BACKGROUND AND GOALS

In 2005 the European Union, in its Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications, set a goal to largely remove barriers between individual member states to changing jobs and to emphasise the promotion of professional mobility. To minimise administrative obstacles on the way to a new job, the recognition procedures for professional qualifications must be specifically expedited and simplified. In the EU’s Green Paper on the modernisation of the Directive, published in June 2011, the Professional Card is mentioned as a useful instrument to increase mobility. At this moment the new Directive is still under construction.

In 2007 FEANI, the European Federation of Engineering Associations, commenced a project to develop a professional card for engineers. Germany was the first country to introduce the engineering card in 2010. The Netherlands is the second country and other countries will follow in 2012. The Royal Dutch Society of Engineers KIVI and the VDI of Germany are both playing an active role in the engineering card project. The KIVI goals for the engineering card are to:

• Strengthen the position of Dutch engineers and engineering companies working abroad, and support an international labour market without barriers.
• Facilitate engineers in making their identity, education and competences visible to employers and contractors.
• Increase the engineering identity. The recently introduced Bachelor and Master degree titles have removed the previous distinction in the degree titles between engineering education programmes and other programmes.
• Stimulate life-long learning and discussion between professionals about relevant competences to increase the quality of the engineering profession.

CONTENT AND INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

In the Netherlands a degree from a Dutch university of technology or applied sciences, recognised by the Dutch government as an engineering programme, is in general the minimum requirement to apply for the engineering card. The degree must be at least Bachelor level.

In addition to the degree, working experience (a minimum of two years) and further learning and training measures (Continuing Professional Development - CPD) can be shown on the engineering card.

All data will be validated and recorded in a central database, called the Dutch Engineers Register. An engineering card will be issued as a proof of registration and will give a summary of the engineer’s competences. The registered engineer can give third parties such as employers and national authorities in other countries access to his/her personal register file. The minimum standards, and the way in which all information is classified, have been agreed by those European countries issuing engineering cards. All national systems are obliged to use these standards to create a uniform and transparent system.

Several European countries still retain their own rules and regulations for graduate engineers who wish to qualify and work as professional engineers. An engineering card will not always give engineers automatic access to employment opportunities in those countries, but it will speed up the administration process. The engineering card will be a stimulus for the European market to equalise national employment standards.