Page 88 - 4150
P. 88

Regional organization
                                                      1 EUROMET
                               EUROMET  is  an  organization  which  was  officially  founded  in
                           Madrid, in September 1987, following the signing of a “Memorandum
                           of Understanding” (it was amended in August 1990 and July 1998),
                           and  it  is  made  up  of  the  NMI  of  the  countries  from  the  European
                           Union, of the NMI of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
                           and of the Commission of the European Communities. It is now also
                           open  to  all  the  European  countries,  including  new  members,  e.g.
                           Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania. It was set up to develop cooperation
                           between the national laboratories of metrology of Western Europe and
                           provide an efficacious utilization of the means which are available.
                               Objectives and structures EUROMET’s aims are:
                           – to develop a closer collaboration between the members, in the work
                           on  the  standards,  within  the  current  decentralized  metrological
                           structure;
                           – to optimize the use of the resources and services the members have
                           at  their  disposal  and  emphasize  the  trend  of  members  to  satisfy
                           detected metrological needs;
                           –  to  improve  the  existing  metrological  services  and  make  them
                           accessible to all members;
                           –  to  make  sure  that  the  new  calibration  benches  created  within
                           EUROMET are accessible to all members.
                               EUROMET’s specific aims are:
                           – the coordination of studies about standards;
                           – the coordination of the major investments in metrological means;
                           –  the  transfer  of  competence  between  members  in  the  domains  of
                           primary or national standards;
                           –  the  facilitation  of  collaboration  between  members  interested  in  a
                           particular project;
                           – the supply of information on resources and services;
                           – the cooperation with the European accreditation bodies;
                           – the cooperation with the European legal metrology services.
                               EUROMET does not have any funds of its own; it operates on the
                           basis of a  voluntary participation. The expenses for cooperation and
                           research are borne by the participating laboratories. Total autonomy is
                           retained by the members. However, external financing is not excluded:
                                                           86
   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91