INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

E-learning: Seven surveys on e-learning carried out by European Training Village (ETV) and administered by Cedefop (European Centre for Development of Vocation Training).  Trends in European e-learning were identified.  The publication is available from Cedefop at a cost of Euro 40 (ISBN 92-896-0109-4).  ETV’s interactive web-site is to be found on http://www.trainingvillage.gre

Launch of e-learning Industry Group emphasises public-private partnership in Education.  Education Commissioner Viviane Reding expects that the group, founded by 15 leading companies “will play a significant role in establishing the right conditions for the accelerated integration of e-learning in schools, universities and in the work place”.  The industry group will give advice to Commission and national governments on essential information technology and telecommunications infrastructure, open standards to facilitate exchange of e-learning content, development of a sustainable market for e-learning content and the development of relevant professional and personal skills.  Founding group members are: 3Com, Accenture, Apple, BT, Cisco, Digitalbrain, IBM, Intel, Line Communications, NIIT, Nokia, Online Courseware Factory, Sanoma WSOY, Sun Microsystems and Vivendi Universal Publishing.

UK e-science centre to lead involvement in EU computing projects:   The national e-science centre in Scotland, run jointly by the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow was opened on 25 April.  It aims to provide a focal point for UK involvement in e-science initiatives and work closely with computing projects being developed by the UK’s Particle physics and astronomy research council (PPARC).  PPARC is developing the GridPP programme exploiting data from Geneva-based European nuclear research centre, CERN. 

Further details available from: http://www.pparc.ac.uk

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT: Developments continue to take place at political level in the amendments to the Directive and are being monitored by the European Construction Forum of which ECCE is a member.  information is not yet in the public domain.  (Green Procurement is outlined in a Supplement to this Brief).

TRANSPORT:

Transport Safety – Information technology seen as next step in improving road safety: At a High-Level meeting on eSafety on 25^th April, Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society, Erkki Liikanen stressed the need for an integrated approach to road safety.  Measures in recent years to reduce Europe’s road fatalities have focused on the vehicle – crashworthiness, seatbelts and airbags.  Fatalities are dropping but the figure of 410,000 each year is still unacceptably high.  The EU Transport White Paper published in September 2001 sets an ambitious goal of 50% reduction of road deaths on Europe’s roads by 2010.  Accidents with injuries are increasing – around 1.4 million occur annually.  Active safety systems help drivers maintain vehicle control.  The next generation of active safety systems and Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems will take into account not just the driver and the vehicle, but also the environment around the vehicle.

Industry and related organisations are elaborating a ‘Road Map’ and the Commission is preparing a Communication on the Intelligent Vehicle and Road Safety to be adopted by the end of 2002; this will introduce a comprehensive eSafety action plan.  R&D has a role to play in collaboration with non-EU countries since vehicles are designed for global markets.  The EU’s IST programme has an Intelligent Vehicle cluster with a total budget of over Euro 150 million.  New funding will be available in the Sixth Framework Programme. 

UK State aid for rail works is approved by Commission: on 24^th April 2002 the European Commission approved modified state aid measures for UK rail project the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL).  This follows the decision by Railtrack UK Ltd not to purchase section 2 of the infrastructure (Fawkham Junction to St. Pancras, London) and the resulting need to modify financial arrangements.  The funding is not considered a distortion of competition; CTRL is considered to promote the execution of an important project of European interest and to compensate for additional infrastructure charges that other undertakings do not have to bear.

PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION:   The Italian MEP Zappala has now been appointed ‘Rapporteur’ for the European Parliament on the proposal for a Directive on the recognition of professional qualifications. 

NEWS FROM THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

The main item on the 8-11 April session was EU defence policy.  MEPs were briefed on relations between NATO and the EU and a statement was made on the issue of depleted uranium in Afghanistan.

Reports of engineering interest under discussion were:

·         Protection of the environment, reports by Giuseppe Di Lello Finuoli (Italy) Doc. Ref: A 5-0080/2002 (re legal sanctions) and by Ria Oomen-Ruijten (Netherlands) Doc Ref: COM (2001) 139 and EP Doc Ref A5-0099/2002 (relating to draft Directive on environmental crimes and criminal sanctions)

·         Two reports by Karl-Heinz Florenz MEP (Germany) Recycling computers and electrical goods,  Doc Ref.: A5-0148/2001 and Hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment Doc Ref: A5-0146/2001     

·         Workers exposure to asbestos – amendment of Directive 83/477/EEC, report by Elisa Maria Damiao (Portugal) Doc Ref: A5-0091/2002

• Strengthening co-operation with third countries in higher education by Marielle De Sarnez (France) Doc Ref: COM (2001)385 A5-0035/2002

In the part-session held on 24-25 April, key discussions centred on Middle East developments and the outcome of the 22-23 April meeting between EU and Mediterranean foreign ministers.  Attention was seized by the chaos as scores of MEPs joined protestors seeking to disrupt a news conference by French National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen who made a strong showing in the first round of the French presidential elections.

The European Parliament supports a proposal for 35% of this year’s EU aid budget to go to education and health as a measure to assist the 800 million suffering from chronic malnutrition worldwide and the 1.2 billion people existing on less than 1 dollar per day.

Items of engineering interest included the controversial legislation designed to restrict the amount of time workers can be exposed to vibrations from machinery.  The Physical Agents (vibration) Directive will apply to people working with vibrating machinery in a range of industries, including construction and agriculture.  Further details of the issue are contained in the report on “Conciliation agreement on directive of vibrating machinery” by MEP Thorning-Schmidt of Denmark.

General interest:  Commission ‘Open Day’ - 4^th May.  Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin is to meet members of the public on Saturday morning 4^th May at the Breydel Building to talk about European issues and in particular research policy.  The Commission’s building will be open from 10.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.

ANNEX: CONFERENCE NOTICES of INTEREST TO ECCE MEMBERS

 FINLAND: International Symposium ILCDES 2003 “Integrated Lifetime Engineering of Buildings and Civil Infrastructures – Decembers 1^st- 3^rd, Kuopio, Finland

The issue of whole-life design, management and maintenance planning for buildings and infrastructure is of great interest internationally the  2^nd ILCDES Symposium will discuss latest developments.  The Symposium is being organised by ECCE member-organisation RIL, in co-operation with the Technical Research Centre of Finland.  The international audience should include building professionals: owners, architects, structural and civil engineers, manufacturers, contractors, maintenance professionals, government and local authority officials, researchers and educators.

Key themes will be: Ownership, Planning and Management of Investments; Integrated Life-Cycle Design (ILCD); Lifetime Management Systems (LMS); Integration of Design and Management Processes; Data for Lifetime Design and Management; Norms, standards and guidelines for Lifetime Design, Management and Maintenance Planning and Best Practices in Applying Life-Cycle Design and Management.

Further details can be obtained from the Symposium Secretariat: ILCDES 2003, Association of Finnish Civil Engineers RIL, Dagmarinkatu 14, FIN-00100 HELSINKI, Finland TEL: (+358) (0)9 6840 7818 FAX: (+358) (0)9 588 3192 e-mail: kaisa.venalainen@ril.fi web-site: http://www.ril.fi/ilcdes2003

European Commission Workshop on the ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE IPPC DIRECTIVE – Charlemagne Building, Brussels, 16 May 2002

The European Commission is hosting a conference in Brussels on 16^th May to promote an exchange with national authorities and industry at EU level on the implementation of the IPPC (Integrated Pollution  Prevention and Control) Directive.   The aim is to raise awareness, increase understanding and contribute to creating an Economic and Cross-Media Reference Document.  Participants should be IPPC policymakers, writers of permits, national authorities from EU and accession countries, industry, environmental NGOs, academics and the European Commission.

Background:

The IPPC Directive (96)61/EC) lays down a framework requiring Member States to issue operating permits for certain industrial installations.  Permits must set out operating conditions and emission limits based on Best Available Techniques (BT).  According to Art. 2(11) of the Directive “available techniques”, , are “those developed on a scale which allows implementation in the relevant industrial sector, under economically and technically viable conditions, taking into consideration the cost and advantages, …, as long as they are reasonably accessible to the operator.

Practical implementation is very difficult as it involves a complex trade off between what will produce greatest environmental improvement and what industry can afford.

ENCORD Workshop on “Re-engineering the Construction Process – Lessons from the Manufacturing and Service Industry” - Birmingham UK, 17-18 June 2002

Registrations for this workshop must be made by 24^th May.  There will also be the possibility for participants to give short presentations.  Attendees will include ENCORD, ENBRI and ECCREDI members experienced or interested in the improvement of construction processes.  Cost will be £215 to include accommodation in Birmingham’s Crowne Plaza NEC hotel on 17^th June, meals etc.

Further information from ECCE Secretariat or Julie.wheeler@gb.abb.com

PIARC-AIPCR World Road Association – “Second International Road Meeting” – Copenhagen, Denmark, 23 August 2002

The meeting aims to develop links between international associations, organisations and federations.  The main topics for the August meeting will be relations between road administrations and their partners and road users; a discussion on communication between organisations; possibly also a topic of a technical nature.  Pre-registration was expected in April together with proposals for firm topics for the August meeting.  Further information can be obtained from piarc@wanadoo.fr

Reminder: European Commission EUROCODES Conference – Brussels, 25 June