European Parliament - translation traineeships

For those of you who are interested in a paid or unpaid traineeship in the European Parliament.

Para os interessado em estágios remunerados e não remunerados para tradutores no Parlamento Europeu.

Certified translations in Portugal

This is a situation that has always puzzled me: In Portugal if one needs a certified translation, one has to pay first to the translator/translation company for the translation itself, then one takes the job to the notary public and pays them to get a sheet saying that the person who goes there with the documents (supposedly the translator) swears on it's honour that the translation is correct, faithful to the original bla bla bla and gets the sheet attached to the original and the translation. Then if you need that certified translation for say an application for a foreign University, you need to translate the Apostille and pay for it, of course.
There are several things that bother me here: first one needs to pay a large sum of money; second one need to waste infinite and precious time; third the people working at the notary public offices know absolutely nothing about translation and you might as well send the mechanic to do that for you because all they do is ask if your are the translator and all you need to do is say yes and give them your I.D.
Now, correct me if I am wrong, but if we have BA's, MA's, PHD's in Translation studies in Portugal, and if it is a relevant and fast-growing profession shouldn't there also be a regulation? In Norway they have the Statsautoriserte translatørers forening a State authority which allows the certified translators to sign and stamp their work after they are done. The same person does everything and it is an accredited person too. In the USA and in the UK also there are rules and different organisms which make translation a serious and honourable profession and help and protect translators.
The problem in Portugal is that the process, as it is now, (to me at least) makes no sense and makes the profession no more credible. "Anybody" can be a "translator", at least they can say they are one, and costumers usually don't mind paying less for a less than good translation.
If doctors, lawyers, nurses even have a regulator(Ordem), why can't there be one for translators too? I think it would make things a lot easier, for everybody! Translators would have a professional personal number, they would be able to certify their own work and this notary charade would end. Also, i believe it would make translation more credible too, by implementing and using rules and a Code of professional conduct, etc...
Not least important, customers would have someone to complain to in case things went wrong (as they often do!).
Don't you think? :)