EA MAC meeting in Belgrade

In the period between 12th and 15th April 2011, Belgrade was the centre of accreditation in Europe. In the said period the Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS) organised an EA Multilateral Agreement Council (EA MAC) meeting, EA MAS management team meeting, and a meeting of the Peer Evaluator Training Working Group.

After the adoption of the Regulation (EC) No. 765 of the European Parliament and Council of 2008, and on the basis of the cooperation agreement that was signed with the European Commission of 30th June 2010, the EA assumed a new role and became the key institution assessing the equivalence of national accreditation systems in the EU. In addition to decisions allowing signing of MLAs, EA MAC meeting agenda items included a greater number of topics related to the upgrade of the entire system of accreditation and peer evaluation.

The discussion was also focused on how to prove independence of state accreditation bodies, as well as EA membership criteria, amendments to IAF/ILAC documents on key performance indicators (A3:05/2007 IAF/ILAC MRAs: Key Performance Indicators - A Tool for the Evaluation Process), amendments to EA 2/02 Policy and Procedures for the Multilateral Agreement, and upgrade of peer evaluation procedure.

The organisation of this meeting was highly rated by all the participants, including the EA MAS Chair, Thomas Facklam.

Dejan Krnjaić PhD, ATS Director, and prof. Zdravko Krivokapić PhD, Chairman of the ATCG MB

44 delegates attended the meeting

Marga Zaffe, Thomas Facklam and Nicole VanLaethem