European level, accreditation

European notified bodies (safety) and competent bodies (EMC) are accredited at the national level by the member states, such as in Germany at the European level accreditation occurs when notified to the Commission and listed in the Official Journal of the European Communities. These accredited bodies are sanctioned by the European Commission and the member states to interpret directives and standards, and issue test reports and certificates on conformity. When a product becomes suspect or an incident occurs, the national enforcement authority may consider a test report or certificate issued by a European body. Having the notified body mark, certificate, and test report usually shifts the onus of proof in the manufacturer s favor, since the product was evaluated and certified by European recognized experts. 

Accreditation at the European level is a relatively new concept and dates back to the early 1980s. Accreditation means the recognition of the competence of a laboratory, certification, or inspection body by independent accreditors. The accreditation bodies are typically sanctioned by a member state government to perform audits of testing and certification institutions. The audited body must be able to demonstrate that it meets the criteria described in the annexes to the directives to become recognized at the state level and notified to the European Commission and the member states. The bodies that are notified are designated to carry out conformity assessment as set out in the directives. As an assessment technique, accreditation is an... 

Much of the "general education" content and about one-half year ofthe math and science included in US baccalaureate programs ate covered in European secondary schools. Thus, the nominal 3-year BS structures at both technicd colleges and universities should cover the scope of math, science and engineering required by basic level accreditation standards (to actually achieve accreditation, of course, additional detailed standards must be met). Similarly, the MS at both types of institutions should provide sufficient additional engineering and related topics to meet advanced level standards. Note that the flexibility inherent in the EC2000 Criteria would enable both types of institutions to meet accreditation requirements. 

The accreditation of a standard is an official act (signed by the Ministry of Industry in France). To prepare standards, governments have mandated private organizations which are responsible for continuously following the rules to reach a mciximum consensus. There is only one such organization per country. They are, moreover, grouped at the European and international levels. 

Further to these, the laboratory community has established very useful links to exchange information and ideas, to snbmit suggestions and develop policies. Some of the most important fora on European and international level are EA (European cooperation for Accreditation), EURACHEM, EUROLAB, ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation). 

It was assumed that the production of most obvious CRMs (i.e. simple matrix CRMs for classical parameters that were already produced in the past) could be tackled by commercial companies. The role of the European Commission is felt to be necessary when the technological risks for CRM production are significant. The development of CRMs is not a normal market since it involves very specialised manufacturing procedures. No commercial company can afford to develop CRMs in support of many purposes. Quality is the key word commercial materials might not be of sufficient quality to respond to the demand. The EC should act where national initiatives cannot comply with the demand. Participants considered that reference materials should be certified at the EC level, not at the national level, and that commercial products should refer to primary (certified) materials. A scheme should be developed for the mutual acceptance of materials, e.g. establishing a kind of EC label of quality in this context, accreditation of RM producers should become mandatory. 

Since statehood, respondents remark that the Tunisian model of education has always been based on the French system, which itself has recently been moving towards pan-European settings. However, respondents characterize the creation of the Bologna Process (Reinalda and Kulesza 2005) and the subsequent development of Euro-level standards (European Network for the Accreditation of Engineering Education Augusti et al. 2007) as a move more towards the American model. 

The highest level for conformity verification and acceptance in Europe are the voluntary product safety and EMC Approval Marks, issued by European notified and competent bodies. The Approval Mark is backed by an official test report and certificate from a European accredited body (OJEC). 

The HELENA project should widely disseminate its results and outputs in order to bridge the gap between the eommunity of experts in gender issues and the large community of scholars involved in EE. In order to do so HELENA should make its studies known to ENATEE (European network of Accreditation in Engineering Edueation). HELENA members should do the same thing at national levels with a dynamie communication directed towards the National Accreditation Bodies of the different countries involved. HELENA should/could send its results to UNESCO and all the bodies involved at the EU and world level. 

Based on experience Assoc. Dr. Jinrich Cernohorsky Ph.D., and his newly-formed team joined the accreditation of engineering person Biomedical Engineering. This course was successftilly accredited at the end of 2009. This completed the comprehensive university tertiary education in Biomedical Engineering at VSB - TU Ostrava. Currently, we are the only faculty in the Czech and Slovak Republics since the academic year 2010/2011 provides a comprehensive education, biomedical engineering in two European tertiary levels of higher education according to those standards. 

A European-wide flexible accreditation system (similar to EC 2000) is desirable to help ensure compatibility between educational systems in various countries. However, the degree level for professional certification/licensure is a separate issue - this could be the B.S. as in the U.S., or it could be at the MS level if assessment of qualifications needed for professional practice so indicates. 

After two years of university level study, 12,000 of them take the entrance examination to Ecole Centrale Paris. ECP admits 330 students a year from among the top 700 science students in Prance. More than 60 additional students from scientific universities, mainly in several European countries, follow the first two years of studies on an accredited double degree transfer exchange scheme (the TIME Program). 

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