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Content

Preface
Registration
Programme
Looking into the
crystal ball
Brochure
Newsletter of ButK
Contact

Breaking news:

The programme of the GA 2008 is ready

Three main areas which could be worked on

We can offer you a structured overview
of the event in a brochure

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

The European Union of Electrical Wholesalers has pleasure in inviting you to its General Assembly which will take place in Brussels on the 6th of June 2008.

This year, we are going to evaluate a new format of meeting: a tighter schedule in order to cope with your busy programme. We are planning a full working day following a warm-up the evening before.

Our Belgian Federation has worked hard in order to give you a complete overview of the challenges our businesses are facing: Concentration of the different Players, new entrants in the market and new regulations impacting the future.

We will also organize an interesting social program to give you and your partners an overview of "what to see" in Brussels and in Leuven.

Our Assembly will create an excellent opportunity for networking and we expect a large number of participants from our industry.

On behalf of the EUEW, I hope that you will be able to attend this event.

Looking forward seeing you.

Gilles Deraison
President EUEW

With the kind support of:

Gilles Deraison

The registration form is online

Three months to go and already 90 registrations!

You can register online to participate to the event using this link.

The registration process consist of two parts: a registration and an online payment. Please read carefully all the instructions on the registration form.

Please don't postpone your registration, the number of participants is limited.

Note:

This registration does not include the hotel booking. But we arranged a special price at the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel, Brussels, where the congress will take place. More information about this hotel and on how to book a room for this event you will find here.

The programme of the GA 2008 is ready

We are happy to introduce the full timetable of this years GA.

09:00	Welcome, presentation of the programme
09:10	Activities of the EUEW: an overview
09:25	General evolution in Electrical Wholesalers business
09:55	Q&A
10:05	New directives, new rules: What are we facing?
10:15	Will electrical installation, heating, HVAC, be one integrated business tomorrow? Must the Electrical wholesaler enlarge their offer to plumbing?
10:35	Contact opportunities and Coffee break
11:20	Energy, where is Europe going?
11:50	Energy service companies (ESCO's): newcomers in our market?
12:20	European financed projects (BuTK , make the switch, oil,...)
12:40	New constraints in energy consumption
13:00	Lunch
14:30	The effect of the ban of incandescent lamps on the wholesales business
14:50	New challenges in our Business
15:00	Security of the electrical installations trends in Europe
15:30	What are the consequences of a total open market?
16:00	Where are we in the European Market Surveillance Programme?
16:20	Contact opportunities and Tea time
17:05	Round table: How shall we find (educate) the people who will effectively install the goods?
18:10	Conclusions

Looking into the crystal ball

The theme of this General Assembly is: Europe, the main player in the changes that influence our businesses today and tomorrow. But not only decisions on a European level mark the blueprint of our future. We all have an idea about possible evolutions. But it remains a feeling, a guess, and each new event can change this feeling.

Nevertheless we have asked our main sponsors to give their actual feeling about the following question: "Which changes will affect our business the upcoming decade?" We will give you their answers in this and the next editions of 'EUEW NEWS'.

Nexans

Three main areas which could be worked on

Electrical safety

After several years of uninterrupted growth in the residential property market, we have perhaps rather forgotten the dilapidation of much of the existing housing stock. In fact, the age of electrical installations in housing is normally the same as the age of the house or flat, and dwellings 50 or more years old are commonplace in Europe.
Everyone understands the risks associated with the use of electrical circuits calibrated at a time when there were as many sockets in a house as there are now in a single room, without mentioning the still uneven growth of the air conditioning market on the European continent. So here is an immediate source of work for the electrical sector which will improve everyday safety.

Sustainable development

The second significant development in the construction market concerns the changing expectations of consumers regarding sustainable development. Who would have said only three years ago that the manufacturers of wind turbines would experience such a rise in orders and, in an area closer to our daily lives, I think the expectations of consumers are changing in favour of electrical installations offering better energy efficiency, with a reduced impact on the environment and contributing to healthier homes. In the area of cables, for example, where toxicity and corrosiveness can affect persons and equipment in the event of fire, a range of wires and cables with very low smoke emission will certainly become more widely available. Further upstream, Nexans, for example, has greatly improved the collection of its cable drums on site with the aim of freeing up space and recycling the drums.

Ease of installation

Finally, we can see an underlying trend towards ease of installation from both the technical and time-saving points of view. In many European countries, installers are faced with an inflow of projects and prospects are still good, in particular in the sectors of health, transport infrastructures and, of course, real estate. The problem of available labour and its skills remains to be resolved. The profession can then play its role by offering solutions which are easier to install and therefore faster. In the field of domestic wiring for example, the majority of installations are now performed with pre-wired conduits, but we must go much further while keeping one thing in mind: meeting the expectations of installers.

Ann Everaert
Communication manager
Nexans Benelux

As the programme of the General Assembly is ready, we can offer you a structured overview of the event in a brochure. You can download it from our web site:

Low resolution pdf (740 kb)

High resolution pdf (5105 kb)

First ButK Newsletter

During the EUSEW 2008 (European Union Sustainable Energy Week 2008) the ButK published the first issue of the ButK Newsletter. You can find it on their web site: http://butk.elcfed.org/index.php?page=46.

About ButK

'Bottom up to Kyoto' (ButK) is a pilot project that aims to enable the municipalities across Europe to make the switch to efficient street lighting systems. In 36 months, 5 municipalities in the European Union will develop new tools to make it possible. 'ButK' intends to be a model in the street lighting field that might be of use for all municipalities in Europe, and to prove that the switch to efficient lighting systems is possible and beneficial.

Particularly, ButK will:

Remove barriers to uptake of energy efficient lighting systems.
Provide energy and cost savings.
Help the Member States to meet the Kyoto targets.

The European Lamp Manufacturers (ELC), the European Union of Electrical Wholesalers (EUEW) and the European Association of Electrical Contractors (AIE), together with an Energy Performance contractor, 'Berliner Energieagentur GmbH', will assist these municipalities (Cluj, Raciechowice, Riga, Slovenska-Bistrica and Voru) and help them to achieve significant energy savings at a local level - bottom up!

For more information visit http://butk.elcfed.org.