EUROPEAN COUNCIL OF CIVIL ENGINEERS

In 2005 the European Council of Civil Engineers (ECCE) met twice. The first General Assembly of the year was held in Tallinn, Estonia on 11th and 12th June. The autumn meeting was held on 11th and 12th November in Istanbul, Turkey.

Financial and legal: Annual accounts for 2004 were approved at the Spring meeting in Estonia whilst the customary forward review of future plans occurred in the autumn. In Istanbul it was noted that subscription payments were up-to-date for virtually all member organisations. The 2006 draft budget was approved following discussion on planned activity and reorganisation. It was also agreed that proposals to amend ECCE’s Articles of Association would be put forward to the membership at the May 2006 meeting scheduled to take place in Budapest, Hungary.

At the Istanbul meeting the three-yearly election process took place to select a new Executive Committee and President, following the retiral of three Executive Committee members, Past-President Antonio Adao da Fonseca, Professor Iacint Manoliu and Georges Pilot and the resignation of Secretary General Diana Maxwell. Following elections for a new Executive Committee and President to serve from 2005-2008, the current Executive Committee of the European Council of Civil Engineers comprises:-

Secretary General (till end 2005) - Diana Maxwell (a successor will be appointed in 2006)

° Task Forces

ECCE Task Forces were created to ensure continuous activity in priority areas of concern for the profession and for ECCE members. Other forms of working group are created on an ‘ad hoc’ basis to achieve a specific goal – a project on Civil Engineering Heritage currently falls into this category. Task Forces activities and achievement in 2005 are set out below.

EDUCATION: This Task Force links ECCE to the large pan-European thematic network created by the EUCEET project, which in 2005 entered its final phase. ECCE’s main contribution was involvement in EUCEET project SP9 whose subject-matter was ‘enhancing the attractiveness of the profession’. EUCEET is proposing a third phase Thematic Network Project. Further Task Force activities in which Task Force Chairman Professor Manoliu is an active participant include the TUNING and EUR-ACE projects, results of which should be disseminated in 2006.

ENVIRONMENT: In 2005, under the chairmanship of Santiago Hernandez of Spain, Task Force members considered resources available to professionals, such as a web-site of construction sites across Europe which additionally categorises according to environmental projects. Discussion in Istanbul on how climate change would affect member countries revealed that for most members concerns focused on water-related issues (supply, flooding, water shortages) whilst energy supply proved to be a major concern for a smaller proportion of members.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: A meeting of the Task Force was held in Tallinn to review the possibilities of involvement in further activity. It was decided that the Research Task Force would provide the main ECCE focus for lobbying on the 7th Framework Programme, mainly through the conduit of ECCREDI, the European Council for Construction Research, Development and Innovation. The IT Task Force is currently in abeyance.

PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION: Throughout 2005, work continued on proposals for a Common Platform for civil engineers. The Directive on professional mobility was adopted on 6th June. Professor Carsten Ahrens continues to prepare proposals to enable free movement of the profession at European level: active collaboration with other interest groups is underway to seek a solution that will be sufficiently flexible to accommodate Masters degrees, Bachelor-level degrees, three years’ professional experience and membership of a national society/association in home country (that would include signing a code of ethics).

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT: Executive Committee member Georges Pilot has taken responsibility for the Task Force and provided members with a number of key briefings on European Research and Development policy throughout the year. In 2006 he plans to ensure that members are kept abreast of progress on the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme on Research and Development and the first call for proposals as well as on the European construction technology platforms. A mini-workshop on national construction technology platforms has also been proposed.

CIVIL ENGINEERING HERITAGE: Activity was initiated in this sphere by Nick Zygouris. Further progress towards the goal of publishing a book on Europe’s civil engineering heritage was made in 2005. By autumn 2005 the majority of member organisations had supplied material for review and final selection. Members were made aware of issues of copyright for illustrations and discussions were held on cost of publication costs to ensure optimal results.

° Public Affairs

ECCE maintains contact with senior officials in the European Commission and with elected representatives in the European Parliament. In 2005 no major new sectoral concerns were proposed by ECCE’s membership for consideration at European level.

° Associated organisations

ECCE is a subscribing member of the European Council of Construction Research, Development and Innovation (ECCREDI) and plays an active role in its activities.

ECCE is also a subscribing member of SEFI, the European Society for Engineering Education.

Together with other pan-European bodies representing the construction sector, ECCE participates in the European Construction Forum. This provides a platform for exchange of information and enables member bodies to engage in joint activities to raise the profile and concerns of the sector.

ECCE has bilateral agreements with the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Japan Society of Civil Engineers based on exchange of information and publications and communicating common concerns for the profession.

Contact and information exchange is also maintained with WFEO, the World Federation of Engineering Organisations and FEANI, the European Federation of National Engineering Associations.

Strategic Plan and ‘Special projects’:

Discussions on proposals to create a World Council of Civil Engineers continued immediately after the ECCE meeting in Istanbul. Participants agreed to set up four working groups (Articles of Association/By-laws; Finance; Communication and Membership) with an aim of reviewing feasibility in the first half of 2006.

Involvement continued in the follow-up to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work’s ’Construction Summit’. In 2004 ECCE was one of seven signatories to the ’Bilbao declaration’ which calls upon all signatory parties to act on agreed commitments. A Construction Health and Safety Forum is monitoring progress and in June 2006 a follow-up Construction Safety Summit will be held in Brussels. ECCE Executive Committee member Murt Coleman of Ireland is responsible for ensuring ECCE’s continued commitment and involvement.

° Publications

The member publication “The Civil Engineering Profession in Europe”, last produced in 1998 was completed in time for ECCE’s Istanbul meeting following publication in Slovenia. An updated ECCE brochure produced in Athens for distribution amongst member organisations was also circulated at the Istanbul meeting. Plans have been proposed for a major reorganisation of the ECCE web-site.

Diana E. Maxwell, Secretary General February 2006

- Previous Annual Reports -
° 2002	° 2003	° 2004

° Statutory Business