ACE Info
11-04
English
language version
The monthly electronic note from the Architects’ Council of Europe
Wednesday 15th December 2004
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INTRODUCTION
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Welcome to the eleventh and final issue in 2004
of ACE Info, the monthly update from
the Architects' Council of Europe that will give you, at a glance, information
on current issues, highlighting emerging areas of activity and informing you of
matters of interest in the field of architectural policy.
This issue is also available in French.
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ACE MATTERS
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THE ACE GENERAL ASSEMBLY – NOVEMBER 2005
The second General Assembly of the ACE of the
year 2004 took place in Brussels on the 19th and 20th
November last. Over 100 delegates were
present and a number of significant matters were debated and adopted during the
sessions of the event.
Principal among these was the adoption of new
Statutes for the ACE that will introduce several changes to the governance
structures of the ACE and of its work.
Firstly the Executive Board will be increased in size from 9 to 11
Members; secondly the President will be directly elected by the General
Assembly for a mandate of 2-years; thirdly the manner in which the working
bodies of the ACE are managed and co-ordinated will be changed so as to match
the ongoing internal debate on the further development of the ACE multi-annual
strategy. The new Statutes will come
into force on the 1st January 2006.
Several policy documents were also formally
adopted, including guidelines on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and
the ACE recommendations on the transposition of the Public Procurement
Directives into National Law. The
Assembly also formally approved the establishment of a Joint Working Party will
the European Association of Architectural Education (EAAE), which is now
expected to hold its first meeting in January 2005.
In relation to emerging priorities, the Assembly
decided to create two new Working Groups, on monitoring research developments,
and on health and safety.
The Assembly also unanimously accepted the
application of Croatia, after it was confirmed by the EU as an official
Candidate Country, to become an Observer Member of the ACE.
Finally the Assembly noted the changes that will
occur in the membership of the Executive Board in 2005:
Marie-Helene Lucas (LUX) will take up the post
of President
Rob Budding (NL) will take up the post of vice
President for 2005
Katarina Nilsson was elected Treasurer as the
mandate of the existing Treasurer has expired.
SLOVENIAN CHAMBER FULLY ESTABLISHED
The Slovenian Chamber of Architects is now fully
established as an independent chamber and its first President is Viktor Pust,
also Head of Delegation to the ACE.
BELGIAN ORDER LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE
The CNOA(B) has launched a new website located
at the same address as the old one. It
has been designed by a young Belgian architect (following a competition) and it
is accessible to more people with a high level and quality of information
available to all. The re-vamped site
will mean that, in a short time, the printed newsletter of the Chamber Architext will disappear in favour of a
new electronic newsletter, Archimail. The site can be accessed at:
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CORE ISSUES
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PUBLIC HEARING ON THE SIM DIRECTIVE
A public Hearing on the proposed directive on
Services in the Internal Market (SIM) took place on the 11th
November last. It was jointly organised
by two Parliamentary Committees – Internal Market and Consumer Protection
(IMCO) and Employment (EMPL). It was
well attended and a series of invited experts addressed both horizontal and
vertical issues that the proposed directive raises. For the Liberal Professions, Arno Metzler of the German
Association of Liberal professions- BfB, raised concerns about the application
of the Country of Origin principle and the poor impact assessment that has been
carried out prior to the launch of the proposal by the Commission. The rapporteur for the IMCO Committee,
Evelyne Gebhardt, noted that none of the invited experts had questioned the
need for a directive and that the criticisms were centred around the detail of
the proposed directive, notably the Country of Origin principle and not on the
principle of introducing a framework directive for services. A full report on the aspects of the Hearing
that are of importance to the architectural profession can be requested from
the ACE Secretariat by e-mail to: info@ace-cae.org
SPECIAL HEARING OF THE EPP-ED GROUP
On the same subject of the proposed directive on
Services in the Internal Market, the EPP-ED Group, the largest group in
Parliament, organised a specific hearing on the 9th December at the
initiative of Mr Malcolm Harbour MEP, shadow rapporteur on the said directive. Mr Metzler, while generally welcoming the
proposed directive re-iterated his scepticism in respect of the Country of
Origin (COR) principle and he emphasised that the nature of the professional
services makes them largely intangible, hence they can not be standardised. Mr Bedossa, President of CEPLIS, expressed
the view that liberal professions should not be opposed to the COR principle
provided this would be done in coherence with the directive on professional
qualifications, which implies a certain degree of harmonisation. He called for more margins of manoeuvre to
be given to the professions under the alternative regulation approach
(self/co-regulation) of the Inter-institutional Agreement concluded at the end
of 2003.
HEALTH AND SAFETY – THE ACE – A SIGNATORY OF THE
BILBAO DECLARATION
At the European Construction Safety Summit
(Bilbao, 22nd November), the ACE, along with other leading European
Organisations from the construction sector, signed the Bilbao Declaration on
Health and Safety in Construction. The
Declaration commits the signatories to the pursuit of key actions that should
be taken in order to boost safety standards in construction. Crucially the declaration calls for
independent research to be carried out into the real root causes of accidents
on construction sites. Such research
will allow new, balanced strategies to be developed that will move Europe
towards a safer industry.
The declaration can be downloaded from the
website of the ACE under the “What’s New” section.
THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF THE ARCHITECTS
DIRECTIVE TO BE CONVENED
A plenary meeting of the Advisory Committee of
the Architects Directive (85/384/EEC) is to be held in the early part of
2005. This follows the objections of
the Dutch Government to an application by Austria to have a new qualification
listed in the Directive. The Diplomas
Working Group of the Committee met on the 9th November 2004 and it
is understood that it has recommended that the application by Austria be
rejected. A plenary meeting of the
Committee at which a quorum is present is required to consider the
recommendation of the working group. It
is also understood that several of the new Member States have not yet nominated
their representatives to the Committee and the ACE has been working to ensure
that nominations are made in time to ensure that a quorum will be present at
the upcoming meeting of the Committee.
FORMAL INTER-GROUP ON URBAN ISSUES CLOSE TO
ADOPTION
In a significant development of the efforts to
set up a formal Inter-Group in the European Parliament on Urban Issues, the
Secretaries General of the political groups adopted their list of Inter Groups
for this legislature of Parliament.
Among those on the adopted list of Inter-groups supported by 3 political
groups is Urban Issues (including Housing). Once the completed dossiers will
have been examined by the quaestors of the Parliament the Inter-groups will be
entered on the official Parliament Register, after
which the work of each group can start in earnest. The confirmation of the establishment of an Inter-group on Urban
Issues which the ACE has been promoting for several years is most welcome as it
will provide a stable platform within the Parliament at which these issues will
be debated.
BARROSO SAYS CULTURAL DIMENSION CRUCIAL TO
EUROPEAN PROJECT
In a recent speech in Berlin on cultural policy
in Europe, the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso
underlined the importance of culture in the construction of a European identity
and continued integration. He said that
his Commission, who took up office on the 22nd November, is
determined to protect and promote cultural diversity and that the time has come
to translate good intentions into good decisions. At the same Conference a dozen culture ministers signed a
declaration that calls for the adoption of a “Charter of the Europe of Culture”
that would solemnly affirm the essential dimension of Culture in the European project.
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OTHER MATTERS
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FEANI PROJECT LAUNCHED
The FEANI (the European Federation of National Engineering
Associations) has launched a project with EU funding, known as EUR-ACE, on the
accreditation of European engineering programmes and graduates. It has opened a special section on its
website that describes the project, the partners and the groups that are
responsible for the project. For
further information go to the EUR-ACE section of the following website:
ACE JOINS THE FORUM FOR CONSTRUCTION IN THE
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (FOCOPE)
The ACE has joined the FOCOPE for a one-year
period in order to assess whether there is value in being part of a
subscription based lobby group that represents the construction industry in the
European Parliament. Membership ensures
that up-to-date information on matters of relevance to the industry, that are
being debated in the Parliament, is regularly circulated and readily available
through the FOCOPE website. Membership
also ensures that frequent opportunities to meet with the rapporteurs on
crucial topics are offered to Members.
The latest such opportunity was on November 23rd last.
PROPOSED DIRECTIVE ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY
As part of its energy package published in December 2003 the European Commission
tabled a proposal for a directive on energy efficiency and energy
services. The draft seeks to set new
rules that would ensure that all Member States save at least one per cent more
energy per year, leading to a six per cent annual saving in 2012. However, at a recent first debate on the
proposal, held on the 29th November, energy Ministers of the Member
States have expressed their opposition to the setting of mandatory
targets. The Ministers supported the
objectives of the directive but stressed that a more flexible, less bureaucratic
approach is needed. The adoption of the
directive would have a further impact on the design and maintenance of
buildings as the construction sector is seen by the directive as one sector
where significant improvements can be achieved relatively easily. The proposal is expected to reach its First
Reading in Parliament in April 2005.
THE VIENNA DECLARATION OF EUROCITIES
At its conference on the 11th
November 2004, EUROCITIES adopted a political declaration that lays down its
proposals to better meet the needs of the 100 million Europeans who live in
cities and urban areas. The declaration
was given to the ministers responsible for urban policies at their informal
meeting in Rotterdam. (See separate
report in this issue). It makes calls
on each of the EU Institutions to undertake specific actions and it can be
viewed at:
TERRITORIAL COHESION AND URBAN POLICY IN EUROPE
An informal meeting of Ministers from the
enlarged Europe was held in Rotterdam on the 29th and 30th
November last at which the new concept of territorial
cohesion was discussed alongside the topic of urban policy. The objective of the discussion was to
debate the question of how best to achieve political coherence in European
territorial planning and how can Europe’s territorial diversity be exploited to
support lasting economic growth. The
meeting also discussed urban policies and towns as assets for Europe and it
confirmed the place of urban policies in the European agenda. The ACE is striving to ensure, notably
through its involvement in the European Forum for Architectural Policies, that
this renewed focus on territorial and urban matters will include specific
references to the architecture and architectural policies as essential tools in
the achievement of quality in these two subjects. Specific efforts and initiatives are currently being developed in
that direction during the upcoming Luxembourg Presidency of the EU which will
be reported on, in due course, in ACE
Info. Further information can be
found at:
http://www.eu2004.nl/default.asp?CMS_ITEM=4B5121FBE0B64F419FEB85B1B706F396X1X46744X2
PARLIAMENT SETS UP BODY ON THE LISBON AGENDA
On the 16th November 2004, the
Presidents of the European Parliaments political groups decided to set up an
ad-hoc body to co-ordinate the work of the Parliament on the Lisbon
process. Its remit is to co-ordinate
the work of the Parliaments Committees and to prepare and present a strong and
coherent position on the mid-term review of the Lisbon Strategy due to be
adopted by the Spring Council in March 2005.
The mandate of the group, which will have 33 members, is to run to the
end of 2005.
SPAIN LAUNCHES A BIG PUSH FOR SOLAR HOUSES
Revised regulations, due to come into force in
Spain in 2005, will require constructors to install thermal or photovoltaic
solar panels on all new and renovated buildings. If the regulations have the desired effect then Spain will become
Europe’s second largest solar generator after Germany.
THE ECONOMIST LEADS WITH AN ARTICLE ON GREEN
ARCHITECTURE
The technology quarterly of The Economist magazine, published on the 4th December
last, leads with an article on green architecture. The article is general, but demonstrates the prominence that a
sustainable approach to design is gaining in the mainstream press and in the
minds of the public. The article
concludes by saying that green architecture is not a fad and that it is here to
stay.
INTERNAL POLLUTION CREATED BY ROOM SCENTS AND
DEODORANTS
A European scientific study carried out on the
initiative of national consumer organisations (Test Achats, Euroconsumers,
EFC-Que Choisir) and the Europan Consumer Organisation (BEUC) has shown that 76
room scents and deodorants contain chemical substances that are harmful to
public health and the environment.
Although the consumer associations wish to avoid any alarmist reactions,
they advise vulnerable people (pregnant women, children and asthmatics) not to
use deodorants or room scents. They
point out that the effects are all the more harmful when consideration is given
to the fact that living conditions (indoor environments) often contain a high
level of chemical products in furniture, paint, varnishes and cleaning
products. For the BEUC this study
underlines the importance of the REACH proposal on the evaluation and
registration of chemical products.
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PUBLICATIONS
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THE GUIDE TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 2004-2009
This is the seventh edition of this guide; it
contains up-to-date information for contacts with the European Parliament,
describing the balance of power among the political groups, the key figures to
watch for and full biographical details of all the MEP’s in the enlarged
Parliament. Published by the American
Chamber of Commerce to the European Union, it can be ordered through the
following website:
www.amchameu.be/Pubs/order.htm
URBAN AUDIT 2004
The Urban Audit collects information on the
living conditions in 258 large and medium-sized cities within the European
Union and candidate countries (EU-27).
One of the main goals of the Urban Audit is to allow mayors and other
local elected officials to compare their city and their neighbourhoods directly
with other cities in Europe. To obtain
a copy contact the Regional Policy Documentation Centre of the
Directorate-General for Regional Policy and Eurostat by e-mail at regio-info@cec.eu.int
To see the statistics on-line, go to:
TWO REPORTS ON URBAN POLICIES
Two reports on Urban Policies in the EU-15 and
in the EU-10 commissioned by the Dutch Presidency of the EU, Ministry of
Interior and Kingdom Affairs served as background information for the recent
Ministerial Meeting on Territorial Cohesion and Urban Policy, held in Rotterdam
on 29-30 November. Regrettably, the (necessary) linkage between architectural
policies and urban policies is not addressed; in fact it is worthwhile noting
that architecture as a topic is not mentioned at all. These reports, as well as all the relevant national reports can
be downloaded at:
http://www.dutchuec.nl/kcgs/show/id=136088
LEAN CONSTRUCTION JOURNAL LAUNCHED
The first edition of the Lean Construction
Journal (LCJ) has been launched and it can be viewed at:
www.leanconstructionjournal.org
Practitioners and academics have been invited to
submit manuscripts for the second edition, due to be published in April
2005. Outlines can be submitted by
following instructions given on the website of the magazine (see above).
THE WOOD REVIEW ON UK EXPERIENCE IN EU PUBLIC
PROCUREMENT
The UK Government has published the Wood Review
of the experiences of UK companies in the EU Public Procurement market; that is
the success of UK companies in winning contracts outside the UK. It has found that, although the public
procurement rules are formally respected, national companies are still more
likely to be selected. The report can
be downloaded at:
www.ogc.gov.uk/embedded_object.asp?docid=1002412
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EVENTS
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UIA WORLD CONGRESS – ISTANBUL
Time is short and the UIA World Congress of
architects is just six months away.
Subscriptions are still at a discount rate, but only for a short
time. You are invited to look at the
programme and events that are planned for this Bazaar of Architectures at:
E-CORE BROKERAGE EVENT
Details of the latest FP6 call for project
proposals has been published on the CORDIS website (www.cordis.lu/nmp/whatsnew.htm)
and there are at least two opportunities for the construction sector. In order to give potential proposers the
opportunity to develop synergy between individual proposals, E-CORE is
organising a brokerage event in Brussels for the 17th January
2005. Full details can be found at:
www.e-core.org/17-01-2005
or by e-mail to martine.merckx@bbri.be
REVALUING CONSTRUCTION 2005
This major conference on the topic of the Challenge of Change in Construction will
take place in Rotterdam on the 22nd 23rd March 2005. It will provide an opportunity to learn how
the construction world is changing as clients, governments and construction
firms present their points of view on changes that are occurring in the sector
at this time. Full details can be found
on the conference website at:
7TH WORLD CONGRESS ON ENGINEERING
EDUCATION
To be held in Budapest, Hungary, on the 4th
to the 8th March 2006 the theme of the Congress will be The Mobility of Engineers. Among other things it will look at the
Bologna Process, accreditation procedures and entrepreneurship in the
profession. For further information see
the following website:
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ARCHITECTURAL
EDUCATION
The Catalan Architecture Association and Quaderns d’Arquitectura i Urbanisme magazine are holding this conference in Barcelona in 2005. A call for papers has been issued and full information c