EUEW AGM and BoD meeting: First steps towards a more effective decision-making process

The most recent Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Board of Directors (BoD) meeting of the EUEW took place on June 17th.

The members of the EUEW were very pleased to see the results of the ongoing projects such as:

• Advocacy calls with members presented by Mr. Bernd Gruner, taking place monthly. After each presentation of Mr. Gruner, members ask questions and get clarifications on how their businesses might be impacted by different changes in legislation or how to best apply different new directives.

• On-going collaboration and projects with peer organizations. The EUEW currently has very successful collaborations with: EuropeOn, EuroCommerce, Cecapi, LightingEurope, Europacable, ETIM International.

• EUEW participation in the EuroCommerce “Wholesale day” event. Ms. Sallamaari Muhonen, of STK Finland, participated in the panel discussion “Circular Economy and the role of Wholesale”.

• Internal calls with members to identify the most significant topics of concern in each country, to get updates on members’ projects and to get the usual assessment for the EUEW activities.

• EUEW Annual Business Convention 2021

Despite already being 66 years old this year, EUEW is still a very dynamic and very versatile organization. This federation reinvented itself over the years and managed to stay true to its members’ needs. EUEW also did its best to be one or two steps ahead of trends, this whole time.

EUEW is currently the international home of 17 national association members and intends to grow further. Trying to give everyone a voice has always been one of the main missions of EUEW.

With this objective in mind, in 2020, a Task Group "Bylaws Reform" was established under the supervision of Vice-President Henk Oude Brunink and the leadership of Koen Lauryssen. The Task Group's objective was to work out ideas on how the EUEW can make its structures more efficient. The expected result, to have a more alert response to the various legislative initiatives coming our way, and to improve the interaction between the different actors and bodies of our association. The findings of the Task Group were presented to the EUEW Members.

In the future, the EUEW will work with a BoD that has been reduced in number. This also translates into having a more active BoD, which will meet monthly. Another proposal was to appoint one Vice-President instead of two in the future. Moreover, the President, Vice-President, Treasurer and other Board Members will be appointed for a term of three years (instead of the current two years). This new structure is to be formally introduced as of 2022.

Nevertheless, the main direction and main projects of the EUEW will still be decided in the AGM and with the vote and contribution of all members. At the same time, as of 2022, the details of implementing projects will be dealt with by the reduced and more active BoD, in close collaboration with working groups, flexible thematic groups of experts that will be organized by call.

Until now, EUEW has been a federation representing, mainly, the interests of its national association members. However, in recent years, EUEW set up a new committee, the Advisory Council (AC), with representatives of the wholesalers’ marketing groups. The members of this committee are executive level representatives of these groups and have provided invaluable support for the further development of the EUEW. Based on this excellent collaboration with the members of the AC and emphasizing one of the all-time missions of EUEW, to hear the voices of all its members, the EUEW AGM and BoD agreed to give a more active role to the members of the AC. They will be invited to join the new and reduced BoD structure, as guests.

Finally, the position of Secretary General was also discussed. This position has been vacant since the announced departure of Mr Hans Hanegreefs and needs to be filled. During the general meeting it was proposed to have this position filled by someone who knows the sector very well. This pointed in the direction of the national associations, at least as a temporary solution. For the future, the desire of the EUEW members is for the position to be filled permanently, by a professional candidate, with extensive knowledge of the electrical wholesalers’ industry. This should, preferably, happen as of 1 January 2022. Candidatures for the temporary position may still be sent to the Bureau.

EUEW members are very satisfied with these proposed changes and believe this is an excellent step towards a new and improved EUEW. In a very dynamic environment, this natural evolution gives the federation a much stronger voice and makes it better equipped with the necessary instruments to represent the interests of all its members at European level and in relation with its peers.