Members of the European Parliament should speak in their own language and take care not to speak too quickly, to prevent interpreters from going “crazy”, the parliament’s secretary-general has said.

“It is important that people do not speak too fast,” Klaus Welle said at a meeting of the parliament’s budgetary control committee on Thursday (4 February).

He pointed out that some speakers in plenary and committee sessions churn out up to 180 words per minute.

Welle met the interpreters last month to discuss their grievances, and made the request on their behalf.

“Speak slowly, speak in your mother tongue. Those are the main elements which lead to a deterioration in quality,” he noted. “It drives them crazy.” More.

See: EUobserver

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