The Secretarial Working Group (SWG) came together virtually on Friday, 4th December.
The President of IUCAB, Mr. Olivier Mazoyer, and the Secretary General, Christian Rebernig, welcomed Annemarie Grob (VNHI, Netherlands), Claire Machet (APAC, France), David Johnson (The MAA, UK & Ireland), Eeva Pakkanen (FFTAF, Finland), Eckhard Doepfer (CDH, Germany), Javier Ignacio Rodriguez Blanco (CGAC, Spain), José Francisco Orero Pardo (COAC Valencia, Spain), Charles Cohon (MANA, USA) and Damjana Sever (PTZ, Slovenia).
Mr. Rebernig, gave an overview on the ongoing evaluation of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and the Vertical Guidelines (VGL).
Furthermore, a survey on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Profession was discussed based on the proposal of the Spanisch Member Association CGAC. In addition, the participants agreed to conduct a study of Commercial Agents in Europe, based on the survey which was created for the US Member Association MANA. The research would offer an insight into the differences between the USA and Europe. Both surveys would help to strengthen the position of the profession and emphasise the importance of the Commercial Agents.
Regarding the upcoming Delegates Meeting in May 2021 in Vienna, Austria, the preliminary program was presented. Finally, the Member Associations were invited to apply their National Training Program for the IUCAB Training Label according to IUCAB Training Standards and to nominate candidates for the George Hayward Award 2021.
The next meeting of the SWG will take place virtually on 22nd January 2021.