European Engineering Formation: The Problem of Trans-national Recognition

Abstract

SUMMARY The need for an international, or at least European, system of recognition of academic and professional qualifications increases as the professional job market becomes more and more international. On the contrary, no widely accepted European system exists at present, not even in engineering, although in this field the situation appears more advanced than in others, thanks to the comparatively great international experience and exchanges in the academic and professional worlds. Thus, notwithstanding a European Community Directive of 1989 that intended to make easy the trans-national mobility of all professionals, and the 1997 ‘Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications Concerning Higher Education in the European Region’ promoted by the Council of Europe and UNESCO, international exchanges and mobility still encounter difficulties, due partly to long-standing prejudices, but also to insufficient mutual knowledge of the different national systems and significance of the degrees awarded. This paper summarizes briefly the present situation in the European Union with regard to recognition and accreditation of engineering degrees and qualifications, illustrates the actions undertaken by Working Group 2 of the EU-supported Thematic Network ‘Higher Engineering Education for Europe’, and advances a tentative proposal with regard to the gradual, bottom-up establishment of a system for mutual recognition and accreditation of degrees and professional qualifications in engineering.