The meeting is due to take place at the EU headquarters in Brussels later this year. Mme Durant’s invitation was made at a meeting with EFAPCO Honorary President Nicolas Le Brun and fellow member of the Belgian Association of PCOs, Sam van de Kerckhof.
Isabelle Durant, Vice-President of the European Parliament has invited EFAPCO’s leaders to put the case for greater political support and professional recognition of the PCO sector in particular and the meetings industry in general to Members of the European Parliament.
The meeting is due to take place at the EU headquarters in Brussels later this year. Mme Durant’s invitation was made at a meeting with EFAPCO Honorary President Nicolas Le Brun and fellow member of the Belgian Association of PCOs, Sam van de Kerckhof.
“At the meeting, we identified many areas of common interest and I would like to invite EFAPCO to join us at the European Parliament for a conference session with MEPs who I would be happy to identify and invite,” said Mme Durant.
“We could certainly explore ways in which Parliament might provide greater political support and professional recognition for the PCO sector in particular and the meetings industry in general.
“With 754 parliamentary members from 27 countries across Europe it goes without saying how much I value the professionalism of the meetings industry, and the crucial role played by PCOs. The industry impacts across a vast range of the European Parliament’s interests – from tourism and transportation to cultural, social, scientific, commercial and economic development.”
She added: “I am encouraged by your news about development of EFAPCO’s European Observatory, and its three dedicated sectors, which make a good fit within a strong range of the Parliament’s own activities and its work within the European Union as a whole.
“We agreed it is important for your industry to produce more refined statistics in order to evaluate its economic impact. It is also important to generate data on such crucial aspects as social development, the ecological footprint and the educational responsibilities linked to meetings in general.
The activities being undertaken by the national associations within your 14 member countries, is most welcome, and will strengthen our joint voices both within my own political grouping – the Greens – and within the DG Enterprise and Industry’s Tourism Commission.
“I hope all of your member associations will play active roles within all three of the EUROBS pillars and that these activities will encourage PCOs in other European countries to form their own associations and join the EFAPCO network.
“Then the combination of progress reports on the EUROBS and the analysis of SMART conference cities, which I understand will form the core of your 2014 Malaga Congress programme, will also be of interest to us.”
Nicolas Le Brun said: “We had a very positive meeting with Mme Durant and I’m pleased that we will now have a golden opportunity to present EFAPCO’s case directly to MEPs. I will also arrange for other interested industry associations, including the JMIC, to be invited to attend this important session.”
And Sam van de Kerckhof, architect of the Federation’s European Observatory programme, EUROBS, added: “I was also greatly encouraged by Mme Durant’s interest in our plans for the Observatory and her hopes that PCOs in non-member countries would now form their own national associations in order to join the Federation’s network.”
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