THE EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF ENGINEERS : FEANI
(Fédération Européenne d'Associations Nationales d'Ingénieurs)
More than 1.500.000 European Engineers represented
ORIGIN
The European Federation of
National Associations of Engineers - FEANI -
was founded in 1951. Seven countries
immediately joined this initiative. Today 23
countries, among them three from Eastern
Europe, are represented in FEANI through 59
National Associations of Engineers which
represent more than 1.500.000 European
Engineers. Several other countries from
Eastern Europe are currently applying for
membership.
AIMS
:
- to affirm the professional identity of the engineers in Europe,
- to strive for a single voice for the engineering profession of Europe, whilst acknowledging its diversity.
This diversity is the result of the long and
complex history of Europe where 36
education systems and 43 professional or
academic titles now co-exist. This complicates
FEANI's tasks.
ACHIEVEMENTS
The most urgent of
those tasks is to facilitate the mutual
recognition of professional qualifications and
the free movement of engineers across
borders. For this purpose, FEANI established
as early as 1970 the "European Register of
Higher Technical Professions" which was
reformed in 1987 to become the present
FEANI REGISTER.
Applicants to the FEANI Register must meet
several requirements related to academic
education and professional experience : a
formation extended at least over 7 years to
include at least 3 years of University level
accredited academic education, at least 2
years of assessed professional experience,
and 2 optional years of "University", and/or
"Experience".
Engineers who meet those requirements may
apply for the title "EUR ING awarded by
FEANI. To date close to 18.400 engineers
have been awarded this title.
FEANI being a private organisation, the title it
delivers cannot confer official rights, but it
provides a guarantee of professional
competence which is more and more broadly
recognised. Thus the European Commission in
Brussels recently praised the initiative of
FEANI in creating the EUR ING Title and
recommended that it should be taken into
consideration when deciding at the
governmental level upon migration requests.
(Official Journal of the European
Communities, C268, 26 September 1994).
This successful achievements were possible
only because the Register's procedures are
reliable and strictly respected. This is true not
only for checking the individual applications
but also for accrediting Schools or Courses
providing an accepted academic education :
the FEANI INDEX has been composed and
is regularly updated with the participation and
final approval of each of the FEANI
Countries. It is now considered as the unique
comprehensive and reliable reference for
engineering education in Europe.
FUTURE PLANS
It is likely that the
enlargement of FEANI and its increasingly
high profile, together with the increasing
interest the EUR ING concept gives rise to,
will significantly contribute to the unity of the
engineering profession in Europe and make its
eminent role better recognised.
Is it unrealistic to hope also that other parts of
the world might follow Europe's example so
that engineers from those countries may
benefit as well from the mutual recognition of
their qualifications and a greater freedom of
movement ?
Copyright © 1995
FEANI
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