This paper is about the position of the Dutch language within the European institutions, particularly from an interpreter’s and translator’s viewpoint. I discuss the genesis of multilingualism in the European Union examining various practical solutions adopted by the institutions to cope with the problems of communication in an increasingly multilingual setting. In certain communication situations all languages are equally used, but in all the other settings there seems to be a growing dominance of the English language with one or few other vehicular languages. Relatively small languages as Dutch are in an increasingly difficult position pushing them to defend their status.
