° Parliament and Council agree Conciliation Deal on public procurement directives (the first of a general nature and the second dealing with specific industries): The two institutions found common ground during conciliation in the form of the case law of the Court of Justice, which allows for factors other than price, such as environmental considerations, to be taken into account by a contracting authority when it is awarding a public contract. However, the new directive says, in line with the Court's rulings, that these criteria must have a bearing on the object of the contract. To ensure confidentiality in tendering, the use of electronic signatures must be encouraged (see Reference to European Parliament Report below).       

° Value of thresholds under directives on public procurement applicable from 1^st January 2004: 1. Values applicable for public supplies contracts (re Council Directive 93/36/EEC and the GPA (Agreement on Government Procurement) concluded under (Decision 94/800/EC ) are as follows: Table ;  2. Values applicable for works contracts (re Council Directive 93/37/EEC  and the GPA (referenced above ) are as follows: Table

° European Commission has decided to act in thirteen cases to enforce EU law on public procurement. It is referring Italy to the European Court of Justice over four cases involving the award of contracts to operate state-owned betting establishments, to build two motorways and to manage IT services for the city authorities in Mantova. The Commission will refer the U.K. to the Court over the non-application of public procurement rules by providers of social housing. Austria will be brought before the Court over a contract for the collection and treatment of waste in the municipality of Mödling and Finland over the procurement without competition of kitchen equipment for government buildings. The Commission is also formally asking Greece to rectify breaches of EU law linked to the supply of trains for the Athens Metro, technical assistance to farmers and consultancy services for the construction of a waste-water treatment plant. Greece is also being asked to complete writing into national law the 2001 Directive on the use of standard forms for calls for tender. The Commission is requesting Italy to modify a national law allowing contracting authorities to extend existing procurement contracts without competition. Finally, the Commission is asking the Netherlands to rectify irregularities in the award of contracts to renovate the city centre of Hoogezand-Sappemeer.

° The European Commission has set out Eurostat’s action plan for 2004: priorities will include enlargement, economic and monetary union, competitiveness, sustainable development, the social agenda and stability and security.  There will be increased co-operation with other Commission directorates general and partnership arrangements with Member States as well as a new dissemination policy. http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/

° The European Commission has issued a recommendation to encourages the use of Eurocodes.  The 56 Eurocode standards provide methods for calculating the strength of buildings and thus improving their safety.  These standards are used on a voluntary basis in the Member States. Commission Recommendation of 11 December 2003 on the implementation and use of Eurocodes for construction works and structural construction products (2003/887/EC) published in OJEU L332, 19 December 2003.

The European Parliament  held a plenary session in Strasbourg from  12^th to 15^th January 2004 and a part-session in Brussels on 28^th and 29^th January. Of particular interest to the European Council of Civil Engineers was the proposed 1^st reading of the proposed Directive on Mutual Recognition of Qualifications on which pan-European bodies representing the engineering profession are divided with regard to proposed solutions.  The vote on the issue, originally scheduled to take place after debate in mid-January was postponed to the Brussels part-session and is now rescheduled to mid-February.  (Please click here for a link to the debate in the original language of the speakers)

At the part-session agreement was reached in conciliation between Parliament and Council on the Directive amending directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste.    Under a revised directive, there minimum recycling targets for packaging waste will rise from 25%-55% by 2008.  Whilst a report to Parliament (http://www.europarl.eu.int/code/dossier/2003/2001_0291_packaging/default_en.htm) is available in all languages, the draft joint text is still subject to legal linguistic verification and will be made available in all official languages at a later date.  Agreement was also reached on amendments to general rules for public service contracts and procurement procedures in the water, energy and transport sectors.  The aim of aching greater transparency in awarding of contracts and simplifying rules for those seeking to tender, has led to much heated discussion over the past year and more.  Parliament has succeeded in raising the threshold above which the directive will apply, so excluding smaller contracts; clarification was also achieved on how environmental and social factors can be brought into public contracts.

Reports of potential interest to professional civil engineers and to the construction sector:

·         Report on the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee for a European Parliament and Council directive on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts Rapporteur: Stefano Zappala MEP, Doc. Ref. Doc.: A5-0007/2004

·         Report on the proposal for a Council (Euratom) directive on setting out basic obligations and general principles on the safety of nuclear installations  Rapporteur: Esko Sepaenen MEP Doc.: A5-0441/2004

·         Report on the proposal for a Council Directive (Euratom) on the management of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste Rapporteur: Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca MEP,  Doc Ref.: A5-0442/2003 

·         Report on the proposal for a Council decision amending Decision 77/270/Euratom empowering the Commission to issue Euratom loans for the purpose of contributing to the financing of nuclear power stations Rapporteur: Hiltrud Breyer Doc.Ref: A5-0443/2003

·         Report on the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee for a European Parliament and Council directive amending directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste.  Rapporteur:  Dorette Corbey MEP  Doc Ref: A5-0006/2004 

° 1^st International Symposium on Safe and reliable Tunnels - "Innovative European Achievements"  Prague, Czech Republic, 4^th to 6^th February 2004 : 

Symposium organisers are two major European-funded RTD projects ‘DARTS’ and ‘UPTUN’ in association with the EC Thematic Network FIT - Fire in Tunnels. FIT is an associated member of E-CORE.  Key topics are design, maintenance and upgrading of tunnels, including human behaviour and hazards. Information and registration, www.etnfit.net - www.dartsproject.net - www.uptun.net.

° Workshop on standardisation for services, Brussels, 9^th March 2004

The Commission has asked the European Standards Oragnisations (CEN, CENELEC and ETSI) to examine the needs of the service sector.  The workshop will also consider safety of services provided to consumers.  Background information from ‘Communication on "The competitiveness of business-related services and their contribution to the performance of European enterprises" ‘ Download here:

Further information Invitation letter ,Agenda, Register here or from the European Standards Organisations: CEN , CENELEC , ETSI

° European tech investment forum, London, U.K., 30^th and 31^st March

The UK will host the 11th European tech investment forum (ETIF), supported by the European Commission under its information society technologies (IST) programme. ETIF aims to facilitate the growth of Europe's most promising or innovative information and communication technology (ICT) companies by providing a platform where entrepreneurs can meet venture capital investors from outside their home countries. The following sectors will be reviewed:  information technology, software and knowledge management;  telecoms and networks; media and entertainment. Further information: http://www.e-unlimited.com/etif

° International Symposium on Eastern Mediterranean geology, Thessaloniki,  14^th-20^th April 2004

Thessaloniki, Greece is to be the venue for this conference on structural geology, stratigraphy and tectonics; petrology and geochemistry; volcanology and geothermy; large earthquakes, marine geology, remote sensing and natural hazards, geoarcheology, mineral resources and geology of the Balkan peninsula. http://geonet.geo.auth.gr/5thISEMG/index .htm

° Turkish Civil Engineering - 17^th Technical Congress and Exhibition, Istanbul, 15^th-17^th April 2004

The 17^th Technical Congress on Turkish Civil Engineering will be held at Yildiz Tehchnical University in Istanbul.  The congress and exhibition aim to present new advances and improvements in technical applications as well as problems and issues affecting the profession.  Student project competitions will ensure participation of future professionals and there will be international project presentations.  Further information from: http://www.imo.org.tr/teknikkongre17/english/english.htm

° Congress of Croatian Builders, Cavtat (by Dubrovnik), 22^nd - 24^th April 2004

The 4^th Congress of Croatian Builders is being prepared by the Croatian Society of Civil Engineers and will cover the themes of Croatia’s construction industry activities aimed at meeting EU accession requirements and implementation of national strategy for the construction of roads and motorways in Croatia.  For participation or paper submission contact: marija@grad.hr

° The Europe of Knowledge 2020: A vision for University-based Research and Innovation, Liege, Belgium,  22^nd - 28^th April 2004

The conference will discuss the “role of universities in the Europe of Knowledge” raised in the February 2003 Commission communication.  Further information on: rtd-consult-univ@cec.eu.int

° International Offshore Technology Conference “Innovation without limits” Houston, Texas, USA, 3^rd to 6^th May 2004

Around 280 technical papers will be presented relating to the offshore oil and gas industry covering a wide range of issues such as mass transport complexes in deepwater environments, seismic imaging, and the future of the North Sea for independent operators.  Further information: www.otcnet.org/2004 

° 2004 ‘fib’ (Federation Internationale du Beton) Symposium on “Concrete Structures: the Challenge of Creativity”, Avignon, France, April 26^th-28^th April 2004

The international federation for structural concrete conference is being organised by the French Association of Civil Engineering (AFGC)  and will look at use of new materials and innovative contruction techniques of builders.  Visits will take place to High Speed Railway Structures between Lyon and Marseille and to the world record Millau viaduct.

° 10^th International conference on urban transport and the environment Dresden, Germany, 19th to 21st May 2004.

Latest advances in the field of transport will be discussed and research papers will be presented on: urban transport systems; transport sustainability; environmental aspects; transport demand management; air pollution and emissions control; information systems.  Participants will include engineers, scientists and managers working on planning and management of urban transportation systems and transport policy industry in universities, research organisations and government.  Further information is located on: http://www.wessex.ac.uk/conferences/2004 /urbantransport04/index.html

°Intelligent transport systems Congress and exhibition ‘moving towards an integrated Europe’, Budapest, Hungary, 24^th to 26^th May 2004

The Conference will include discussions on e-safety in an enlarged EU, intelligent vehicle safety systems and ITS for multimodal services without borders.  Contributions are expected for 1^st December 2003.

° Annual European association of research managers and administrators (EARMA) conference, Bucharest, Romania, 24th to 26th June 2004,

‘Research management and administration in a changing world'. Discussions to include:  managing, valuing and reporting the products of R&D; the effective operation of networks;  intellectual property policies;
- strategic planning for international collaborations;  management of change in research: the challenge of the real world   http://www.earma2004.ro

°Monitoring the geological environment Segovia, Spain, from 5 to 7 July 2004

An international conference on the monitoring, simulation and remediation of the geological environment aims to attract a multi-disciplinary audience of researchers, practitioners and government employees interested in a variety of areas, including civil engineering, forest and agricultural engineering, geography, biology, ecology and hydrology.

For further information, please consult the following web address:
http://www.wessex.ac.uk/conferences/2004 /geoenvironment04/index.html

° B4E "Building for a European Future - Strategies and Alliances for Construction Innovation" , Maastricht , Netherlands, 14^th – 15^th October 2004. 

The B4E conference aims to reflect the views of all stakeholders in construction on the future development of European research in the sector.  E-CORE and ECCREDI plan to then incorporate the views of the entire construction sector in E-CORE research strategy and to present these to the European Commission, with the aim of influencing the development of the 7^th Framework Programme. The event offers an important opportunity to express a vision of the future of construction research in Europe and the challenges and opportunities of  the next decade. Papers that illustrate the way in which industry uses advanced technology, and the value of research and innovation, by reference to recent major projects, are especially welcome.  Focus should be on the following themes: 1. Smart Construction; 2. Building the Future; 3. Strategies for Innovation; 4. Strategic Alliances. Submission of abstracts may be carried out by visiting the conference website www.b4e.org  before the 15 January 2004 deadline.

° Advantages for Real Estate and Construction Sector, Helsinki, 13^th - 16^th June 2005

The 11^th Joint CIB International symposium aims to put modern construction management and economics into a perspective of modern real estate and construction businesses and projects.  Topics of interest include the evolving sector, firms and their businesses, projects and processes, IT and construction processes, Foundations of our thinking and practice. The call for Papers will be available in October 2003.

Symposium web-site: www.ril.fi/cib2005  Tentative registration: kaisa.venalainen@ril.fi