Accreditation of engineering programmes at European level.

While Europe still lacks a common system for the accreditation of educational programmes, the Bologna process, now involving more than 40 countries, intends to establish a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) on the basis of ‘a system of easily readable and comparable degrees’. In this context, while recognition of professional qualifications is assured by European Directives (a new overarching Directive was published in September 2005), it is essential to ensure that educational programmes are accredited on a continental scale. This paper illustrates the main outcomes of the EUR-ACE (EURopean ACredited Engineer) project, aimed at the establishment of a pan-European system for accreditation of engineering educational programmes on the basis of a multilateral, bottom-up agreement between national and regional bodies and Associations concerned, and the perspectives for its implementation. This paper is a revised and updated version of an invited lecture presented at the 7th World Conference on Engineering Education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]