Internal Rules of COTSOES

The Member Services of the Conference of Translation Services of European States (hereinafter called “the Conference”), meeting at Helsinki on 11 September 2025,

Based on the experience gained in the field of cooperation under the Rules of the Conference adopted at Bern on 19 October 1982 and amended at Madrid on 16 October 2008, Ankara on 22 November 2018 and Paris on 23 September 2021,

Desiring to enhance their cooperation, 

Have agreed to lay down the following Internal Rules:

Article I – Aims and function

  1. The Conference shall work for effective cooperation among the central government translation, terminology and interpretation services of European States.
  2. To that end the Conference shall promote:
    (a) exchanges of information and experience in the field of translation, terminology, interpretation and of the relevant documentation;
    (b) mutual assistance in the field of translation, terminology, interpretation and the relevant documentation;
    (c) the coordination and implementation of programmes and projects relating to translation, terminology and interpretation;
    (d) cooperation in the field of professional training and in all other fields affecting translators, terminologists and interpreters in the public service.

Article II – Member Services

  1. Translation, terminology and interpretation services of European States, which were Member Services on 11 September 2025, shall be deemed to be Member Services.
  2. Central government translation, terminology and interpretation services of European States may apply to join the Conference as Member Services from the time these Internal Rules enter into force. Depending on their respective administrative structure, different countries classify different entities as being part of central government. For a service to be eligible for membership, the entity in which it sits must be considered a central government entity in the country where it is established. The translation, terminology and interpretation services of parliaments and central banks shall be considered eligible.
  3. To become a Member Service, a candidate must make a written application for membership to the Presidency, which shall notify all Member Services of the application within two months of its receipt. The application shall be deemed to have been approved unless, within two months of notification by the Presidency, a Member Service has called for the application to be referred to the Assembly, which shall then take a decision.
  4. The Member Services undertake to cooperate to the best of their ability in furthering the aims of the Conference.
  5. The Member Services are listed in the Annex, which shall be updated by the Presidency on a regular basis.

Article III – Participating Services

The following bodies may apply to take part in the activities of the Conference, without being entitled to vote:

(a) central government translation, terminology and interpretation services of States outside Europe;
(b) translation, terminology and/or interpretation services of intergovernmental organisations.

Article II (2) and (4) shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Article IV – Organs

The organs of the Conference shall be the Assembly and the Presidency.

Article V – Assembly

  1. The Assembly shall be made up of delegates from the Member Services, normally two from any one Member Service.
  2. Each Participating Service may send a representative to sessions of the Assembly, who shall be entitled to put forward suggestions but shall not be entitled to vote. The Presidency shall decide which items of business are to be discussed by the Member Services only.
  3. The Assembly shall:
    (a) adopt the Internal Rules;
    (b) define the forms that the cooperation referred to in Article I is to take;
    (c) adopt the recommendations of the Conference;
    (d) take decisions on the setting-up and mandate of working groups;
    (e) consider the reports and proposals presented to it by the working groups and Member Services;
    (f) consider the account of the activities of the Conference, prepared by the Presidency in accordance with Article VI (2) (f);
    (g) elect the incoming Presidency of the Conference and designate the following Presidency;
    (h) take any decisions concerning cooperation with other institutions pursuing similar aims.
  4. The Assembly shall meet every two years in an ordinary session. It may meet in an extraordinary session where:
    (a) the Presidency so decides;
    (b) at least one third of the Member Services so requests; or
    (c) all the working groups so request.
    In the first case, the venue for the session shall be fixed by the Presidency and, in the latter cases, by any Member Service volunteering to host the session.
  5. Except as otherwise provided by these Internal Rules, decisions of the Assembly shall be taken by a double two-thirds majority of the Member Services present and voting and of the countries represented by them. Each Member Service shall have only one vote. Members who abstain from voting shall not be deemed to have voted.

Article VI – Presidency

  1. The Presidency of the Conference shall be held for a period of two years by the Member Service elected in accordance with Article V (3) (f), from 1 January following the end of the session of the Assembly by which it is elected. The outgoing residency shall render assistance to the new Presidency to ensure continuity.
  2. The Presidency shall:
    (a) draw up the agenda for sessions of the Assembly;
    (b) organise and direct the activities of the Assembly, if need be with the assistance of another Member Service;
    (c) circulate the decisions and recommendations adopted by the Assembly;
    (d) circulate to the Member Services and Participating Services the reports and proposals of the working groups;
    (e) pay for the costs of the Conference domain name and hosting the website or seek another Member Service or Participating Service prepared to take on the costs;
    (f) at the end of its term of office, prepare an account of the activities of the Conference;
    (g) perform to the best of its ability any other function assigned to it by the Assembly;
    (h) invite or agree to invite representatives of services or institutions other than Member Services or Participating Services, to attend the proceedings of the Assembly as observers. Observers shall not have the right to vote nor the possibility of putting forward suggestions;
    (i) archive on the website of the Conference all relevant documents arising during its term of office.
  3. The Presidency shall have the right to represent the Conference in meetings or groups of interest to the Conference. Any Member Service or Participating Service may inform the Presidency of such meetings or groups. The Presidency, in consultation with the Chairs, Vice-Chairs and Co-Chairs of each working group:
    (a) shall decide on the participation of the Conference in such meetings or groups;
    (b) may transfer the right of representation to a working group member.

Article VII – Working groups

  1. The working groups shall be made up of voluntary representatives of Member Services or Participating Services.
  2. Each working group shall decide on its internal organisation. It shall inform the Presidency of its Chair and Vice-Chair or Co-Chairs.
  3. Working groups may, where necessary, call in experts, provided that this does not entail costs for the Conference.
  4. Working groups shall report to the Assembly.

Article VIII – Exceptional circumstances

  1.  For the purposes of these Internal Rules, “exceptional circumstances” means situations that hinder the achievement of the aims laid down in Article I and/or prevent the holding of the working group meeting(s) and/or the session of the Assembly.

  2. In the event of exceptional circumstances that prevent the Presidency from holding the ordinary session of the Assembly within its two-year term of office, the Presidency shall have the following options:
    (a) in consultation with the Chairs, Vice-Chairs and Co-Chairs of all the working groups and the designated Presidency/Presidencies, it may extend its term of office by one year and ensure that the session of the Assembly is held during that time;
    (b) it may transfer the responsibility for organising the session of the Assembly to the designated Presidency. The designated Presidency may hold an extraordinary session of the Assembly in accordance with Article V (4).

  3. In the event that the Presidency fails to hold the session of the Assembly within its two-year term or extended term of office, the Chairs, Vice-Chairs and Co-Chairs of all the working groups shall consult each other on how to proceed. They may decide to: 
    (a) hold an extraordinary session of the Assembly in accordance with Article V (4); or
    (b) transfer the Presidency to the designated Presidency, which shall be regarded as having been elected in accordance with Article V (3) (f). In this case, the new Presidency shall proceed according to Article VI of these Internal Rules.

Article IX – Archives

One of the Member Services had responsibility for the custody of all paper Conference documents from the inception of the Conference until the end of the Dutch Presidency in 2006. As of January 2007, documents shall be archived in digital form only on the website of the Conference..

Article X – Languages

  1. The working languages of the Conference shall be English, French and German, in which languages the documents of the Conference shall be drawn up. During sessions of the Assembly the Presidency shall provide a summary of proceedings into any of those languages where this is necessary to enable delegates to follow proceedings.
  2. During the sessions, participants may use their own language. Where that language is not a working language, interpretation services are to be provided at the expense of the participant's Service into at least one of the three working languages of the Conference.
  3. Where a Service is unable to comply with the principles mentioned above with its own means, other Services shall provide assistance.

Article XI – Cost of participation

The Member Services and Participating Services shall bear the cost of their participation in the activities of the Conference. Dues shall not be charged. There shall be no obligation to incur costs as a result of decisions or recommendations of the Conference. However, as a general rule, the costs of the Conference domain name and hosting the website shall be paid by the Member Service assuming the incoming Presidency, in whose name the contract with the website service provider shall be maintained. Should that Member Service be unable to cover the costs, it shall be responsible for finding another Member Service or Participating Service prepared to pay. If no Member Service or Participating Service volunteers, the website shall be closed down in accordance with the contract concluded with the website service provider.

Article XII – Amendments

  1. Any Member Service may propose an amendment to these Internal Rules. It shall send its proposal to the Presidency which shall in turn communicate it immediately to Member Services and Participating Services at least four months before the session of the Assembly at which it will be on the agenda. Any proposal to modify such an amendment must be communicated to Member Services and Participating Services two months before the session of the Assembly at the latest.
  2. Amendments entailing financial obligations must be adopted unanimously. Other amendments shall be adopted in accordance with the provisions of Article V (5). Amendments thus adopted shall enter into force immediately.

Article XIII – Withdrawal

  1. Any Member Service or Participating Service may withdraw from the Conference after giving three months notice in writing. The Presidency shall inform all Member Services and Participating Services as soon as possible.
  2. Where the Assembly notes that a Service: 
    (a) has ceased all activities in the domains described in Article I, or
    (b) has failed to fulfil its obligations under these Internal Rules, particularly if it has not taken part in the activities of the Conference for four consecutive years, 
    it shall ask the Presidency to invite this Service to decide whether it wishes to continue to take part in the activities of the Conference.
  3. If there is no response within three months or in the event of a negative response, this Service shall be deemed to have withdrawn from the Conference. The Assembly shall take official note of this withdrawal.
  4. The Assembly shall take a decision on the exclusion of a Service which during the subsequent two years has still not taken part in the activities of the Conference.

Article XIV – Dissolution

The Conference shall be dissolved if the number of countries represented by the Member Services falls below five. It may be dissolved at any time by a unanimous decision of the Member Services.

Article XV – Final provisions

1. The Internal Rules of the Conference adopted at Paris on 23 September 2021 are hereby repealed.

2. These Internal Rules are adopted by a double two-thirds majority of the Member Services present and voting and the countries they represent.

3. They shall enter into force immediately.

Done at Helsinki, on 11 September 2025,

in English, French and German, all three texts being equally authentic.