Huis van Europa (European Parliament Liaison Office & European Commission Representation in the Netherlands)
European Parliament Liaison Office & European Commission Representation in the Netherlands
At Korte Vijverberg 5 you will find a piece of Brussels in The Hague: the House of Europe. This historic building overlooking the Hofvijver is home to the European Parliament Liaison Office and the European Commission Representation in the Netherlands. The House serves as an information point where Dutch citizens who want to know something about Europe can go with all their questions about the EU in general, and the Dutch MEPs and the European Commission in particular. The two organisations are also in contact with all kinds of organisations in the Netherlands, such as the Dutch government, civil society and various schools. For example, we organise presentations and workshops for schoolchildren and students, as well as informative seminars on all kinds of European topics with a broad group of stakeholders.
In addition, the House of Europe functions as a centre for European activities. Debates, lectures, seminars and workshops on European themes are organised there. The House can also be used free of charge by third parties who wish, for example, to organise a lecture, debate or meeting on an EU theme. Unfortunately, this is not possible at the moment due to the measures taken regarding the coronavirus, but as soon as circumstances permit, the House of Europe will be open again to all Dutch citizens!
Multilingualism in the EU
The European Union has always seen its great diversity of languages and cultures as an asset. Multilingualism reflects this cultural and linguistic diversity and is firmly anchored in the European Treaties. Respect for multilingualism makes the European institutions accessible and understandable to all citizens of the Union. This is crucial for the successful democratic functioning of the EU. All EU institutions have their own translation service. For instance, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Translation, the largest translation service of all EU institutions, translates texts from and into the 24 official EU languages and, when needed, some other languages as well. The EU also organises many activities in the field of multilingualism, such as the European Day of Languages on 26 September and the Juvenes Translatores translation contest for secondary school students.
eTranslation is the Commission's online machine translation service used by national administrations and SMEs.