BRUSSELS, Belgium—On Thursday, June 29, the 2017 General Assembly of FTA Europe was held in Barcelona at the offices of FTA Europe’s Spanish member, Graphispack / ATEF. Sante Conselvan, current president of the Italian flexo association (ATIF), was re-elected as president of FTA Europe for another mandate of two years.
Sante, who was awarded the 2016 President’s Award from FTA, expressed his gratitude to the members for their trust in reappointing him as president, stating that “I am honored and proud to run for another two years FTA Europe. During my first mandate, which saw the birth of the association, we have already been able to create an entity recognized in the market as a reliable stakeholder in representing the European flexographic industry. In this short period, FTA Europe has created a stable network among members and consolidated relations with other European and international flexographic associations. Moreover, events like the first FTA Europe Diamond Awards held in 2016 and the current Flexo Best Practice Tool Box Project gave a concrete demonstration of the commitment and strategy of the association to enhance flexography all around Europe. My objective for the next mandate is to continue in this direction in order to make the association grow more and enhance its visibility.”
Together with the renewal of the presidency, the Board and other roles within the Association were also confirmed during the General Assembly. Wim Buyle of EFTA Benelux was re-elected as vice president and board member, while Debbie Waldron-Hoines of EFIA UK was re-elected as treasurer and board member. Moreover, Jean-Pierre Bonnet of ATF France was re-elected board member, and Ignaci Cusi of ATEF Spain was elected for the first time as board member. All these mandates will have a duration of two years.
During the General Assembly, many agenda points were discussed to define the objectives and plans for the months to come. In particular, after the successful first edition in 2016, the date and city of the next FTA Europe Diamond Awards was decided. The 2018 edition of the Diamond Awards will take place in Milan on Wednesday, May 30 during the period of the Print4All Fair. The exact venue in Milan will be decided in the following weeks and communicated shortly after. In addition to this, after its official launch at the beginning of 2017, the Flexo Best Practice Tool Box Project aiming to creating technical guidelines and best practices for the flexo industry will be continued during the course of 2017 and 2018.