The European Underwater Federation (EUF) is an

umbrella organisation An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and iden ...

representing the interests of scuba

diver training Diver training is the set of processes through which a person learns the necessary and desirable skills to safely dive underwater within the scope of the diver training standard relevant to the specific training programme. Most diver training ...

organisations operating in both the

not for profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and non-profit organizations (NP ...

and

for profit Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessari ...

sectors within

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Purpose and scope

EUF seeks to be the peak consultative body within Europe in respect to all matters that concern recreational diving activities, particularly those concerning legislation, regulation and safety. By virtue of the knowledge and experience of its corporate members, it claims an area of competency within recreational, cultural and sporting underwater activities in matters such as the conduct of diving activities (including competitive activities), access to diving sites, training, all aspects of diving equipment, treatment of diving injuries, teaching and the use of recreational diving techniques by professional persons. It claims no expertise in areas involving commercial or military diving.

Members

The EUF has a membership consisting of a broad range of European training organisations, including for-profit and non-profit making bodies. It is incorporated in the UK as a

Company Limited by Guarantee A company limited by guarantee (CLG) is a type of company where the liability of members in the event the company is wound up is limited to a (typically very small) amount listed in the company's articles or constitution. Most have no share ca ...

. The EUF estimates that its members represent over 3,000,000 divers, 60,000 diving instructors, 5,000 clubs and 2,500 diving schools. Individual training organisations may apply for full voting membership of the EUF either as ''profit distributing organisations'' and ''non-profit distributing organisations''. Organisations that cannot meet the definition of a training organisation can either apply for ''Associate Membership'' or ''Observer'' status. Two special members also exist: ''CMAS Europe'', which represents the interests of national diving federations located in Europe and who are affiliated to

Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS; known in English as the World Underwater Federation) is an international federation that represents underwater activities in underwater sport and underwater sciences, and oversees an ...

and ''RSTC Europe'', which represents the interests of for-profit scuba training organisations operating in Europe. The membership consisted of the following organisations as of October 2012.

Profit distributing

* International Aquanautic Club (former ''Barakuda'') * NAUI Europe * PADI EMEA Limited * Professional Diving Association (PDA) (Spain) * SSI GmbH * National Dive League (NDL-Nord)

Special members

* CMAS Europe * RSTC Europe

Non-profit distributing

British Sub Aqua Club The British Sub-Aqua Club or BSAC has been recognised since 1954 by UK Sport as the national governing body of recreational diving in the United Kingdom. The club was founded in 1953 and at its peak in the mid-1990s had over 50,000 members d ...

(BSAC) *

Comhairle Fo-Thuinn ''Comhairle Fo-Thuinn'' (; Irish for "Under-Wave Council"; CFT), also known as Irish Underwater Council (IUC) and trading as Diving Ireland, is the national governing body for recreational diving and underwater sports in Ireland. Organisati ...

(CFT) (Ireland) * Dansk Sportsdykker Forbund (DSF) (Denmark) * Sukeltajaliitto, Finska Dykarförbundet (Finland) * Federazione Italiana Attività Subacquee (FIAS) (Italy) * Federation Luxembourgeoise Des Activities Et Sports Subaquatiques (FLASSA) * Norges Dykkeforbund (NDF) (Norway) *

Nederlandse Onderwatersport Bond The Nederlandse Onderwatersport Bond, (NOB) is the national governing body for recreational diving and underwater sports in the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, w ...

(NOB) * (SSDF) (Sweden) * (VDST) (Germany)

Associates/observers

* Actinia * Chamber of Diving and Water Sports * Divers Alert Network Europe * International Association for Handicapped Divers (IAHD) * International Diving Schools Association (IDSA) * National Dive League (NDL) (Russia) * Professional Diving Schools Association of Malta (PDSA) * World Organisation of Scuba Divers (WOSD) * International Association for the Development of Apnea (AIDA) * Israeli Diving Federation (TIDF)

History

The EUF first became active in its modern form in 1989, initially comprising a number of non profit distributing European diver federations, then subsequently expanding to include the major profit distributing training agencies.

The EUF and international standards

The EUF states that it actively supports the development of both European Norms (via CEN, the

European Committee for Standardization The European Committee for Standardization (CEN, ) is a public standards organization whose mission is to foster the economy of the European Single Market and the wider European continent in global trading, the welfare of European citizens an ...

) and

International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. M ...

(ISO) standards for recreational scuba diving.

EUF Certification Body

In 2003, the ''EUF Certification Body'' was formed, a joint-venture between the EUF and the ''

Austrian Standards International Austrian Standards International (formerly ), abbreviated ASI, is a standards organization and the International Organization for Standardization, ISO member body for Austria. History Its predecessor organization, the ''Österreichischer Norme ...

'' (ON). The EUF Certification Body, (which is also known as EUF Certification International) exists to offer the recreational scuba diving community a unified procedure of reliable and recognised proof of the quality of scuba diving training services based on European and ISO standards. It audits diver training organisations and service providers and, where appropriate, certifies them as complying with the relevant standards. As of January 2016, the following recreational scuba diving training organisations have been certified by EUF Certification International since the year 2004: *

Professional Association of Diving Instructors The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) is a recreational diving membership and diver training organization founded in 1966 by John Cronin and Ralph Erickson. PADI courses range from entry level to advanced recreational diver ...

(EUF CB 2004001) * VDST (EUF CB 2004002) * International Aquanautic Club (EUF CB 2005001) *

Scuba Schools International Scuba Schools International (SSI) is a for-profit organization that teaches the skills involved in scuba diving and Free-diving, freediving, and supports dive businesses and resorts. SSI has over 3,500 authorized dealers, 35 regional centers, and ...

(EUF CB 2005002) * FIAS (EUF CB 2005004) *

American Nitrox Divers International American Nitrox Divers International (or ANDI) was founded by Ed Betts and Dick Rutkowski in 1988. ANDI has since expanded to include offices in The United Kingdom, Israel, Australia, Sweden, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Greece, Japan, Tai ...

(EUF CB 2005005) * DSF (EUF CB 2005006) * IANTD International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (EUF CB 2006001) * SDI

Scuba Diving International Scuba Diving International (SDI) is a Scuba training and certification agency. It is the recreational arm of Technical Diving International, a technical diver training organization. SDI is a member of the United States RSTC, RSTC Canada a ...

/ TDI

Technical Diving International Technical Diving International (TDI) claims to be the largest technical diving certification agency in the world, and one of the first agencies to offer mixed gas and rebreather training. TDI specializes in more advanced Scuba diving techniq ...

(EUF CB 2006002) * CFT (EUF CB 2006003) * PDA (EUF CB 2006004) * BSAC (EUF CB 2007001) * NDL (EUF CB 2007003) * IAHD (EUF CB 2007005) * NASE Worldwide (EUF CB 2008003) * VDTL (EUF CB 2009001) * ISDA (EUF CB 2010002) * WOSD (EUF CB 2011002) * Disabled Divers International Ltd (EUF CB 2011003) * TIDF (EUF CB 2012001) * GUE Global Underwater Explorers (EUF CB 2013001) * TSVÖ (EUF CB 2015001) * NADD Global Diving Agency (S 000513 – issued January 2016) * WASE ( Worldwide Academy of Scuba Educators) (S 000577 – issued August 2016) * RAID (

Rebreather Association of International Divers Dive RAID International (formerly RAID) is a dive training organization which was founded in 2007 to support diver training for the Poseidon Mk VI Discovery Rebreather. It has since extended its scope to include open circuit scuba training and ...

) (S 000764 – issued October 2017) * Professional, Technical & Recreational Diving (S S 000786 – issued January 2018) * ISC nternational Scuba Certification(S 001241- issued July 2021)

EUF Lavanchy Award

On 18 June 2016 the EUF's General Assembly unanimously agreed to create a new award in honour of former EUF Honorary Vice President, Jack Lavanchy. The award will be presented at the beginning of each year to an individual who the members of the EUF feel has made a significant and sustained contribution towards the responsible development of the European diving community. Winners: * 2017 – Deric Ellerby * 2018 – Martin Parker * 2019 – Don McGlinchey * 2020 – Franz Brümmer * 2021 – Peter Symes

References

External links

EUF websiteEUF Certification Body websiteCMAS Europe

RSTC EuropeAustrian Standards International
{{Authority control European Underwater Federation (EUF) International organizations based in Europe 1989 establishments in Europe Organizations established in 1989