EuroConference

PROGRAM

09:00 to 11:00 Companies and Associations

• How do major corporations evaluate their membership of EU Business Associations?

• To what extent are companies now co-ordinating their association memberships?

• How is corporate influence weighted within associations?

• What is the role of Public Affairs Firms assisting corporations and associations in their representation efforts?

• What degree of co-ordination is possible between company and association public affairs work?

Chair: Staffan Jerneck Deputy Director, Director of Corporate Relations, CEPS (Centre for European Policy Studies)

“How corporations assess the value of their membership in EU associations and coordinate their association membership”
Guido De Wit, EU Plastic Business Issues and Industry Affairs, Dow Europe GmbH

Companies and associations; working together? A view of the issues seen from both sides.”
Maja Wessels, Senior VP for Government Relations, EMEA, Honeywell

“The role of Public Affairs firms with associations”
Elaine Cruikshanks, Managing Director, Hill & Knowlton

"Companies and associations: working together ? A view of the issues seen from both sides"
Daniel Schante, Director General, Comité Européen des Assurances

11:30 to 12:30 Stakeholder relations and EU policy consultation: A new reality for associations?

Can EU Business Associations on behalf of their members play an active role in identifying and interacting with stakeholder groups?

Chair: Philip A. Springuel Senior Public Affairs Manager, EurActiv

“Responsible” companies initiatives: A case study
Helmut Wagner, Director General, The Amsterdam Group

Corporate Public Affairs in an era of diverse stakeholders
Baudouin Velge, Director Economics, VBO Belgian Employers Federation

- Lunch 12:30 to 13:30 -
Includes presentation by I.R.I.S. IT Solutions for Associations

SERVING THE MEMBERS: BEYOND POLITICAL REPRESENTATION

13:30 to 14:30 Beyond Political Representation: Providing Services and Adding Value

• Besides political representation some EU business associations are expanding from an EU representation mission into new servicing areas.

• How are EU business associations reacting to emerging changes in business practices that call for associations to seek alternative revenue generating options and to streamline resources?

• Which activities can generate added member value?

Chair: Justin Greenwood, Aberdeen Business School - College of Europe, Bruges

Beyond Political Representation: EU associations and membership services
Alfons Westgeest, Partner Ernst & Young Association Management

Industrial Research & Development initiatives bringing new value to association membership
Dr. Arnold van Zyl, Director, EUCAR European Council for Automotive Research & Development

The objectives of the EU’s Research Policy and the role of associations
Kurt Vandenberghe, Member of the Cabinet of Commissioner Philippe Busquin, European Commission

14:30 to 17:30 The Union’s enlargement and the impact on association membership, financing and representation

• What does the Union’s enlargement mean to the operation of EU Business Associations?

• What are the perspectives on EU public affairs representation, and working in EU business associations, from business organisations in the accession states?

Chair: Alfons Westgeest, Partner Ernst & Young Association Management

Challenges facing Business Associations in C. and Eastern European Accession States
Professor Zygmunt Tyszkiewicz, former General Secretary of UNICE and Visiting Professor The Robert Gordon University

Integrating accession members in a sectoral business association:
Rodolphe de Looz-Corswarem, Secretary General, CBMC The Brewers of Europe

A survey of EU business interest representation in the applicant countries
Dr. Nieves Pérez-Solórzano, Borragán University of East Anglia

What Enlargement means for national, local, regional and trade representations in Brussels
Dr. Andrzej Rudka, First Counsellor & Chief Economist, Representation of the Republic of Poland to the European Union (former Director at the Polish Confederation of Private Employers)

Integrating the work of business organisations in the accession states with EU business associations
Karel Lucas, Permanent Delegate to the SPCR