English language version
The monthly electronic note from the Architects’ Council of Europe
Monday 20th September 2004
INTRODUCTION
ACE MATTERS
CORE ISSUES
OTHER MATTERS
PUBLICATIONS
EVENTS
COMPETITIONS
USEFUL LINKS
EDITOR’S NOTE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Welcome
to the ninth 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.
THE ACE WEBSITE
Over
the summer there have been a few improvements made to the ACE website.
The main change has been to ease the navigation of the site so that documents
can be found easier and with less “clicks”. Also some new sections have
been added, including a Press Review section in which articles that mention or
refer to the ACE are posted. This section gives a good idea of the extent
to which the ACE activities are reported across the EU.
Finally
you are reminded that the ACE website contains extensive archives of past
documents and that a wealth of information can be found there. You are
invited to visit the site at www.ace-cae.org
and discover its riches for yourself!
THE BAIK APPOINTS NEW INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS OFFICER
Our
Austrian Member Organisation, the BAIK, has appointed a new International
Affairs Officer to look after European and International matters. He is
Mag. Raimund Schüller and he succeeds Dr. Philippe Khiel in the post. The
ACE looks forward to a good co-operation with him in the years ahead.
SEMINAR ON PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
Following
the adoption of the new Public Procurement Directives and the preparation of
the ACE guidelines to the transposition of the directives into national law,
the ACE has joined forces with our engineering colleagues in the EFCA and the
ECCE to organise a seminar on this important topic. The seminar will address
a wide range of issues that are pertinent to the procurement of consultancy
services and is to be held in Brussels on the 21st October 2004. The
registration form and the programme for the one-day event can be downloaded by
choosing the “Events” link on the ACE website at the following address: http://www.ace-cae.org/Public/fsPublicNetwork_EN.html
COMMISSION GREEN PAPER ON PPP
The
ACE has prepared a detailed response to the Commission’s Green Paper on the
subject of Public Private Partnerships. The paper highlights the problems
that the PPP model poses for the profession with particular emphasis on the
need to ensure that the role of the architect in any PPP is properly considered
at the outset of any PPP for building projects. It also states, among
other things, the view that the PPP means of procurement does not lessen the
responsibility of the public partner to met its public duties in providing for
a quality built environment for all and it exposes the importance of the
question of design and build to the role of the architect. The full paper
can be accessed via the ACE website at http://www.ace-cae.org/Public/fsPublicNetwork_EN.html
see in Position report : Public Procurement.
PROPOSED DIRECTIVE ON SERVICES IN THE INTERNAL MARKET
The
Dutch presidency of the EU has affirmed that making progress on the proposed
directive on Services in the Internal Market (SIM Directive) will be one of its
top priorities for the second half of 2004. The Presidency intends to ask
the Member States whether they agree that the principle of mutual recognition
is an essential element of the internal market. It seems that the Dutch
Presidency believes that the answer to this question is “yes”.
The
ACE will be tracking developments in this matter closely over the coming
months. In the meantime the ACE has prepared a draft position on the SIM
Directive and it will be debated in a series of upcoming meetings prior to its
anticipated adoption at the General Assembly in November.
With
work in the Parliament now underway again after the elections (see below), it
is expected that there will be a Public Hearing on the SIM Directive. The
date is not yet set, but it is expected to be jointly organised by the Internal
Market and Consumer Affairs Committee and the Employment Committee. At
the time of writing it is thought that a likely time for the Hearing will be
the end of November 2004. ACE Info will publish the date when it
is known.
EUROPEAN TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM – ETP “BUILDING FOR A FUTURE
EUROPE
The
proposal to establish an ETP on the built environment has been gaining momentum
over the summer months. The proposal has now been fleshed out and has
received recognition from the Commission by virtue of its inclusion in a staff
working paper, that has been published on its website, on the question of
Technology Platforms (http://www.cordis.lu/technology-platforms/summaries.htm).
The structure has been settled and there are now a number of working
groups that have been established to concentrate on several key focus
areas. Those underway are on the topics of “Underground Construction”,
“Cities and Buildings”, “Sustainability and Health and Safety” and
“Networks”. The platform is due to be formally launched at the upcoming
B4E Conference in Maastricht on the 14th October 2004. The ACE
continues to enjoy a leading role in the proposal with a seat on the Support
Group and is taking the lead on the topic of Urban Issues in the Focus Area on
“Cities and Buildings”. Adrian Joyce of the Secretariat will be making a
presentation on this Focus Area at the B4E Conference. For more
information on the Conference see: www.b4e.org
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IS BACK AT WORK
Following
the elections in June, the European Parliament is now back at work having spent
the intervening months setting up its Committees and deciding on rapporteurs
for its major dossiers. Of relevance to the work of the ACE are the
following Committees:
International
Trade
The
Chair is Enrique BARON CRESPO (PES, ES)
Environment,
Public Health and Food Safety
The
Chair is Karl-Heinz FLORENZ (EPP-ED, DE)
This
Committee will be dealing with the highly controversial REACH regulation on the
registration and evaluation of chemicals.
Industry,
Research and Energy
The
Chair is Giles CHICHESTER (EPP-PD, UK)
Internal
Market and Consumer Protection
The
Chair is Philip WHITEHEAD (PES, UK)
Two
of the dossiers of most importance to current ACE policy are being dealt with
by this committee. They are the Qualifications Directive, whose adoption
will see the abolition of the Architects Directive and the SIM Directive.
The rapporteur for the Qualifications Directive remains Mr. Stefano ZAPPALA,
who is a substitute on this Committee. He is now a Vice-Chair of the Committee
on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. The shadow repporteur for the
Qualifications Directive is Evelyne Gebhardt and she is the main rapporteur for
the SIM Directive.
Regional
Development
The
Chair is Gerardo GALEOTE (EPP-ED, ES)
One
of the Vice-Chairs is Jan Marian OLBRYCHT (EPP-ED,PL) with whom the ACE has
good contacts and who was previously a Vice-Chair of the Committee of the
Regions.
Legal
Affairs
The
Chair is Giuseppe Gargani (EPP-ED, IT)
One
of the Vice-Chairs is Rainer WIELAND (EPP-ED, DE) with whom the ACE has good
contacts.
Constitutional
Affairs
The
Chair is Jo LEINEN (PES, DE)with whom the ACE has good contacts.
GREEN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
The
Commission published, on the 27th August 2004, a handbook entitled
“Buying Green! A handbook on environmental public procurement”. The
intention of the Commission is to convince public administrations to take
account of the environment in the procurement of the goods, services and works
that they need to buy. The new public procurement directives that were
adopted earlier this year permit the use of environmental criteria in the
selection criteria for procurement, but only about 19% of EU-15 public
administrations take account of green procurement at the moment. The
guide is very useful and resonates with the policies of the ACE on the
issue. It can be downloaded at:http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/publicprocurement/docs/keydocs/gpphandbook_en.pdf
QUALIFICATIONS DIRECTIVE
As
reported above, the rapporteur for the Qualifications Directive in the
Parliament remains Mr. Zappala. The latest indications that the ACE have
received on the progress of the directive is that he will proceed to a Second
Reading. This would mean that the possibility that the Parliament would
request another First reading now seems remote.
The
ACE has been in correspondence with the DG Internal Market of the Commission on
certain key aspects of the proposed directive. In particular, the
question of the extent to which the “general system” rules will apply to
persons who hold qualifications not listed has been pursued. The reply
that has been received indicates that persons not fully qualified as architects
in their home State cannot benefit from the “general system” rules. This
is reassuring for the ACE.
THE COMMISSION HAS STARTED TO MOVE BACK TO THE BERLAYMONT
The
return of the Commission to its historical Berlaymont building in now under
way. It will be primarily occupied by the Commissioners and their
staff. Readers will recall that the building was vacated in 1991 in order
to remove the asbestos in the building and that the renovation has been fraught
with difficulties, delays and higher costs. However the completed
building is now marketed as being a shining example of energy efficiency and
the Commission have said that they will use it as a first worked example of
good practice in the certification process required under the directive on the
energy performance of buildings. The Commission is to purchase the
building over the next 27 years from the Belgian State. This is in line
with the Commissions policy to acquire the buildings it occupies in order to
improve the quality of its presence in Brussels. It is worth noting that
Brussels was not officially recognised as the European capital until 1992, at
the Edinburgh European Council, and only became the permanent seat of the
institutions under the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997.
THE EUROPEAN UNION “WON” THE OLYMPICS
On
the 30th August, the Commission announced that it had compiled a
table that counts all of the medals won at the Olympics by the EU Member
States. It indicates that the EU “won” the Olympics as its Member States
won a total of 238 medals. Of these 83 were gold medals. Second
placed was the USA with a total of 103 medals of which 35 were gold. Next
was China and then Russia.
SUBSCRIPTION BASED MATERIALS DATABASE LAUNCHED
The
ACE have been informed that a new service that provides durability data on
components used in the construction industry has been launched.
Information on over 900 components is included on the site. There is a
useful free 10-day trial before a subscription of £99.00 per year is
due. The address is: www.componentlife.com
DRAFT DECISIONS ON FIRE-RELATED ISSUES
The
Commission, through the Standing Committee on Construction (Construction
Products Directive), is currently preparing a number of documents on materials
and products. Among these are decisions on fire-related issues. One
of these is entitled “Commission Decision establishing the classes if
reaction-to-fire performance for certain construction products” and it sets out
a list of material which are deemed to satisfy all of the requirements for the
performance characteristic reaction to fire without need for testing.
Materials listed in the draft include glulam, laminate floor coverings,
resilient floor coverings and textile floor coverings. The Matter is to
be discussed at the next meeting of the Standing Committee on the 26th
October 2004.
THE INSPIRE INITIATIVE
A
hugely ambitious initiative on the establishment of an infrastructure for
spatial information in the Community, known as INSPIRE, has been launched by
the Commission. It has published, on the 23rd July 2004, a
proposal for a directive on the matter. This could be a matter that would
be of considerable use to architects and planners as it intends to trigger the
creation of an infrastructure that delivers to users an integrated spatial
information service. These services should allow the users to identify
and access spatial or geographical information from a wide range of sources,
from the local to the global level, in an inter-operable way for a variety of
uses. The target users of INSPIRE include policy-makers, planners and
managers at European, national and local level and the citizens and their
organisations. Possible services are the visualisation of information
layers, overlay of information from different sources, spatial and temporal
analysis etc. The proposed directive can be downloaded from: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/pdf/2004/com2004_0516en01.pdf
REACH – CONTROVERSY CONTINUES
There
have been some very negative reactions by the Parliaments Industry Committee to
the presentation of a report on the impact of the proposed REACH (registration,
evaluation and authorisation of chemical products) regulation on the chemical
industry. The report was commissioned by the DG Research and it has
concluded that the regulation would lead to a 2.9% loss of GDP and a 24.7% loss
in production for European industry. These estimates are about 1,000
greater that some earlier reports suggest and the Parliament has heavily
criticised the way in which the report was researched and compiled. In
particular the report completes ignores the potential benefits of the
regulation on health and well-being. An example of the criticism launched
on the report is the intervention of Rebecca Harms (DE – Green) who said “I am
glad to see that the Industry Committee was united from left to right in
dismissing the latest study. We do not need extrapolations based on
industry fears. This report has nothing to do with objective information
– it is a scare-mongering attempt to mislead the public”
Meanwhile
the Dutch Presidency has estimated that the proposal will continue to be
controversial and that it will not get to its First Reading in Parliament until
at least the end of 2005.
FEANI ACCREDITATION PROJECT ACCEPTED BY THE COMMISSION
The
engineering representative body, FEANI (European Federation of National
Engineering Associations) has announced that its Accreditation Project for
engineering programmes and graduates has been officially accepted by the
Commission. The project aims to set up a European system for the
accreditation of engineering education that will see the introduction of a
“European Label”, the improvement of the quality of engineering education, the
facilitation of cross-border recognition of qualifications and the facilitation
of mutual recognition agreements.
STAFF CHANGES AT DG ENVIRONMENT
Suzanne
Wegefelt has replaced Simon Goss in charge of environmental issues at the DG
Environment where she is also leading on construction issues for the Thematic
Strategy on the Urban Environment. Ms. Wegefelt was previously with the
Danish Permanent Representation in Brussels and has worked for many years on
environmental issues and she is a trained architect and planner.
NEW CHAIR FOR THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE
(EESC)
At
the upcoming October session of the EESC, it is expected that Mrs. Anne-Marie
Sigmund, Austria, will succeed Roger Briesch as President. In the meantime the
Committee has been considering a range of issues at it session of the 15th
and 16th September. Among the matters discussed is the 7th
Framework Research Programme. In particular the Committee is considering
the topic of the needs that arise from demographic change and the related
technical needs for the quality of life of the elderly. This relates to the
work of the ETP Building a Future Europe reported on above.
INTERNAL MARKET SCOREBOARD
This
years “Scoreboard” on the Internal Market of the EU has been published by the
DG Internal Market. It highlights the important role that European
standards play in reducing the cost and administrative burdens in doing
business in the European Union. It also provides information on how the
Internal Market is functioning in practice and it makes interesting
reading. It can be downloaded at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/score/index_en.htm
THE PATHOLOGY OF THE FACADE
An
International Congress is to be held in Gent, Belgium on the 22nd
and 23rd of October on the topic of the problems posed by various
facades from antiquity to modernity. It will look at the experiences with
renders, traditional materials, prefabricated elements and curtain walls.
It is being organised by the College National des Experts Architects de
Belgique and will be in French and Flemish. Full details at: www.architectexpert.com
GREEN IDEAS FOR EUROPE
The
Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling, together with VKS im VKU
Landsgruppe Hessen/Rheinland-Pfalz/Saarland/Hessen, is organising a conference
on the 23-25th September 2004 in Kassel, Germany on the topic of
waste management. The languages of the conference are English, French and
German. Full details at: http://www.acrr.org/events/Kassel/Flyer%202_en.pdf
THE CULTURE OF ARCHITECTURE AND SPATIAL PLANNING IN THE EU
The
European Forum for Architectural Policies, of which the ACE is an active
participant, is organising a series of events, including a working conference
on the above topic on the 24-26th October 2004 in Rotterdam. It is
being organised in the context of the Dutch Presidency of the EU and promises
to be a stimulating event that will seek to enhance the collaboration between
governments, institutions and architectural organisations on the enhancement of
architectural quality in Europe. The ACE President, several members of the
Executive Board and the Secretary General will be attending these events. Full
details at: http://www.architecture-forum.net/indexb.php?sect=1&lg=en
THE ART OF CITY MAKING
Birmingham
City Council is organising a conference on the 29th and 30th
October 2004 entitled “The Art of City Making: Urban Challenges in 21st
Century Europe”. The cost of attending is £200 for non-UK residents and
£300 for UK residents. It will be addressed by a wide range of speakers
including Richard Rogers, the European Commission and speakers from several EU
Countries. Full details at: http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/acm.bcc
CITY SUMMIT
The
DG for Regional Policy of the Commission is organising a City Summit on the 18th
and 19th October in Nordwijk and Leiden, the Netherlands. The
conference will bring together Mayors, Ministers responsible for Urban Affairs,
the URBAN II managing authorities and others to discuss the urban dimension of
the European structural Funds, in particular in the Cohesion Policy. The ACE
will be represented at this Conference by Olgierd Dziekonski, member of the
Executive Board and Alain Sagne, Secretary General.
Full
details at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/regional_policy/city_summit/
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF ARCHITECTURE, CITIES AND ENERGY
Organised
by the Spanish National Centre for Renewable Energies is organising this
conference on the 7th and 8th October 2004 in Pamplona,
Spain. It seeks to provide a point of encounter and debate on the links
between Cities, Architecture and Energy. Full details at: http://www.cibarq.com
EUROPEAN HOUSING ECOLOGY NETWORK (EHEN) ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The
EHEN Annual Conference will be held in Lisbon on the 21st and 22nd
October 2004. The conference is being sponsored by the municipality of Lisbon
and promises to be a stimulating event on the questions surrounding sustainable
development in the housing sector. Further information at: http://www.ehen-europe.net/
RESIDENCE PALACE – BRUSSELS
The
Council of the European Union has announced an architectural design contest for
the restructuring of the Residence Palace Building in Brussels. The competition
is to be a restricted one with an initial period in which requests to
participate can be submitted. The existing building to which the competition
relates is approximately 70,000m2. The deadline for receipt of
requests to participate is the 15th October 2004 and details of the
requirements can be seen at: http://ted.publications.eu.int/official/Exec?DataFlow=result_details.dfl&Template=TED/result_details_curr.xsl&Page=4&StatLang=EN
EUROPEAN
COMMISSION HOMEPAGE
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/index_en.htm
SEARCH
PAGE FOR COMMISSION DOCUMENTS
http://www.europa.eu.int/prelex/rech_simple.cfm?CL=en
WEBSITE
OF THE DUTCH PRESIDENCY
http://www.eu2004.nl/ (Then
choose your preferred language)
SUSTAINABLE
BUILDING WEBSITE
B4E
CONFERENCE INFORMATION
COAC
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS DATABASE:
http://www.coac.net/internacional/default_w.html
CNAPPC
DATABASE – ARCHIEUROPE:
http://www.archieuro.archiworld.it
DATABASE
OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REPORTS
A
useful site that maintains a list of reports that are issued by companies and
organisations from all over the world:
www.sustainabledevelopment-reports.org/
ACE
WEBSITE
USEFUL
TIP:
In
the website addresses given in ACE Info for the documents of the EU, you
will frequently see the following near the end of the address: “_en”. These two
letters define the language of the document (English in the case of “en”) and
you can usually change these two letters in order to bring you to a different
language version as follows:
French _fr German
_de Danish _da Swedish _sv
Italian
_it Spanish _es Greek _el Dutch _nl
Portuguese
_pt Finnish _fi Czech _cs Maltese _mt
Estonian
_et Latvian _lv Lithuanian _lt Polish _pl
Hungarian
_hu Slovene _sl Slovak _sk
The
editorial board for the compilation of ACE Info is:
The
ACE President: Leopoldo
Freyrie
The
Secretary General of the ACE: Alain
Sagne
Senior
Advisor to the ACE: Adrian
Joyce
ACE
Info is normally issued around the second Wednesday of each month.
You are free to circulate the document as widely as you wish, to translate its
contents for use in your publications and to refer to the information it
contains once you credit the ACE as the origin.
If
you wish to receive ACE Info regularly and you are not on the mailing
list, you can register online at: http://www.ace-cae.org/Public/fsPublicNetwork_EN.html
If
you have information that you wish to have included in the next issue then
e-mail it (in English or French please) to adrian.joyce@ace-cae.org
Deadline for submissions is the first Friday of each month.
The
editorial board wishes to acknowledge the sources of information for this issue
of ACE Info which include the Euractiv website (www.euractiv.com) and
Bulletin Quotidien Europe.
adrian.joyce@ace-cae.org – Comments
and contributions welcome