I would like to share with you an interview I have given to the Swiss Association of Graduates of Colleges of Higher Education (ODEC) Your feedback will be really appreciated!
How were the EurEta Members (Professionals and Engineers) prepared to face the recent health-related crisis ?
Prof. Dr Theodoros Koutroubas, policy Advisor EurEta
During the first lockdown there was a difficult and unclear situation for the EurEta professionals when businesses closed down in many countries but with safety concepts it became possible to reopen. Thus, EurEta Engineers and Practice-oriented Professionals were able to keep up their important work and proved to be reliable employees. Indeed, EurEta Registered Professionals provide a high-quality service and are important to face the challenges caused by the pandemic.
To what extent has this disrupted the functioning of your association?
EurEta switched to digital conversations and meetings quite easily. Nevertheless, the missing contact with the member organization cannot be fully substituted by video contacts, the same applies to contacts with the European Commission and other institutions. On the other hand meetings could be held more spontaneously without causing travel cost, – time and – arrangements.
Did this bring EurEta closer to EU authorities as an interlocutor?
EurEta I use to bring the collective voice of the professionals to the European Commission, Parliament and Council every time those issues concerning their sector are debated. But with the crisis we managed to bring the concerns of our professionals to the highest level of the European institutions.
How did the responses from the European authorities meet or disappoint the needs of the profession you represent?
In their replies, the Presidents of the European Institutions underlined the importance of the sector of practice-oriented professionals. They recognize that they play a very important role in our economies, both in terms of job creation and economic growth
Do you feel that it is an important evolution of the perception of the European Authorities? Is practice-oriented tertiary education an issue in the EU Commission?
According to his letter to the President of EurEta, Commissioner Nicolas Schmit explained that the EU is placing skills at the heart of its Agenda. The European Commissioner noted that the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan his institution has recently adopted includes investments in skills and education. He also expressed the opinion that the Pact for Skills to strengthen upskilling and reskilling efforts is going to further support developments in our sector.
What are the coming main EU reforms with an impact on EurEta Professionals and Engineers?
The European Skills Agenda sets objectives to be achieved by 2025. This five-year plan aims to help individuals and businesses develop more and better skills and to put them to use, by: strengthening sustainable competitiveness, as set out in the European Green Deal, ensuring social fairness and putting into practice the first principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights. The outcomes are many such as access to education, training and lifelong learning for everybody, everywhere in the EU, building resilience to react to crises, based on the lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the 9th of July 2021, the European Commission published a communication taking stock and updating a set of recommendations aimed at reforming regulation in professional services. The Commission plans to follow up to these recommendations by closely monitoring Member States’ actions in this area and continuing a permanent dialogue with stakeholders, in particular via its expert groups. Progress on reforms or lack thereof will also be a recurring focus of the dialogue with Member States in the framework of the European Semester and Recovery and Resilience Facility. Where national rules are in clear breach of EU law, the Commission will engage with the Member States concerned and, if necessary, initiate enforcement action. The Commission intends to continue updating the reform recommendations when needed and appropriate. The possibility of developing additional indicators and extending the scope to other economically important professions will also be explored.
The recommendations and their follow-up are complementary to the actions announced in the updated 2020 New Industrial Strategy. These actions might address similar economic areas and will facilitate the permeability of the single market, including by exploring novel approaches, to be developed in a dialogue with Member States and stakeholders, in particular an assessment of the merits of harmonised standards in services where these could add value.
The High level representatives with whom we discussed during the crisis made obvious the importance of skills and mobility within the EU Single Market. We feel that their replies are quite hopeful sign for our professionals and for the youngsters who are envisaging a practice oriented career. But now that its real work is beginning, we are now hoping for concrete actions that will break with the previous Commission. EurEta is going to actively monitor any evolutions.
How do you see your profession in the future: a return to normal life or deeply marked by new habits?
oth. I do believe that we will return to our normal live, but at the same time there are new habits that will remain with us as well as regards digitalization and new forms of work. Hopefully also the fact, that the practice-oriented professionals really proved to be a pillar in the fight against the pandemic, will change their position in society. It is necessary to better include them in the social dialogue and on European level.
What is the way forward for the Title of “EurEta Professional” and/or “EurEta Engineer”?
The last two years have shown that the world is closely interconnected, which is why internationally comparable titles are also advantageous. For employers and business partners, the EurEta titles should make it visible that here are practice-oriented professionals with higher education. The EurEta Professional serves as a distinctive title and for the technical degrees the EurEta Engineer.
Last but not least: What do you recommend to Professionals and Engineer of different Countries which are not jet represented within EurEta and why?
Professionals graduating from practice-oriented tertiary education should form associations in each country and advocate for their interests domestically and through EurEta internationally. In many countries, professionals at the tertiary level are graduating and have graduated, sometimes with very country-specific titles that are not known and assignable outside the country. If there is no country association yet, individual professionals can join the international section directly. EurEta makes individual training comparable and understandable at international level. EurEta, clearly these are practice-oriented Professionals.