Abstract

The first annual meeting of the new European Ethics Network was held in Leuven from the 26th to the 28th of September. An initiative of Michel Falise, this network was originally a cooperating group of ethicists and centres of ethics at 40 Coimbra and FUCE universities. At present it has expanded, directly or indirectly via participating associations and networks, into a network of ethicists from every country of the European Union, from universities as well as from postsecondary engineering programs.It is officially recognised and subsidised under the auspices of the European commission’s Socrates program. The European Ethics Network is not intended as a bureaucratic organisation but in the words of former K.U. Leuven rector Dillemans — as a “community of like-minded spirits, a community of ethicists who share the same concerns, not to preach to Europe, but to create a European vision of the role of ethics in the service of society”.The European Ethics Network grew out of the need for better ethical education in the training of future professionals such as medical experts, lawyers, managers, media experts, engineers and others. This goal can only be achieved by educating the professors and instructors, in both the research and teaching domains. What is mostimportant is to try and broaden formalistic or one-sided technical training into a more integrated approach, with greater global and social relevance.