Recommendations on 
Criteria for Conformity Assessment and 
Certification under EN 15038

European Standard EN 15038 "Translation Services – Service requirements" has the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, in the following CEN member countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

The purpose of the European Standard is to ensure high-quality translation services, fair competition, improved transparency and end user satisfaction. Following its publication, procedures are already being developed for conformity assessment and certification of Translation Service Providers (TSPs) throughout Europe.

Bearing in mind that translation, by its very nature, is a cross-border activity, FIT-Europe – the coordinating body for translators’ associations across Europe – considers that the Standard’s purpose can best be achieved if the certificates issued by the various certification bodies in Europe are based on harmonised assessment procedures and criteria. We therefore strongly recommend that certification bodies develop compatible procedures for certifying TSPs. 

In order to assist such bodies, FIT-Europe set up an ad hoc task force consisting of several individuals who were involved in drafting the standard (John Graham, Germany; Eva Leitner, Austria; Jacqueline Reuss, France) and entrusted them with the task of drawing on their experience to compile recommended assessment criteria. The results of their work are set out in the document below

We are very grateful to the members of this task force and hope their recommendations will be considered and adopted by
a) certification bodies that are developing such procedures for the first time and
b) certification bodies that are reviewing existing procedures in the light of experience.

For further information or to provide feedback, please contact FIT-Europe at: info@fit-europe.org 

for FIT-Europe Steering Committee
Terence Oliver, Secretary

Text of the Recommendations (.pdf)