In 2019, Accredia celebrates its 10th anniversary, an opportunity to communicate on the development of accreditation in Italy which found its root in standardization and was triggered by the development of a European market where technical barriers have been progressively removed.
Interaction amongst the members and debate on major strategic issues such as the new structure and decision-making process of EA illustrated again the continuous involvement and commitment of the EA members in the European Accreditation infrastructure.
It was noted that 13 actions of the Strategy 2025 Implementation plan had been closed. It means that the implementation of the defined objectives 2025 is progressing well and, if we take account of the fact that some actions are interdependent, their contents being closely linked to the results of others, the plan should be successfully and timely fulfilled.
Further to the presentation by the Executive Committee of the outcome of the Strategy 2025 Task Force Group 4, chaired by Filippo Trifiletti (Accredia), and the TFG recommendation on the best location for the EA Secretariat, the General Assembly acknowledged the decision made by the Executive Committee to maintain the EA Secretariat in Paris.
The GA also endorsed the proposal to revise the Rules of Procedure (RoP) and to adjust them to the new structure agreed in November 2018 with a new Executive Board and Technical Management Board.
The TFG proposed to transfer decision-making power from the General Assembly to the Executive Board, TMB and Technical Committees in order to be more efficient and to have faster decision-making processes without undermining the principles of democracy and transparency which are deeply rooted in EA’s values. This was supported by the Members.
Important to note that the reports by the Committees and Council chairs highlighted also that the One Voice policy is at work and has already produced concrete results on the international scene.
The General Assembly endorsed the decision of the Executive Committee to renew and sign the Bilateral Cooperation Agreement (BCA) with the Standards Council of Canada (SCC). A previous BCA between both parties was signed on June 2016. Based on the CETA CA Protocol, this agreement establishes the terms, conditions and procedures of cooperation between EA and SCC for technical support of activities aimed at mutual recognition of NABs and accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies operating in EU and Canada.
The GA was informed that the survey, launched in 2018 and revised in 2019, on the functioning of accreditation in Europe would, from now on, be an annual survey combined with the survey on the number of accreditations whose results are used for the calculation of membership fees. The European Commission requested that the results shall be made public and shall be available in the EA Annual Report as a means to demonstrate the value of accreditation to underpin European regulation and policies.
The GA elected as new Executive Committee members for the term 1st January 2020 – 31st December 2021, Cecilie Laake, NA (the Norwegian NAB) and Orbay Evrensevdi, TURKAK (the Turkish NAB). Confirmed also Emanuele Riva, Director of the Certification and Inspection Department of Accredia.