1999 Annual Report of the Board to the General Assembly
1999 saw a number of important developments for EurEta, with much effort being put into more clearly defining the Association’s role and identifying services to Registrants. As usual the Board and the Registration Committee have been active and once again the Executive Group met to discuss the way forward for EurEta. National Members play a vital part in the Association’s development; contact has been closely maintained with all of them and their views have continued to be sought on their particular visions of the future of EurEta. Personal contacts are possible through invitation, be it for regular business meetings of EurEta, be it for officials to participate in national events. In addition to the Board meeting in November in Sicily the President was invited by our Italian National Member to the National Congress of Periti Industriali in Bologna, which he managed to attend from 13 to 15 May.
At the end of 1999 there were still 11 National Members: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Countries working towards full National Member status are now referred to as National Members in Development and at the end of the year there were two: Austria and Cyprus. The Supporting Member category is now reserved for bodies, such as companies, educational establishments, trade unions and employers’ organisations, who support EurEta’s aims and wish to contribute financially and in other ways to its growth and development. Consideration is being given to the introduction of an International Section of EurEta for the registration of individuals from countries with no National Member and countries with a National Member choosing not to register individuals.
Once again the number of Registrants has not grown spectacularly. At the end of 1999 we had 1 103 paying Registrants: 874 from 1998 plus 244 newcomers minus 15 who resigned. This adds up to a net growth of 229 registered engineers. Of the 1 103 professionals there are 10 from Belgium, 16 from Denmark, 161 from Finland, 15 from Hungary, 434 from Italy, 19 from Sweden and 448 from Switzerland. We hope that through the foundation of an International Section we will be able soon to register engineers throughout Europe which would help to increase the potential as well as the political weight of the Association.
The annual meeting of the General Assembly took place, together with meetings of the Board and the Registration Committee, between 27 and 31 May and was hosted at the President’s school, the Schweizerische Bauschule Aarau. National Members were made aware of the importance of developing EurEta and deciding on its future direction, and a representative from each National Member indicated his organisation’s priorities. The importance of a sound financial base for EurEta was recognised by the General Assembly, with members showing their appreciation of the fact that much of the administrative work continues to be carried out at the President’s school. The General Assembly were pleased to welcome as observers to their meeting Terry Lane of the UK trade union, the Engineers’ & Managers’ Association (EMA), and Denis McGrath of the Irish validating body, the National Council for Educational Awards (NCEA). Denis McGrath has subsequently left the NCEA and been appointed Registrar of The Institution of Engineers of Ireland. It is hoped that Ireland will join EurEta as a National Member in Development and that the EMA will become a Supporting Member. Also present at the meeting, to carry out their work as lay auditors, were Urs Eichhorn and Karsten Skyum Pedersen. Graham Guest gave a short presentation to the General Assembly on the theme of the learning organisation. The Board’s grateful thanks go to Martin Eppler and his school for their hospitality in hosting this series of meetings.
The Registration Committee, under the Chairmanship of Lennart Alfredsson, continued to carry out its important work, including collating information on national formation systems and overseeing the work of the ad hoc Working Group established to look at the assessment of qualifications based on measuring outcomes and competence. It has been agreed to lay the bases for Appendix C (Specific formations in the member countries acceptable for registration) and Appendix D (List of recognised schools) of the Registration Regulations. Mariano Magnabosco was welcomed as a new member of the Committee following the General Assembly’s approval.
In addition to meeting in Aarau in May, the Board held meetings in Baden, Switzerland between 19 and 21 February and in Ragusa, Sicily between 4 and 7 November. Some of the meetings in Sicily took place at the Istituto Tecnico Industriale "E. Majorana", where the Board were pleased to be able to meet Periti Industriali from Sicily and Sardinia, who were holding their own conference. EurEta’s warm thanks go in particular to Raffaele Gulizia, for the excellent arrangements that he made, and to EurEta Italia, the Consiglio Nazionale dei Periti Industriali and the Collegio Periti Industriali di Ragusa for their fine hospitality. The Board enjoyed not only a productive series of business meetings but also a splendid social programme thanks to our Italian hosts.
Following the General Assembly’s discussions about EurEta’s future, which centred on Martin Eppler’s paper, EurEta at the Crossroads, it was decided to hold a meeting of the Executive Group consisting of the President, Martin Eppler; the Secretary, Graham Guest; the Chairman of the Registration Committee, Lennart Alfredsson; and the Public Relations Manager, Erik Jensen. This was kindly hosted by Erik Jensen at the offices of the Teknisk Landsforbund, Copenhagen, Denmark between 12 and 15 August and was mainly concerned with discussing an overview of EurEta development, focusing on registration, representation, transparency and continuing professional development.
Following the Executive Group meeting and the November Board meeting a number of actions have been taken. A leaflet aimed at attracting Supporting Members has been drafted, a policy on continuing professional development (CPD) is being formulated, and proposals for closer EurEta involvement with EuroRecord, the European Professional Record of Achievement for the Engineering Industry, are being worked on. At a time when professional bodies throughout the world are reassessing their purposes, policies and priorities EurEta needs to be able to offer to its Registrants services of special value to them as professionals working in a global economy. Having in mind the growth of this economy and the increasing availability and use of information and communications technologies, the Board believe it important to help registrants with the planning, implementation and recording of their CPD, not least because of its value in helping them to move freely within Europe and beyond.
Co-operation is a key concept for EurEta and the Board hope that this will develop throughout 2000 and beyond. More National Members and National Members in Development are needed to increase EurEta’s strength and raise its profile internationally, and effort is also being put into the recruitment of Supporting Members. Martin Eppler continues to maintain the EurEta web-site, which now contains a section specifically relating to National Members in Development. Co-operation is being developed with other relevant international organisations, with links being placed on the web-site where appropriate. These organisations include the Council of European Professional and Managerial Staff (EUROCADRES), the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), the European Commission, the European Federation of National Engineering Associations (FEANI), the European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI), The Institute of Continuing Professional Development (ICPD), the International Association for Continuing Engineering Education (IACEE) and the World Federation of Technology Organizations (WFTO).
Martin Eppler and Graham Guest met the Acting President of FEANI, Bernard Lafitte, in Paris in March and a draft agreement between EurEta and FEANI was discussed. Progress with the implementation of this has been delayed largely because of administrative changes taking place within FEANI, but it is hoped that the agreement can be put in place before too long. Martin Eppler attended the meeting of the FEANI General Assembly in Crete in October, during which a new President, Konstantinos Alexopoulos of Greece, was elected. Contact is being maintained with the countries of the Ottawa Intent, an agreement of intent relating to the recognition of equivalence of accredited engineering technology education programmes
The Association’s administration continues to be carried out mainly by Martin Eppler and Graham Guest, with help from members of the Board and the Registration Committee where appropriate. Elisabeth L�thy, who was doing an excellent job as EurEta’s Financial Secretary, has now left the Schweizerische Bauschule Aarau and the President is himself dealing with the finances. The employment of a least one member of staff to work for EurEta on a full-time basis is vital for the continuing viability of the Association, but this of course depends on generating a greater income from Registrants, National Members, National Members in Development and Supporting Members. The Board are also continuing to investigate the possibility of obtaining some form of funding, possibly relating to CPD, from the European Union.
EurEta undoubtedly has potential for considerable growth. With the combined expertise and good will of all those involved the Association has the capability of playing a leading part in the formulation of a pan-European approach to the recognition and development of engineering formation, the facilitation of free movement and the provision of services to individuals and organisations. In the English version of its information leaflet the Association employs a play on words: EurEta - engineering a better Europe. We would do well to focus on this aim throughout 2000.