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Calliope and the Danish EU Presidency
Denmark held the EU Presidency between 1 January and 30 June this year. During their term, Calliope-Interpreters representative on the ground, Linda Hoffmeyer, was entrusted with hiring a large number of interpreters to service the meetings which the Commission had scheduled for this period. These meetings brought together parliamentarians from many EU countries to discuss issues as diverse as taxation on financial services, green farming and preparations for the Rio + 20 summit.
The highlight of the series was the COSAC, with participants from all current EU member states, as well as candidate and accession states. Among the guest speakers were the Danish Prime Minister, President of the European Commission Mr Barroso and Commissioner Barnier. The team of interpreters fielded for this event, which included Irish/Gaelic and Maltese as working languages, provided seamless, quality interpretation in the 23 EU official languages. 23 booths and scores of interpreters enabled everyone involved to hear and be heard. Extra teams of interpreters were fielded for some of the EP’s political groups which held morning meetings ahead of the main event.
Another important conference for which Calliope-Interpreters/Linda Hoffmeyer also hired the interpreters was the European Diabetes Leadership Forum, at which former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was one of the main speakers. In sourcing interpreters for this event, Linda was able to rely on invaluable support from Ireland’s Calliope representative, Alexandra Hambling: proof, if proof were needed, that working together in a global network such as Calliope Interpreters, has tangible benefits on the ground.
