2-01 (July 2001) by Ursula Wirtz Special Aspects European Union

Early in April, delegates from the European societies for technical communication met for the first time in Brussels, following a joint invitation by tekom - the German society -- and ISTC - the UK institute. Among the represented societies were CRT (France), FTI (Sweden), ISTC (United Kingdom), STD (Finland), STIC (Netherlands), TECOM (Switzerland) and tekom (Germany and Austria).

The most important outcome was the formulation of a joint declaration of intent to found a European-wide ‘umbrella’ organisation.

After welcome speeches by Anke Harris (Past-President ISTC) and Claus Noack (President tekom), Michael Fritz, executive director of tekom, explained in an introductory presentation why these two societies had taken the initiative. The aim is to provide a voice for and meet the needs of members, for whom Europe as a political, economic and social entity has become more and more important.

He put an emphasis on fields where the priority interests of the different national societies coincide, such as

• European-wide standardisation of qualifications,
• The development of academic, vocational and further training in those countries where activities of this kind do not exist,
• Knowledge and information exchange between European countries and especially the candidate countries,
• Lobbying activities in the institutions of the European Union (EU) in the field of standardisation and directives, and
• Fund-raising for cross-border projects in technical communication and in the support for those European countries where national societies are still being developed.

The participants agreed that these aims could best be achieved by joint efforts and that the foundation of a European organisation was indispensable for this purpose.

During some five hours of discussion, a draft joint declaration of intent (drawn up by tekom and ISTC) was reviewed and modified, culminating in a unanimously-approved final draft of the declaration.

(As a next step the national societies have to give their consent to the foundation of a European umbrella organisation and to ratify this joint declaration).

The following day, the same delegates participated in the 1st European Colloquium for User-Friendly Product Information, held in Conference Room 1C47 of the European Parliament.

The approximately 40 present included

• Representatives of three Directorates General of the European Commission,
• Experts in consumer issues, and
• Delegates from the European Standards Bodies - CEN, CENELEC and ETSI.

One particular outcome was that Carl-Heinz Gabriel (tekom) will take part in the production of a new European Standard for product information, representing our proposed new European organisation.

The encounters of these two days were held in an agreeable atmosphere of openness and friendship between the delegates, and generated a sense of optimism, of renewal, and the will to pursue and achieve these common goals.  

"transline Deutschland - Übersetzungsdienst für technische Übersetzung"