° Italy must pay costs following a European Court of Justice Judgement relating to public procurement requirements in construction relating to flood retention and canalisation in the Parma area. Case ref. C-385/02 Full text

° The European Parliament  held a plenary session in Strasbourg from 19-22 April  2004.

° Some current reports of potential interest to professional civil engineers and to the construction sector:

·     Report on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Community, of the Convention on access to information, public participation in decision making and access to justice regarding environmental matters Full text Rapporteur : Eija-Riitta Korhola MEP

·         Report on the proposal for a directive amending the Directive establishing a scheme for green-house gas emission allowance trading within the Community, in respect of the Kyoto Protocol's project mechanisms Doc Ref: Doc.: A5-0154/2004 (Full text) Rapporteur : Alexander de ROO MEP

·         Report on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive on batteries and accumulators and spent batteries and accumulators (COM(2003) 723 Rapporteur : Hans Blokland MEP, Doc.: A5-0265/2004

·         Report on the proposal for a Directive amending Directive 1999/62/EC on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures  Rapporteur: Luigi Cocilovo MEP Doc Ref:
Doc.: A5-0220/2004    

·         Report on improving safety at Sea  Rapporteur: Dirk Sterckx MEP Doc Ref: Doc.: A5-0257/2004

° 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

° European Conference on Raw Building Materials, Sarajevo, Fed. Of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 20^th-21^st May 2004

The conference is being organised by the Ministry of Education and Science: further information available from Conference Co-ordinator Prof. Muris Osmanagic, PHD e-mail ipsvjet@bih.net.ba

° 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.

° Social learning and the sustainable use of water, Brussels, Belgium, 26^th May 2004

The EU FP5-funded SLIM project  will hold a public seminar in Brussels, Belgium, on 26 May.   The SLIM (social learning for the integrated management and sustainable use of water at a catchment scale) project focuses on the application of social learning as a conceptual framework, an operational principle, a policy instrument and a process for systemic change. For further information, please visit: http://slim.open.ac.uk

° 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 monitoring, simulation and remediation of the geological environment aims to attract a multi-disciplinary audience from the fields of 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. www.b4e.org 

° 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.