Here’s What We Learned at the Translating Europe Forum 2025

Representatives from the translation and localization industry gathered in person and online for three days at the 2025 Translating Europe Forum (TEF), November 5-7, to discuss the current state of affairs and what the future might hold for the field.

This flagship annual conference, now in its 12th edition, is organized by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation (DGT) and draws hundreds of language professionals, academics, and industry leaders to Brussels — and thousands more online.

Under the overarching theme, “Quality Matters – perspectives from across the language industry landscape,” the three-day event was a high-level space for critical dialogue. 

Diverse presentations and panel discussions touched on the evolving professional requirements in increasingly AI-dominated workflows, what standards and quality really mean in translation, terminology, changing client expectations, and the demand for plain, clear language. 

“ClearLanguage at #2025TEF” was in fact a dedicated conference segment, with several main and breakout sessions highlighting the vital role of plain language in effective communication of complex policy and technical information.

Session Highlights

Some of TEF’s insightful discussions centered on the multiple dimensions of quality, which participants concurred extend beyond mere linguistic accuracy to encompass factors like ethical standards, technological proficiency, and strategic communication.

The dominance of AI and language technology was positioned as a central thread, but not as a threat. A few presenters emphasized its transformative effect and the need to develop new skills and mindsets for a collaboration in which AI assists in translation and other tasks to bring about efficiency. 

Others, like Änne Troester in her address about dubbing, summed the sentiment of many in a single statement: “What comes out of a human soul and touches another human being’s heart should not go through a machine.”

The importance of cultural sensitivity and the ethical implications of AI (such as avoiding bias and misalignment) were other critical points of discussion, with Marina Pantcheva of RWS Group exemplifying some levels of human bias that are unconscious and unperceived, and how AI models tend to amplify existing biases.

In his keynote presentation for the Newcomers Fair, “The Linguist in the Late 2020s: Mindsets and Skills for Success,” Daniel Šebesta set a strategic tone for navigating a career in the translation industry, dismissing the notion of a “dying profession,” instead emphasizing that the industry is undergoing a deep transformation. 

Šebesta argued that the key to success for newcomers is not avoiding technology, but designing workflows that strategically leverage it, and reminded the audience that clients are paying for results, such as effective copy, reduced support tickets, or protected brand value.

“What comes out of a human soul and touches another human being’s heart should not go through a machine.” — Änne Troester, Dubbing Scriptwriter

Loud and Clear Language

The imperative of clear language was at the center of several discussions, underscored as a necessity for avoiding miscommunication, building trust (especially for public institutions), and ensuring the original message is understood without requiring reinterpretation by journalists or translators.

The session on “Economic and Social Policy, the Cost of Not Being Clear” presented evidence-based arguments, noting that a vast majority of the public operates at a B1/B2 language proficiency level, while corporate and institutional texts are often written at the highly complex C1/C2 level (per the Common European Framework of Reference, CEFR). 

This gap was presented as eye-opening, with panelists remarking on the significant cost — in terms of loss of trust and the need for external interpretation — of failing to use plain language. 

The main recommendation arising from the clear language panels was for organizations to empower authors and implement principles like the Hamburg Comprehensibility Concept to increase accessibility and ultimately the credibility of public institutions.

The European Commission’s DGT articulated the clear language principle by stating that delivering multilingual legislation that is “simple and clear” is a legal obligation, emphasizing that for citizens, “Understanding EU policy and law… is a right.” 

In the closing remarks, Director-General for Translation at DGT, Christos Ellinides, stated that in an age of misinformation, in democratic societies, “we have a duty to be clear and transparent with our citizens.”

Readers can access recorded sessions in the Translating for Europe channel on YouTube to learn more.