Statement: European digital public services are multilingual.
Rationale:
European public services can potentially be used by anyone in any Member State. So multilingualism needs to be carefully considered when designing them. Citizens across Europe often have problems accessing and using digital public services if these are not available in the languages they speak.
Implications:
Multilingualism is taken into account at all levels in the design of European digital public services, e.g. also in documentation and systems interfaces.
A balance needs to be found between the expectations of citizens and businesses to be served in their own language(s) or their preferred language(s) and the ability of Member States’ public administrations to offer services in all official EU languages.
A suitable balance could be that European public services are available in the languages of the expected end-users, i.e. the number of languages is decided on the basis of users’ needs, such as the level to which the service is critical for the implementation of the digital single market or national policies, or the size of the relevant audience.
Principle Source: Multilingualism Underlying Principle (9) of the European Interoperability Framework (EIF)
Principle Source URL: https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/collection/nifo-national-interoperability-f…
Scope: Business Agnostic
Category: Digital Public Service Design
Interoperability Layer: Technical IoP