EUROMET : European Collaboration in Measurement Standards
EUROMET is one organisation that was officially created in September 1987 in Madrid by the signing of one "Memorandum of Understanding" (MoU) amended in August 1990 and July 1998. Originally, EUROMET included the national metrology laboratories of the European Union states and of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). It has then incorporated, as they become members, the new Member States of the European Union and the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the laboratory of the Commission of European Communities. And also countries that have not yet joined the European Union but are fully-fledged EUROMET members such as: Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia. EUROMET has been implemented for developing cooperation between the national metrology institutes (NMIs) from Western Europe and ensure an efficient use of the means available in metrology.
EUROMET has been implemented for developing cooperation between the national metrology institutes (NMIs) from Western Europe and ensure an efficient use of the means available in metrology.
EUROMET objectives
- Develop strengthened collaboration between all the EUROMET members for studies and research on the metrological references ;
- Optimise the use of resource and services that are available for the Members and stress their orientation towards satisfaction of the metrological needs detected ;
- Improve the metrological services that are offered and make them accessible for all Members ;
- Ensure that the new calibrating benches that are realised under EUROMET are open to all the Members.
- Knowledge transfer from one country to another.
EUROMET specific missions
- Cooperation in studies and research for the improvement of the metrological references or for the realisation of new references ;
- Coordination of the important investments for the metrological means ;
- Transfer of skills and knowledge between the Members, especially through the creation of specific technical groups to facilitate exchanges ;
- Establishment of one collaboration framework between the members interested by one specific project ;
- Organisation of international comparisons, more particularly following the implementation of the MRA published by the CIPM ;
- Make available information relating to resource and services ;
- Cooperation with the European certification bodies ;
- Cooperation with he European legal metrology services.
EUROMET which is an association with voluntary participation of the Members does not have specific funds. Cooperation and research works are funded by the participating laboratories, with full autonomy maintained for the Members. And this does not exclude external funding, more specifically through participation in the research programmes of the European Union.
Structure and technical activities
Each signatory member (National Metrology Institutes – for France, the LNE), appoints one delegate, with all delegates forming the General Assembly of EUROMET. This General Assembly will meet at least once a year, in order to discuss the objectives and the strategy to be developed within EUROMET.
EUROMET’s president is elected for two years by the General Assembly, for a non-renewable mandate and is helped by one secretary. An Executive Committee, made up of eight members, is elected by the Euromet General Assembly to ensure the running of the association in between two General Assemblies, and help the president in his office.
To ensure the technical activity of EUROMET specific groups have been created: The Technical Committees - TC. There are currently a dozen TCs :
- Mass (including force, couple and pressure) ;
- Length (including the dimensional measurements) ;
- Electricity and magnetism (DC and quantum metrology, low frequency, high frequency) ;
- Time and frequency ;
- Thermometry (including thermal properties and humidity) ;
- Ionising radiation (dosimetry, radioactivity, neutron metrology) ;
- Photometry and radiometry (including optical fibre) ;
- Flowmetering (liquid and gas) ;
- Acoustics, ultrasound and vibration (including accelerometry) ;
- Chemistry metrology (gas, organic, inorganic and electrochemistry) ;
- Interdisciplinary metrology ;
- Quality..
Each EUROMET country member can appoint a representative, specialist in the concerned field, for each of the Technical Committees: the "Contact Persons". For each of the Technical Committees (TC) one "TC Chairperson" is elected by all the TC’s Contact Persons (with a two-year mandate renewable once). His primary task is to coordinate the projects that are submitted by the "contact persons", and run the Technical Committee. For certain Technical Committees (TC) subs-groups have been created because of the important activity of their group and also due to the diversity of their fields.
Each collaboration project, in one defined field, is classified under one of the following categories :
- Realisation of common studies ("cooperation in research")
- Inter-laboratory comparisons ("intercomparaison of measurement standards")
- rovision of calibration services ("traceability")
- Meetings for information exchange and seminars ("consultation on facilities")
Currently, some 900 projects have been initiated within EUROMET, and over 450 have been finalised and have formed the subject of a final report. As of 1st April 2006, there were over 250 projects under way. On average, four to five participants have been involved in these projects. As one can imagine, the great countries that have played a major role in European metrology are those that have had the highest participation in the projects, but all the countries are also very actively participating.
The significant number of projects is proof of the EUROMET success in terms of European collaboration in research and knowledge transfer.
The different categories of cooperation are unevenly distributed. With the implementation of the MRA, the projects relating to inter-laboratory comparisons have seen unprecedented growth in the following five years. These comparisons are used to demonstrate the equivalence of the national standards. Collaborations covering common research and development projects are the most prized type of collaboration; which translates the metrologists’ clear will of having their works put in common.
The LNE is actively participating in the EUROMET works through the involvement of its twelve "Contact Persons", its "Technical Committee Chairpersons" for the fields of metrology chemistry (Philippe Charlet) and Quality (Luc Erard), as well as its participation in the EUROMET Executive Committee (Luc Erard).
iMERA and EURAMET
Project state of progress - January 2007 (pdf - 502 Ko)
