Steering Committee ECR - Ostend

On June 20th and 21st the second and final Steering Committee under the Belgian presidency took place in Ostend.
The Belgian presidency oversaw quite a few important developments in the evolution of ECR, most notably perhaps the move towards an independent ECR by 2015.
To bridge the intermediary period a Memorandum of Understanding has been prepared with the General Secretariat of the Benelux. The document sets the timing for the evolution towards independence and at the same time reaffirms the general secretariat’s commitment to bringing the proces to a successful end. The memorandum will be signed on June 27th and will mark the last official act in the Belgian presidency, as the presidency does not officially change until July 1st.
In the ceremonial sense the batton – or gavel – was passed on to Ireland during the Ostend Steering Committee (photo below). The Executive Committe is now composed of:
• Ireland: Liam Duggan , Marie Harris (current president)
• Belgium: Armand Remacle, Cyril Pauget (past president)
• Bulgaria: Gabriela Mitova (future president)
• Elected members: Phil Stokes (UK), Gerard Schipper (NL), Hans- Gerhard Pernutz (DE)

Armand Remacle (BE) passing on the presidency to Liam Duggan (IE).

The Steering Committee agreed to set aside budget for the organisation of a Conference (June 18th 2013) on effective and efficient enforcement in times of budgetary and personnel constraints. The event will be one of the main objectives for ECR in 2013 and the theme a topical and important one during the Irish presidency in light of the current financial context in Europe. It is a challenge that all enforcement agencies are facing.

The Steering Committee:
• Dismissed the 2011 budget
• Confirmed the Netherlands as Commissioner of the budget
• Confirmed the new Executive Committee
• Approved document 11-ECR-HARMONIE(NO-037_ALL)EN for publication
• Settled on the AISBL and EGTSC as the main choices for a Legal entity for ECR
• Presented the strategic plan towards independence
• Received feedback from the working groups
• Received feedback on contacts with the external partners such as TISPOL, IRU, …
• Took note of the annual report 2011 (final approval mid July)
• Was presented with the results of the TRACE project
• Took note of the online reporting system for the coordinated controls
 

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