In recent days, the Austrian ECo-C website publicized some great news: the BFI, the greatest centre for adult education in Austria has now been awarded the status of licensed ECo-C training centre. It will, from now on, propose ECo-C preparation courses and examinations to participants. This further gilds the banner of the certificate.

But it is important to note that for the ECo-C to truly be what it posits, a European Communication Certificate, to realise all of its potential, it needs to find itself spread and taken up in other European countries. In part, this has already happened, as there are national ECo-C representatives in, for instance, Slovakia and Germany; we are on the right track. However, these two countries have a strong and tight connection to Austria, where the ECo-C was born. The distant ones, the ones without such a strong link, are the ones where the question of “will they” becomes pertinent.

Naturally, the span of this article is not nearly long enough to make such an assessment for each individual country in Europe. This will be a general article; case studies and examples drawn from specific countries may follow.

In general, though, it seems that, for smaller European countries, for workers from poorer countries, for the EURES professional program of the European Union, the ECo-C inherently makes sense: the first are small enough to need international cooperation, the second are poor enough to need additional qualifications valid elsewhere, and the third, as a pan-European program, seeks to promote professional mobility.  The only question is when.

This cannot really be answered; Europe is presently traversing some troubled times, however such times can have two outcomes: either cause a swing towards rigidity, characterised by the refusal to try anything new until a problem is solved, or on the other side, reason that new structures are needed to remedy the situation. In Greece, in Spain, in Portugal, Ireland and beyond, the crisis may cause stakeholders and workers to take a completely ethno-centric approach for a few years, in which case, the ECo-C would not arrive there yet. But the crisis may also demonstrate to these people the need to create a new corporate culture, a new set of communications or team processes and procedures, and then the ECo-C might take root tomorrow.

And yet, the real question is the trendsetters: the larger countries and businesses, who are used to creating the procedures they need, who work internationally. There is no doubt that if everyone else joins in, they will too; on this score, one can comfortably take a que sera sera attitude, knowing that it will eventually happen.  However, the early expansion of the certificate would be much more beneficial to ECo-C certified professionals and businesses alike. So… is it likely?

In our opinion, there are important reasons for which large businesses should support the ECo-C. The most pertinent of those is that hiring ECo-C certified professionals would assure them of a certain standard of quality in their employees, one that could be relied on everywhere.

But as for large countries? Adoption is certain, sooner or later. Early adoption, however will depend on specific factors which, as already mentioned, will not be studied in this article: the existence of training institutions, national regulations with respect to adult education and budgets; above all, personal interest and mobilization from people who value this certificate.

As one such person, the author intends to look deeper into the matter and report findings in future articles.