The Debate with VCI - Vetnurselearning

The debate between ABIVET and VCI (Veterinary Council of Ireland)

Regarding the ABIVET Online Veterinary Technician Programme.

The Italian National Standardization Body (UNI) and Bilateral Agreements

The Italian National Standardization Body (UNI) has established numerous bilateral agreements with various countries to ensure the recognition of Italian standards, even before they are harmonized at the European level. However, there is no official and public list that includes all the European countries with which UNI has bilateral agreements for the recognition of non-harmonized standards. These bilateral agreements are generally sector-specific and related to particular technical standards.

Nonetheless, several European countries have traditionally collaborated with UNI in the field of standardization, including:

European Countries with Bilateral Agreements with UNI for the Recognition of Italian Standards

France (AFNOR – Association Française de Normalisation)
Germany (DIN – Deutsches Institut für Normung)
Spain (AENOR – Asociación Española de Normalización y Certificación)
The Netherlands (NEN – Nederlands Normalisatie-instituut)
Austria (ASI – Austrian Standards Institute)
Switzerland (SNV – Swiss Association for Standardization)
Ireland (National Standards Authority of Ireland, NSAI)

Details of Agreements with European Countries

France (AFNOR):
UNI and AFNOR have bilateral collaborations for the recognition of Italian standards in various sectors, such as occupational safety and quality management.
Germany (DIN):
The agreement between UNI and DIN allows the adoption of certain Italian standards, primarily in technological fields.
Spain (AENOR):
With AENOR, UNI has collaborated for the recognition of Italian standards in sectors such as quality certification and industrial safety.
The Netherlands (NEN):
The collaboration with NEN enables the adoption of UNI standards. Certain Italian standards are recognized through this agreement without the immediate need for European harmonization.
Austria (ASI):
The agreements with ASI allow Italian UNI standards to be recognized and adopted in Austria for specific sectors, such as quality management.
Switzerland (SNV):
Although Switzerland is not part of the European Union, it has agreements with UNI that allow the recognition of Italian standards in various sectors.
Ireland (NSAI):
The NSAI (National Standards Authority of Ireland) has bilateral agreements with UNI for the recognition of Italian standards in various fields.

Conclusion

The European countries that have bilateral agreements with UNI for the recognition of Italian standards (even before European harmonization is achieved) include:

France
Germany
Spain
The Netherlands
Austria
Switzerland
Ireland

These agreements facilitate the recognition of Italian standards in specific sectors, particularly in the areas of technology, safety, and quality, even without the necessity of undergoing a harmonization process at the European level through CEN or CENELEC.

We were left speechless upon discovering the official communication from the VCI, which, in a fit of omnipotence and complete disrespect for roles, arrogantly assumed the right to judge without knowledge, in bad faith, while a constructive dialogue was ongoing, aimed solely at protecting and guaranteeing the national training institutions, to the total detriment of the rights of European citizens, including the Irish.

It is evident from the communications that they started with the intention of blocking free competition among training institutions, and they have maintained this stance. From the communications, it is clear that they did not wish to respond to our questions and did not care to compare the training programmes. The goal was, and still is, to prevent citizens from benefiting from excellent training courses at nearly half the price offered by the national market.

If this were not the case, we wonder why we were not able to have an honest and transparent discussion about the curricula. Furthermore, we question how many current members of the VCI are involved, as employees or consultants, within training institutions, and are therefore operating under a clear conflict of interest when issuing such judgments.

We are asking ourselves, and we will have our lawyers inquire with the European Court of Justice, to whom we will now grant a mandate, why the VCI does not respect EU laws regarding the recognition of non-regulated professional qualifications.