The development of the new European Crane Operators Licence took a major step forward this week with the news that the ECOL Foundation has signed a Mutual Recognition Agreement with the Dutch TCVT-RA, the organisation responsible for issuing crane operators’ licences in the Netherlands.
The agreement will come into effect from January 1st 2020 and means that – if requested – an ECOL licence holder will receive a Dutch TCVT registration, assuming their ECOL licence is valid and has not been revoked.
ECOL will now start work on expanding this recognition to Belgium and Denmark, before pursuing discussions with other European authorities.
ESTA Director and ECOL Chairman Ton Klijn said: “This is a very significant moment for ECOL. That fact that the TCVT-RA is supporting ECOL in such a positive way will hopefully lead to other countries following suit very soon.”
The number of organisations supporting the ECOL project is steaily increasing. Two education and training institutes and three examination institutes have already been certified by ECOL with a further six in the process of qualifying. ECOL has also adapted its systems and structures so that apprentice training is now allowed – something that was a concern in the UK and Germany.