneous, valise, consecutive and whispering modes; the start time, end time and duration of an interpreting assignment is measured according to scheduled time as entered in the interpreter's weekly programme;
(l) 'late assignment' is an assignment scheduled to end after 18:45 in Brussels or Luxembourg and after 21:00 in Strasbourg;
(m) 'early assignment' is an assignment scheduled to start before 08:30 in any of Parliament's places of work;
(n) 'stand-by duty' is an assignment where interpreters are available at their place of work for the duration of the assignment and ready to be deployed to a meeting immediately;
(o) 'on-call duty' is the time when interpreters are assignable and are authorised to be off the premises; they have to be reachable and, in case of service need, able to be on the premises within 30 minutes after having been contacted. This time may be used by interpreters to perform their non-quantifiable duties and tasks.
(p) 'rest time' is a period of time where an interpreter is recovering from a previous assignment and is therefore unavailable for assignments and duties;
(q) 'Overrun' is when an assignment continues past its scheduled finish time as originally entered in the interpreters' weekly programme;

Article 2 - Interpreters' duties

1 . Interpreters shall perform the following specific duties within the meaning of these provisions:
a) interpretation in simultaneous [Sight translation is practised as part of simultaneous interpreting but not as a recognised interpreting mode], (including valise), consecutive and whispering ('chuchotage') modes;
b) standby duty at their place of work.

2. In addition to these specific duties, interpreters are subject to the same rights and obligations arising from the Staff Regulations as are applicable to all staff members in the same grade.

These rights and obligations include, but are not limited to, the following duties:
a) meeting preparation;
b) travel between the European Parliament's usual places of work and to other places;
c) information and training measures for the maintenance of their job skills and the acquisition of additional skills,
d) learning additional languages by agreement; preparation of and participation in competitions, tests and training exercises;
f) participation in meetings of the Staff Interpreters' Delegation and in meetings of DG LINC working parties;
g) on-call duty.

A more extensive, albeit non-exhaustive, list of such duties is included in Annex ll.

Article 3 - Working hours

1 . The usual working hours are those of the European Parliament's Secretariat as laid down by decision of the Secretary-General pursuant to the Staff Regulations.

2. The working week consists of 40 - 42 hours from Monday morning to 13:30 on Friday, with the exception of weeks preceding Strasbourg part-sessions, which include Friday afternoons.

3. The Programming Unit shall endeavour to take into account a justified impediment to working outside the usual working hours.

Article 4 -Organisation of interpreting

1 . DG LINC, under the authority of the Secretary-General, is responsible for the quality of interpreters' work and therefore for the recruitment of interpreters and the organisation of language aspects of meetings.

2. In order to ensure quality where mixed teams (teams including interpreters hired by other bodies) are required, all interpreters so hired shall be subject to the prior agreement of DG LINC and their work shall be monitored and a report submitted on it.

Article 5 - Assignments to other institutions

1. Where European Parliament staff interpreters or Conference Interpreting Agents (ACIs) hired by the European Parliament are assigned to meetings of other institutions, the assignment rules applicable in those institutions shall apply i

2. All other provisions of the present rules shall apply.

3. In the absence of any other rules, the provisions of the present rules shall apply. ['Assignment rules' means team composition, duration of interpreting assignments and meeting preparation]

Article 6 - Simultaneous interpreting assignments

The provisions of Article 22 notwithstanding:

1 Interpreters shall not be assigned to more than 7.5 hours per day. When unavoidable operational constraints arise, DG LINC may assign interpreters up to 8 hours a day as defined in Article 2(1) for a maximum of two times a week, four times a month and fifteen times a year. Programming shall endeavour to balance out the 8-hour-days equally across the year.

2. Interpreting assignments may be combined with other assignments or quantifiable administrative duties for an overall duration not exceeding 8 hours. However, interpreting assignments of an overall duration of 7.5 hours per day shall not be combined with any other assignments or quantifiable non-interpreting duties.

3. On Mondays during part-sessions in Strasbourg, Programming shall endeavour not to assign interpreters to more than 5 hours of interpreting. When interpreting assignments exceed 5 hours, the interpreter will have no assignments on the morning of the following day.

4. Interpreters shall not be given interpretation assignments for more than 28 hours in any given week, from Monday to Sunday inclusive.

5. The maximum duration of an uninterrupted interpreting assignment is 4 hours, except where other specific provisions apply.

6. The maximum duration of an interpreting assignment shall be reduced for Parliament's plenary sessions and other meetings as referred to in Article 17.

7. The maximum duration of an uninterrupted interpreting assignment may be extended for conciliation meetings in accordance with Article 18.

8. The maximum duration of an uninterrupted interpreting assignment may be extended for political group meetings in Strasbourg in accordance with Article 19.

9. Travel for missions shall not be considered equivalent to interpreting assignments.

Article 7 - Late assignments

Without prejudice to Article 3, in Parliament's places of work, interpreters may not be given late assignments more than twice a week and five times a month. In months where one plenary session is held in Strasbourg, three late assignments may be given in Brussels and two in Strasbourg. In months when two plenary sessions are held in Strasbourg, two late assignments may be given in Brussels and three in Strasbourg.

Article 8 - Early assignments

In Parliament's places of work, interpreters should not be given early assignments more than four times a month and two times a week. For meetings in Brussels, Programming shall endeavour to avoid a second early meeting per week.

Article 9 - Daily span

When the daily span exceeds 11 hours, the interpreter shall be given an uninterrupted break of four hours during the day. When the daily span reaches or exceeds 12 hours, the interpreter shall be given an uninterrupted break of five hours during the day.

Article 10 - Interpreting teams

1 . The number of interpreters per booth for simultaneous interpretation varies with the number of languages, and in particular:
- there must be 2 interpreters per booth for up to 6 passive languages;
- there must be 3 interpreters per booth for 7 or more passive languages (e.g. 7 into 3).

2. The Programming Unit may assign an additional interpreter in one or more booths as required in order to provide adequate language coverage, most notably in booths providing 'retour' and in the case of asymmetric teams.

3. Meetings in simultaneous mode with 2 languages can be covered by a team of 3 interpreters. In these cases, one of the interpreters must be capable of replacing either of the other two.

4. In meetings where relay interpreting cannot be avoided, teams shall include at least 2 'pivot' interpreters for each language, and they must work in different booths and into different languages. However, for different languages as determined by the availability of resources, the two 'pivots' required to cover certain languages may be assigned to the same booth and/or work into the same 'retour' language.

Article 11 - Breaks

1 . Interpreters who have only one assignment on a given day should be on call for the first period for which they are not assigned, unless the Programming Unit gives them instructions to the contrary.

2. Interpreters shall be entitled to a break of not less than 1 hour and 30 minutes. This break shall start at the latest after every uninterrupted interpreting assignment lasting a total of 4 hours or after a series of such assignments lasting a total of 4 hours.

3. By way of derogation to Article 11 (2), the break can be reduced to a minimum of 45 minutes if the total combined duration of interpreting assignments on the day is 5.5 hours or less. This break should be in a time slot between 11.30 and 15.00 h. These assignments shall be organised in such a way that the total span of the day does not exceed seven hours. In such cases, interpreters shall have no other assignments or quantifiable administrative duties on the same day.

Article 12 Overruns

As a matter of principle, interpreters are not bound to grant interpretation beyond the planned meeting time schedule. Therefore, all necessary measures, incl. user guidelines, shall be taken to avoid overruns.

Article 13 - Guaranteed evenings off

1 . Interpreters may enter their names in a register of guaranteed evenings off kept by the Programming Unit for meetings taking place in Brussels.

2. They may not enter their names in that register more than once per week or for a day on which there is a night plenary session.

3. The Programming Unit shall keep the register of guaranteed evenings off so that interpreters can register no less than two weeks in advance.

The Programming Unit shall confirm the application for a guaranteed evening off no less than one week in advance.

If the Programming Unit is unable to grant an application for a guaranteed evening off for work-related reasons, the interpreter concerned shall be notified of the refusal and of the reasons no less than one week ahead of the date.

If the interpreter does not receive a reply by that time, the application shall be accepted by default.

4. An interpreter whose name is entered in the register may not be assigned to a meeting scheduled to end after 18:45.

Article 14 - Child care and assignments in Strasbourg

Interpreters with children who have obtained a place in Parliament's child-care facilities in Strasbourg during a part-session shall notify the Programming Unit and the Head of language Unit by e-mail as early as possible and no later than 10 working days before the date concerned. Where such notification has been received, the interpreters concerned shall not be assigned to meetings scheduled to end later than 15 minutes before the closing time or scheduled to start earlier than 15 minutes after the opening time of Parliament's child-care facilities.

Article 15 - Rest time after evening and night interpreting assignments in the three usual places of work

1. In Parliament's places of work, interpreters shall be entitled to a rest time of 11 hours starting from the scheduled end of their last interpreting assignment of the day.

2. An interpreter who discharges an interpreting assignment scheduled to end after 21 may not be assigned to another meeting until 1 1 the following day.

3. An interpreter who discharges an interpreting assignment scheduled to end after 23:00 may not be assigned to another meeting until 14:30 the following day.

4. An interpreter who discharges an interpreting assignment scheduled to end after midnight must be given rest time for the remainder of the day.

Article 16 - Rest time after intercontinental missions

1 Interpreters shall not be assigned to specific interpreting or quantifiable administrative duties within 24 hours of their return from an intercontinental mission.

2. Intercontinental missions may also entitle interpreters to compensatory leave as laid down in Article 23.

Article 17 - Plenary sessions

1 . Assignments to Parliament's plenary sessions and meetings of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly; as well as EUROLAT and EURONEST Parliamentary Assemblies when the latter two are taking place in Parliament's places of work, shall be limited to two 2.5 hour sessions per day separated by a break of at least 90 minutes. Interpreters assigned to these meetings may not be given any other assignments or quantifiable administrative duties on the same day.

2. Interpreters may be assigned to a single plenary session as referred to in paragraph 1 for a maximum of 3 hours. In these cases, the interpreter may not be assigned to more than 3.5 hours of other meetings or four hours of political group meetings the same day. A break of at least 90 minutes shall separate such additional assignments and the single plenary session.

3. Interpreters may not be assigned to Parliament's plenary sessions on more than 2 days in the same week. For certain languages, however, this limit may be exceeded as determined by the availability of resources.

Article 18 - Conciliation committee meetings

1 Because of the specific nature of conciliation committee meetings, the maximum duration of an interpreting assignment to these meetings may be extended to 5 hours. Because of this extension, teams must consist of a minimum of 3 interpreters per booth, irrespective of the number of passive languages.

2. For conciliation committee meetings which continue beyond 5 hours or are open- ended, the following rules shall be applicable:
- first-shift teams shall be assigned for a period of 5 hours from the starting time of the meeting;
- second-shift teams shall replace first-shift teams 5 hours after the starting time of the meeting and shall continue to work until the conclusion of the meeting

Article 19 - Meetings of political groups in Strasbourg

1 . By way of derogation to Article 11, assignments to political group meetings in the afternoons of part-session weeks shall be limited to 6 hours per day. Whenever possible, these assignments should be organised either with a break of a minimum of 45 minutes at some time between the beginning of the first and the end of the last assignment or with a maximum of four hours of successive meetings of political groups combined with assignments to other meetings separated by a 90-minute break. When this is not possible, each booth working more than 4 hours shall be reinforced with an additional interpreter whenever this is feasible without any additional recruitment. If this cannot be achieved, the interpreters shall not be assigned to the first plenary shift on the following day.

2. The number of interpreters in each booth shall remain unchanged during the entire succession of assignments irrespective of the number of passive languages of individual meetings.

3. Interpreters whose assignments to political group meetings reach an overall duration of 6 hours shall have no other assignments or quantifiable administrative duties on the rest of the day.

Article 20 - On-call duty and standby duty

1. On-call duty hours ('permanence') are as follows [ Interpreters need to be reachable on their mobile phone during standard working hours.]:
8:30 to 11:00;
14:30 to 17:30.

2. During periods of reduced parliamentary activity, shorter on-call hours shall be applied.

3. When on call, interpreters must reach the meeting to which they have been reassigned within half an hour of being called by the Programming Unit.

4. On Mondays of Strasbourg part-session weeks, on-call duty hours are as follows:
- interpreters working at or before 17:00 must make sure that they arrive in Strasbourg in good time for their meetings;
- interpreters assigned to meetings starting after 17:00 must be in Strasbourg by 15:30. They are on call from that time on.

5. Standby duty hours are from 9:00 to 12:30 and from 14:30 to 18:00. [ Interpreters who are on standby duty must be on Parliament's premises during those times.]

6. When interpreters are not performing an interpreting assignment or a quantifiable noninterpreting duty, they may use their remaining weekly working time to perform their non-quantifiable duties as referred to in Annex ll.

Article 21 - Missions

1. DG LINC shall endeavour to reach an agreement with any interpreter who has to be sent on mission for more than two successive weeks or more than three weeks over a period of three months.

2. If the number of listeners is greater than 3, whispering may be replaced by another interpreting mode.

3. The language regime on the basis of which the team is formed may not be changed after departure, except to reduce the number of languages.

Article 22 - Missions outside the three usual places of work

1. Where interpreters are required to travel outside the standard travelling hours as laid down in the Guide to Missions, they shall be entitled to one half-day of rest time before their departure and/or after their return, as appropriate.

2. On mission, working hours shall be applied flexibly provided that this does not adversely affect the quality of interpreters' work. The team leader on the spot shall be responsible for deciding which exceptions to these provisions can be accepted.

3. If an interpreter on mission exceeds the maximum number of weekly hours authorised by Article 6(4), he/she shall be compensated by an equivalent reduction in the number of hours of interpreting time over the next two weeks.

4. For missions involving up to 6 passive languages, teams shall usually consist of 2 interpreters per active language, irrespective of the interpreting mode used. This provision shall not apply to meetings comparable to plenary sessions, as referred to in Article 17(1).

However, if the foreseeable workload allows, one of these active languages may be covered by a single interpreter on condition that the interpreter in question is consulted and that the team includes one other interpreter capable of providing 'retour' service into that language.

Conversely, if the foreseeable workload for the interpreters of one of the active languages is particularly heavy, an additional interpreter for that language shall be assigned to the team.

Article 23 - Compensatory leave ('Récupération')

1. If interpreters perform duties, including travel, on days other than the usual working days of the European Parliament, they shall be entitled to compensatory leave in the amount of one half-day for Friday afternoons worked, and one day per day or part-day worked on a Saturday, Sunday, public holiday or office closing day.

This compensatory leave shall be due for any such meetings cancelled in situ and duly notified to the Programming Unit where appropriate.

Travel between the usual places of work shall not entitle interpreters to compensatory leave.

Friday afternoons other than those preceding the Strasbourg part-session weeks are time off for the other administrative departments of the European Parliament. If an interpreter is assigned to a meeting starting after 13:30 and ending after 15:00 on a Friday afternoon, they shall be entitled to compensatory leave

2. Training activities, such as summer universities, taking place at weekends do not entitle interpreters to compensatory leave.

3. Interpreters shall endeavour to take their compensatory leave by way of priority over their annual leave as soon as possible after the period for which the compensatory leave is granted or, failing that, during the parliamentary summer recess.

4. The number of days of compensatory leave shall not in any circumstances exceed the number of days worked on the mission for which it is granted.

Article 24 - Training and technical standards

1. The competent authorities shall ensure that the interpreting infrastructure is maintained in keeping with the needs of the institution and that appropriate training is provided for interpreters, particularly with regard to the acquisition of current and future official languages.

2. Parliament's Administration hereby undertakes to involve the interpreters' representatives including the staff interpreters' delegation in any discussion on interpreters' working methods.

3. Parliament hereby undertakes to abide by ISO standards regarding interpreting booths and equipment in meetings held in European Union Member States and to consult the interpreters' representatives in good time before these facilities are installed or altered in any way.

Article 25 - Follow-Up Group on Working Conditions

1. In order to deal with issues related to the implementation of the current provisions, a Follow-Up Group on Working Conditions shall be set up comprising three representatives of the staff interpreters' de!egation, three representatives of DG LINC management, and one representative of ACIs as an observer.

2. This Follow-Up Group shall meet at least once every three months.

3. The Follow-Up Group on Working Conditions shall issue recommendations aimed at ensuring optimal implementation of the current provisions and/or look into optimal solutions for exceptional situations which are known sufficiently in advance for the Follow-Up Group to be convened.

4. The Follow-Up Group on Working Conditions shall in no case adopt decisions leading to the revision of the current provisions, for which the procedure laid down in Article 26 shall apply.

Article 26 - Final clauses

1. In the event of incompatibility between rules, the provisions of the Staff Regulations shall take precedence over the present provisions.

2. Before any change to the present provisions, representatives of the Administration and the staff interpreters shall confer in an open and constructive spirit with a view to finding a common position. ACI representatives shall take part in the process as observers.

If no agreement is reached within 12 months from the opening of the consultation, the competent authority may take the decision, after having consulted the Staff Committee in compliance with Article 55 of the Staff Regulations.

3. Provisions applicable to ACIs are contained in Annex l.

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ANNEX I - Specific provisions applicable to Conference Interpreting Agents (ACIs)

Article 1

The terms and conditions of employment, travel and remuneration for ACIs are governed by the Agreement on Working Conditions and the Pecuniary Regime for Conference Interpreting Agents (ACIs) recruited by the European Union's Institutions and by the European Parliament's Rules applicable to Conference Interpreters engaged in accordance with Article 90 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities, adopted by the Bureau on 15 December 2008 (the Rules applicable to Conference Interpreters).

Article 2

In accordance with Article 24 of the above Agreement, the provisions applicable to permanent, temporary and auxiliary interpreters ('the provisions') shall apply as of right to ACI interpreters with the following exceptions: Article 16(2), Article 21 (1), Article 22(1) and Article 23.

Article 16(1) and Article 22(3) shall apply to ACIs provided that they are under contract prior to accepting the mission for the periods referred to in the above mentioned articles.

Article 3

ACIs may not be assigned to work after 21.30 on the last day of their contract.

Article 4

Within the context of Article 20(4) of this Decision, the provisions concerning on-call duty shall be applied without prejudice to current service instructions governing the arrival and departure times of non-locally hired ACIs.

Article 5

For all matters not dealt with in the Agreement or in the Rules applicable to Conference Interpreters, the provisions applicable to staff interpreters shall apply to ACIs.

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ANNEX II - A non-exhaustive list of interpreters' quantifiable and non-quantifiable noninterpreting duties and tasks

Quantifiable and non-quantifiable non-interpreting duties that interpreters carry out during their working time are listed in the table below. They are divided into the following categories:
- duties directly related to interpreting
- professional development
- administrative duties and tasks.

This list is not exhaustive. Interpreters may be required to perform other tasks, for which the time allocation will be determined by their management.



	Quantifiable duties and tasks	Non-quantifiable duties and tasks
Duties directly related to interpreting		- Meeting preparation in accordance with the provision in the management commitments; - Language maintenance;
Professional development	- Language classes; - C-language simultaneous practice sessions and retour practice sessions as speaker or trainer; - Language-adding tests as candidates; - Any thematic training connected to EP business incl. the Knowledge Profile project; - General training	- Study time when learning additional languages by agreement; - Study time for the Knowledge Profile project;
Administrative duties	- Accreditation tests; - EPSO competitions; - Language-adding tests as jury members or assessors; - Booth meetings; - Speech preparation in accordance with the management commitments; - Speech recording; - Speech grading; - Assessing pre-selection test speeches submitted online; - Virtual classes; - Pedagogical assistance at universities or in-house (e.g. PASS); - Attendance at final exams of interpreting courses; - Work with visiting interpreting students; - Awareness raising and communication work; - Meetings of the Staff- Interpreters' Delegation; - DG LINC-DELINT Bureau meetings; - Meetings of DG LINC-DELINT   Working Groups and Ad Hoc   Working Groups (e.g. GSCIS,   Training Working Part	- General administrative duties; - Mission-related administrative work; - Team-leader administrative duties; - Preparing and writing up quality-monitoring reports; - Involvement in DG - LINC projects (e.g. KMP, MINA, MIVO etc.);