The Development of European Standards

The Construction Products Directive covers the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the member states of the EEC relating to construction products and it has the basic purpose of removing technical barriers to trade. N.M. Ryan

The excellent report, Qualitative analysis of structures, by a subcommittee of the Education & Examinations Committee of IStructE, appears not to have received any explicit attention in this journal, since its publication in September 1989. However, the Viewpoint of Mr P. M. Morreau (7 August 1990) was another welcome contribution on the theme and did attract some comment. M.J. Creed

The Republic of Ireland has a strong commitment to the concept of the European Community. With an unenviable history behind it, it now finds itself taking part in a European unification process which is based not on military power but on economic imperatives and, while Ireland constitutes well less than 1% of the European population or of any other measure of contribution, it has an influence far in excess of its size. Perhaps that is why we tend to look positively to the European Community as a source of change for the good. J.A. Kavanagh