Obstacles lifted for engineers
In a ruling that could have wider implications for the recognition of European Union university degrees in Greece, the Council of State has found that EU graduates in civil engineering and architecture may practice their profession in Greece. Furthermore, in a decision leaked yesterday but which has not yet been officially made public, the country’s highest administrative court has found that EU civil engineering and architecture graduates have the right to be registered on the rolls of the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE). And the court determined that TEE must «immediately» enter such EU graduates on its rolls. The decision followed a suit against TEE by a group of Greek civil engineers and architects with degrees from EU universities, whom TEE had refused to register as its members. The Technical Chamber argued that this was because many EU universities offer three-year undergraduate courses, while Greek graduates study for an extra two years. Greece does not automatically recognize EU degrees as equal to those conferred by Greek universities.
