The event which was co-organised by the European Council of Civil Engineers (ECCE) and the European Council of Engineering Chambers (ECEC) was attended by some 100 engineers representing various professional organisations throughout Europe. The declared intention of the event was to demonstrate the critical role and vital contribution of Chartered Engineers to society and economic growth, providing the necessary infrastructure for improving quality of life in a sustainable environment. The construction sector represents nearly 10% of the EU GDP and employs over 7% of all employment which represents 30% of industrial employment. Even more impressive is the statistic that the construction sector is responsible for some 52% of all fixed capital assets that accrue in the EU.

The programme for the day comprised two main topics: the Role of Chartered Engineers in Europe and Engineering Quality and Public Procurement. Speakers on the first topic included Maria Damanaki, EU Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries as keynote speaker, and Jürgen Tiedje, Head of the European Commission's Unit for Free Movement of Professionals. The keynote speaker for the second topic was Heide Rühle, MEP for the Greens / European Free Alliance. Two ICE speakers also contributed. David Lloyd-Roach, Director of Membership presented the ICE qualification system and David Hutchinson, Former VP spoke about the recently published Client Best Practice Guide.

Maria Damanaki noted the importance of mobility for the engineering profession, as 16 million high-skilled people will be required for jobs in the EU in 2020. She announced the proposed introduction of the Professional Mobility Card for engineers. Member states will issue these through a competent public authority. Currently membership states regulate engineering, and engineers abroad require recognition. ECEC and ECCE were basically positive about the introduction of the PM Card in their submissions. ICE has expressed reservations about the bureaucratic effort required to implements such a system Europe-wide.

Ms. Damanaki also announced that EU public procurement is being modernised and simplified, with a reduction in the amount of documentation required from bidders with first submissions. Only the winning bidder will have to submit full evidence of capacity, staffing proposals etc.. There will be new evaluation procedures, and a life-cycle cost concept. This is part of the Europe 2020 Strategy, which will allocate € 50 billion for the transport, energy and digital sectors including also maritime and oceans' energy, to promote a greener economy. She affirmed her conviction that Engineers will have a key role to play in the economic recovery.

The current Professional Qualifications Directive: consolidates 15 previous directives. It is proposed that the Professional Mobility Card for engineers will be an electronic certificate with a simpler, more efficient electronic system which will cost less than a physical card (currently professionals must pay high fees for documents). The Card will not be imposed, but introduced at the request and agreement of individual professions as a voluntary system.

Jürgen Tiedje explained that there were 420 submissions in response to the Green Paper which was circulated in June 2011 The resolution incorporating the content of these submissions was published for further comment on 19th December. ICE has reservations in connection with the proposals and has responded accordingly.

Heide Rühle talked about the proposal to revise public procurement rules within international trade reciprocity, and the parliamentary reports on implementation and application of public procurement rules. There is a lack of legal clarity in the implementation of the current regulations in member states. The current rules require acceptance of the cheapest price which inhibits innovation and creates bureaucracy and legal insecurity. The link between lowest price and best value was also questioned by Etelka Barsi-Pataky, President of the Hungarian Chamber of Engineers and keynote speaker at this event.

The European Parliament will receive the proposal from the EU Commission, and the process to finalise it will take 1-2 years. Ms Rühle expressed her interest in hearing opinions about public procurement from the organisations attending the European Engineers' Day, and suggested that hearings would be useful.

The 1st European Engineers' Day was certainly a success in that it creates a podium for the exchange of information, news and ideas and a forum for discussion with Europoliticians. It is intended that the 2nd meeting be held in 2013. This is worthy of support but it must be ensured that the stated aim of raising the profile of the engineering profession in the European Commission be followed more systematically as, in my view, due to lack of Commission and MEP attendees this was not achieved in the 1st Meeting.

Hamish Douglas, ICE Council Member for Europe