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ASSOCIATION OF FORMER MEMBERS OF THE

EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE

Brussels,20 May 2009

CONCISE MINUTES
of the Annual Assembly
of the Association of Former Members of the
European Economic and Social Committee
held in Brussels on 9March 2009

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President: Mr.Lustenhouwer

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To the Members

of the Association of Former Members

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The Annual Assembly of the Association of Former Members of the European Economic and Social Committee (AFM) was held at the Committee building in Brussels on 9 March 2009. The meeting was chaired by the Association President, Mr. Colin Lustenhouwer.

1.Members present

Mr/Ms

P.J.ANDRADE

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J.A. ANDREWS

M. ATAIDE FERREIRA

E. BATTAGLINI

P. BOULNOIS

R. BRIESCH

H. BURTON

H.BYRNE

V. CAL

D. CASHMAN

C. CHRISTIE

S.COLOMBO

H. DANUSĒVIČS

M. DE GRAVE

M. DIMPER

J. DONNELLY

K. DOUVIS

Z. DRABKO

R. FRANZ

F. FRESI

J.I.GAFO FERNÁNDEZ

T. HUNTJENS

A.A. JAARSMA

A.A. JAKOBSEN

J. JASCHICK

CH. KORYFIDIS

L. KRITZ

B. KRÖGER

G. LIVERANI

C. LUSTENHOUWER

G. MANTOVANI

F. MARGOT

D.Mc LAUGHLIN

D. MENGOZZI

Y. van der MENSBRUGGE

D. MENGOZZI

L.A. MORALES

R. MORELAND

R. PELLETIER

J.PEREIRA DOS SANTOS

M.-L. SANTIAGO

R. SCHNIEDERS

F. SCHWEITZER

R. STRASSER

D. STULIK

M. TORNBERG

H. VOGLER

K. WALKER

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2.Members absent (apologies received)

Mr/Ms

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R. BAEZA SANJUAN

E. BELABED

J. BORREGO IZQUIERDO

J-CL. CLAVEL

E. EULEN

H. FREDERSDORF

S. GIATRAS

F.B. HAUSMANN

T. KANNISTO

K. de KNEGT

J. KOOPMAN

G. LAPPAS

M. LEMMETTY

K. MEYER-HORN

P. MORGAN

M. NIEPOKULCZYCKA

E. de PAUL de BARCHIFONTAINE

B. RANGONI-MACHIAVELLI

A.M. REGNELL

C. RIBEIRO

S. SARALEHTO

S. TODISCO

U. TUKKER

G. VEVER

A. WILLIAMS

Secretariat of the European Economic and Social Committee

N. ALEXOPOULOS

T. ADAMISOVA

E. WOLFF

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3.Bureau meeting

It is tradition for the Bureau meeting to immediately precede the Annual Assembly of the Association.

Mr. Lustenhouwer announced that 48 colleagues (from 138 members) were expected for the Annual Assembly. Since the last Annual Assemblythree new members had joined the association.

Concerning the agenda of the Annual Assembly – in the afternoon the new Secretary-General, Mr. Martin Westlake, was going to give a welcome address and present his programme. Then Mr. Burani, a member of the EESC's Group II, would make a contribution about the problems of the recent crisis in the financial markets. The new President, Mr. Mario Sepi, would join the Annual Assembly and present the "Programme for Europe" to the members of the AFM.

That year’s study trip would take the AFM to Riga (Latvia) and Vilnius (Lithuania). The theme of the trip would be "financial crisis, labour, employment, wages, economic development and financing of business".

Mr. Lustenhouwer further proposed to deal with the following three issues:

-draft of his proposal to exclude non-paying members from the AFM;

-draft of his proposal to amend the Cooperation Agreement between the EESC and the AFM;

-financial affairs of the Association.

Mr. Lustenhouwer sent in advance a letter to all the members of the Bureau. He proposed that

-the members of the AFM who had not paid their contribution to the Association for the previous calendar year would not be reimbursed for their travelling expenses in relation to the Annual Assembly following that calendar year and would not be allowed to participate in the annual trip organised by the AFM;

-Members who had not paid their contribution for a period of two years would be excluded from membership of the AFM.

Mr. Vogler– supported the proposal and asked for an updated list of the members of the AFM.

Mr. Margot – made a very precise distinction between the former members of the EESC and the members of the Association of Former Members. He was concerned whether the diminution of the number of the members would not have an influence on the amount of the EESC contribution to the budget of the Association.

Mr. Lustenhouwer– assured Mr. Margot that there would be no financial consequences. The problem had been discussed during the meeting of Mr. Lustenhouwer with Mr. Kallio, the Vice-President of the EESC responsible for the budget and Mr. Alexopoulos, director of the Directorate for General Affairs.

Mr. Kritz– asked to pay attention to the rules of the Constitution of the AFM (Rule 4: Loss of Membership. "Membership shall lapse following resignation, death or non-payment of dues for two consecutive years.") and requested that the existing rule be respected.

Mr. Mantovani– agreed with the proposal and underlined that it was very important that the Association was made up of real members interested in the activities of the AFM.

Mr. Gafo Fernandez and Mr. Tornberg– both expressed support for the proposal and suggested that the members who had not yet paid their contribution be informed in advance about the decision to exclude them as non-paying members from the Association.

Mr. Lustenhouwer– agreed with all the above-mentioned remarks and confirmed that he was going to present the proposal to the General Assembly.

Then Mr. Lustenhouwer read his second proposal concerning the amendment of the Cooperation Agreement between the EESC and the AFM. Mr. Lustenhouwer suggested that the annual subsidy from the EESC could be also used to cover travelling expenses for members of the AFM attending meetings, seminars, congresses etc. that were organised by the EESC in Brussels. Mr. Lustenhouwer specified the conditions of that reimbursement.

It was agreed that Mr. Lustenhouwer would also present his second proposal to the General Assembly.

Mr. Pelletier presented his report about the financial affairs of the AFM.

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4.Annual Assembly meeting

Mr. Lustenhouwer welcomed the members of the AFM to the Annual Assembly.

4.1Adoption of the agenda

The agenda of the Annual Assembly of the Association of Former members was adopted.

4.2Approval of the minutes of the Annual Assembly meeting held on 10 March 2008

Mr. Batagliani remarked that his name did not figure on the list of the participants. The minutes of the Annual Assembly were amended accordingly and were then approved.

4.3President's annual report

The President’s annual report was sent to the members on 15 December 2008. It focused on the meetings of the President of Association with the EESC President Mr. Dimitriadis and with the EESC directors Mr. Westlake and Mr. Jungk. The president informed in his report about the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the EESC and the study trip to Spain (the cities of Seville and Cordoba) in September 2008.

The President gave further information concerning the meetings with the newly elected President of the EESC, Mr. Mario Sepi, (29 January 2009) and the Vice-President of the EESC, Mr. Seppo Kallio (25 February 2009).

The Annual Assembly approved the annual report for the year 2008.

A minute's silence was held in the memory of three members who had died:

Mr. Enrico Kirschen (IT – Group II)

Mr. Jos van Greunsven (NL – Group II)

Mr. Jacques Genton (first Secretary-General of the EESC)

Mr. Lustenhouwer informed the general assembly that the following members had resigned their membership of the AFM for health reasons:

Mr. Artur Luis Alves Conde (PR – Group III)

Mr. Klaus Stöllnberger (AT - Group I)

Mr Lustenhouwer welcomed the new members who had joined the Association since the last General Assembly:

Mr. Paulo Jorge Andrade (PT – Group I)

Ms Eva Belabed (AT – Group II)

Mr. Joao Pereira Dos Santos (former director of the EESC).

4.4Financial report for the year 2008 and Budget proposal for the year 2009.

The Vice-President and Treasurer, Mr. Robert Pelletier, and the Auditor, Mr. Michel De Grave, were given the floor.

Mr Pelletierconfirmed the correctness of the management of the accounts of the Association.

He gave the following detailed explanation of the accounts:

Year 2008

EESC contributionEUR 20000.00

Chargeable expenditureEUR 19409.78

To be reimbursed to the EESCEUR 590.22

Non-chargeable expenditureEUR 1984.68

Total expenditureEUR 21994.46

The amount collected from members as their membership contribution represented in 2007 EUR 4320.00.

In the proposal of the budget year 2009 the membership contribution represented EUR 4900.00 (70 members paying their yearly contribution in the amount of EUR 70.00).

The EESC contribution for the year 2009 represented EUR 25000.00.

The expenses planned in the budget estimate for 2009were in connection with the annual assembly and the annual study trip.

Mr. De Graveconfirmed the correctness of the financial documents submitted to the AFM's Annual Assembly. He had examined the AFM accounts, the invoices and bank statements of the Association at the secretariat's office on 28 January and 12 February 2009.

Mr. De Grave remarked that the problem of non-paying members was still persisting. He proposed to open a long-term account for the surplus on the current account of the Association.

The annual assembly approved the financial report for theyear 2008 and budget proposal for the year 2009.

4.5. 2009 Annual study trip

This year's study trip would take the members to Latvia and Lithuaniaat the invitation of the former Latvian memberMr. Danusevics andof the current EESC member Mr. Gavrilovs (LV, Group I). The trip was planned for 15-19 September 2009 andwould take the members of the AFM to Riga andVilnius (European Capital of Culture for the year 2009). The theme of the trip was “Financial crisis, labour, employment, wages, economic developments and financing of business”. Mrs. Wolff from the secretariat gave the members detailed information concerning the trip and the airplane connections to Riga and Vilnius. Further details concerning the programme of the trip and the accommodation would be communicated to the members.

Mr. Jaarsma –remarked that the end of the trip should be planned for Sunday (cheaper plane tickets).

Mr. Margot – noticed that as the trip was planned to include two cities, the members of the Association should make reservations in two different hotels.

Mr. Strasser – supported the idea of the plan of the trip and remarked that there was a possibility to buy tickets for a good price in advance.

Mr. Cashman – appreciated the organisation of last year's annual trip to Spain.

Mr. Lustenhouwer – proposed to organise the annual trip next year to the Netherlands and said he was open to suggestions from the other members concerning the future trips of the Association.

4.6. Any other business

Mr. Lustenhouwer summarised that the AFM had 138 registered members. 46 members had not paid the membership fee for one or more years. Those members had not participated in the General Assembly in 2007 and 2008.

That problem had been discussed during the meeting with the EESC Vice-President, Mr. Kallio. Mr. Kallio confirmed that the reduction of the members of the Association would have no financial consequences.

Therefore Mr. Lustenhouwer proposed to write a letter to the non-paying members and ask them to pay the membership fee. Otherwise their travel expenses for the General Assembly could not be reimbursed and they could not participate in the annual study trip. Members who had not paid their contribution for a period of two years would be “excluded” from the AFM.

Mr. Strasser – expressed the opinion that the members should be given an opportunity to pay their membership fees.

Mr. Andrade – remarked that it was a ridiculous situation and the EESC should support more the Association and all the former members of the EESC should automatically become members of the AFM.

Mr. Kritz – fully supported the proposal of Mr. Lustenhouwer and referred to Rule 4 of the Constitution of the Association.

Mr. Battaglini – wished to receive a more detailed explanation concerning the calculation of the payment of the membership fee for the previous year.

Mr. Lustenhouwer – explained him that for the year 2008 there were 60 paying members and the estimation for the following year was 70 paying members.

Mr. Moreland–suggested that the membership fee could be simply deducted from the reimbursement of travel expenses.

The General Assembly approved the proposal of Mr. Lustenhouwer to

-write a letter to non-paying members and invite them to pay the membership fee

-in case of non-payment cancel their membership.

Mr. Pelletier – remarked that the AFMwas not treated properly, the expenses of the AFM were negligible for the EESC and that at least for one day a year the members of the AFM should be treated like the real members of the EESC.

Mr. Danusevics – noticed that the AFM created a bridge between the EESC and organised civil society and that the members of the Association could replace the active members during events that took place in the Member States.

Mr. Mantovani – asked why the General Assembly repeatedly discussed the same internal matters and he wished to pay attention to more important issues than payment of membership fees.

Mr. Lustenhouwer – responded that as it was the beginning of his mandate he wanted to clarify internal matters. He promised to inform the members about internal matters in the future through the newsletter for former members.

Then Mr. Lustenhouwerpresented his proposal for the amendment of the Cooperation Agreement between the EESC and the AFM. He suggested that the annual subsidy from the EESC could also be used to cover travelling expenses for members of the AFM attending meetings, seminars, congresses etc. that were organised by the EESC in Brussels. Mr. Lustenhouwer specified the conditions of that reimbursement.

Mr. de Grave – remarked that the Association had to be careful with the reimbursement of the participation of the members at the events because the highest expenses were connected to the annual trip that was usually organised in September.

Mr. Gafo Fernandez – proposed that the reimbursement be limited to only one participation a year per member.

Mr. Strasser – wished to know the conditions for the reimbursement of the travel expenses.

Mr. Colombo – remarked that the reimbursement conditions of the EESC membersweremore advantageous than the conditions proposed in the Cooperation Agreement between the EESC and the AFM.

The proposal of Mr. Lustenhouwer to prepare an amendment to the Cooperation Agreement between the EESC and the AFM was approved by the General Assembly.

Mr. Christie– discussed the possibility of the AFM contributing to the EESC's activities, especially in their own country and proposed to formalise the role of the former members as goodwill ambassadors of the EESC.

Mr. Fresi – proposed that the members of the AFM should participate in the debate with the EESC President about the future of the EESC.

Mr. Lustenhouwer - asked the members to claim in which area they would like to contribute to the EESC's activities.

Mr. Strasser and Mr. Wolker – opened the issues concerning access to the EESC's premises, the EESC internet site and also the question of the membership card.

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The afternoon part of the Annual Assembly of the AFM was chaired by the President, Mr. Lustenhouwer. The programme for the afternoon was as follows:

Address by Mr. Martin Westlake, EESC Secretary-General:

Mr. Westlake welcomed the former members in the EESC and described his professional career. He emphasised that he felt honoured to be the Secretary-General of the EESC and that he genuinely believed in the uniqueness of the EESC members who came from the real world. He considered that the main task of the EESC administration was to create conditions for the members “to do what they do best”. Like that the members were able to concentrate on essential issues and did not have to deal with administrative matters. He spoke about the changing position of the EESC that was more and more often asked to elaborate an opinion concerning important matters in European policy.

Mr. Mantovani, Mr. Strasser, Mr. Andrade, Mr. Moreland and Mr. Huntjens took part in the discussion that followed.

Mr. Mantovani – congratulated Mr. Westlake on his new position. He drew attention to the critical attacks on Italy concerning the immigration problems that had occurred as reported in the EESC Info published in January 2009.

Mr. Strasser – positively evaluated the changes in the EESC and emphasised that the constructive work and activities of the EESC would result in the recognition of the EESC by the other EU institutions and the public.

Mr. Andrade – highlighted the necessity of the link between the active and former EESC members.

Mr. Moreland – drew attention to the role of the members of the AFM in their home countries.

Mr. Huntjens – compared the EESC activities during the time when he was an active member (2000-2006) and today. He opened the question of the aversion of ordinary people in the Member States to European policies.

Mr. Westlake responded to the questions of the former members and thanked them for their support for the EESC.

Address by Mr. Umberto Burani, EESC member, Group II:

Mr. Burani made a detailed analysis of the recent financial and economic crisis. He described the situation in the banking sector and the reasons for the financial crisis and explained the consequences in the EU Member States and other countries.

Mr.Cal and Mr. Boulnois took part in the discussion that followed.

Mr.Cal– reminded Mr. Burani of the long discussion that had taken place also in the EESC concerning the criteria of the evaluation of the new banking products.

Mr. Boulnois – discussed the problems of the financing of small and medium enterprises.

Mr. Burani thanked the former members for their attention and expressed his wish to join the AFM as soon as he finished his active mandate.

Address of Mr. Mario Sepi, President of the EESC:

Mr. Sepi welcomed the former members and said he felt like being at an informal meeting with friends and colleagues.

He explained the motto of his presidency “Rights and solidarity to guide globalisation”. He emphasised the importance of the European social model and the necessity of the social dialogue during the period of financial and economic crisis. He highlighted the interconnection between the European social model and the Lisbon Strategy.

Mr. Sepi explained the “Programme for Europe”, a manifesto consisting of 22specific themes focused on the following issues:

  • economic recovery
  • fundamental rights and the European social model
  • sustainable development
  • governance

The “Programme for Europe” would be prepared by the EESC and the proposals of civil society presented to the other EU institutions before the elections to the European Parliament.