Commission’s decision to exclude Swiss universities from European Master’s in Translation programme is unacceptable

The consequences of the exclusion of Swiss universities from the EMT at this particular point would be dire for the entire 5-year period of the next call for EMT membership. Expectations have been created after years of cooperation, also among many EU citizens who teach or study translation at Swiss universities and would be radically opposed to an exclusion. Given the well-established cooperation with EU partners in translator training and other areas, Switzerland’s active role in the European Education Area and the imminent progress of EU-Switzerland negotiations based on the mandate of 21 June 2023, Swiss universities’ exclusion from the EMT for 5 years would be a particularly harsh and disproportionate turn.

One of LERU’s Swiss member universities, the University of Geneva, is an active member of the most relevant European and international networks in the areas of translation and interpreting. This university has also been represented in the management committee of the Erasmus+ project European Framework of Reference for Translation (EFFORT), of direct relevance to EU translation services. Furthermore, it continues to be a member of the EMCI consortium in collaboration with the EC and the European Parliament (EP) and has recently joined the Connecting Academia network of the EP, at the EP’s request.

The university’s Faculty of Translation and Interpreting is also one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious training and research centres in its field, welcoming over two-thirds of its students from abroad. Switzerland, and Geneva more specifically, hosts a myriad of international translation services, and contributes to translation cooperation networks with unique innovative projects and expertise in the field. It has also contributed to the dynamism and reputation of the EMT for almost two decades. An exclusion from the EMT until 2029 should be avoided, because it is clear that it is not a reflection of the quality of the translation programmes of Swiss universities.

For the above reasons and to avoid causing a major inconsistency between the approach for the EMT and other schemes, we call upon the EC to reconsider its position and to allow Switzerland’s participation in the next round of EMT applications. If necessary, ‘conditional eligibility’ could also be considered as a compromise solution, which means that membership could be conditional or provisional, and could become full membership when the progress of the ongoing talks on Switzerland’s status within Erasmus+ is considered sufficient. Funding for the Swiss participation, as in other programmes, would continue to be provided by Swiss institutions.

LERU is fully aware that discussions on the association of Swiss universities to EU programmes remain contingent on progress in the overall political relationship between Switzerland and the EU, so we are also urging the Swiss national agencies and authorities and the EU to work towards a closer cooperation.