EPAL General Assembly held on 24 June 2022 in Zurich

The 2022 General Assembly of the European Pallet Association e.V. (EPAL) took place in Zurich on 24 June 2022. The key element of this General Assembly was to bid farewell to the previous President Robert Holliger and elect the new Presidents, Jarek Maciążek and Dirk Hoferer.

The EPAL General Assembly unanimously elected two new presidents, Dirk Hoferer and Jarek Maciążek, on 24 June 2022. EPAL has already reported this in its international press release dated 1 July 2022. The election of the new presidents was necessary as Robert Holliger had declared that he would not run again for the presidency after four terms and twelve years in office.

Robert Holliger, former President of EPAL:

“After twelve years as President of EPAL, it was time to pass the leadership of EPAL to younger colleagues. I am delighted that Jarek Maciążek and Dirk Hoferer are jointly taking on the responsibility for the EPAL Euro pallet pool as EPAL Presidents. Not only do they both have a great deal of experience in the field of pallet production, but they also have many years of international experience with the organisation of the EPAL Euro pallet pool. As Vice-Presidents of EPAL, they have both already been involved lately in every important tasks and decisions. Dirk Hoferer has been a member of the Board of EPAL Germany for many years and has been very committed to the development of EPAL. Jarek Maciążek has been actively invovled in setting up EPAL Polska and the successful development of the EPAL pallet pool in Poland. I cannot think of better successors.”

The EPAL General Assembly thanked Robert Holliger for his significant service to EPAL with prolonged applause. Robert Holliger has been made an Honorary Member and Honorary President of EPAL by the members of EPAL.

Dirk Hoferer, new President of EPAL:

“We are happy that Robert Holliger will remain a part of EPAL in the future as Honorary President. Robert Holliger was actively involved in founding EPAL and establishing EPAL Suisse. For 30 years, he has invested a great deal of time and energy in the development of EPAL with great success. We are deeply thankful to him and to his wife, who often had to be without him. At the same time, we are pleased that Robert Holliger will still be associated with EPAL as Honorary President.”

The EPAL Board was also elected during the EPAL General Assembly on 24 June 2022. The board members Davide Dellavalle (EPAL Italia/Dellavalle Pallets), Roman Malicki (EPAL Polska/DMD-BIS), Peter McKenzie (EPAL UK/Ireland/James Jones & Sons), Tatyana Sargsyan (EPAL Baltics/Ramundas) and Paulo Verdasca (EPAL Portugal/Madeca) were re-elected. Jean-Philippe Gaussorgues (EPAL France/PGS), Dirk Hoferer (EPAL Deutschland/Treyer Paletten) and Pascal Holliger (EPAL Suisse/Holliger Paletten) are also on the board as permanent representatives of the founding members. As recently elected president, Jarek Maciążek (EPAL Polska/PalettenWerk) is also a Board member.

Alexandre Coppée (EPAL Belgium) has also been elected as a new Board member. Alexandre Coppée has been active in various EPAL working groups for many years and has lately been involved with EPAL Board activities as a guest. As Operations Manager of Paletteries François, one of the largest producers of EPAL Euro pallets, he is very familiar with all quality, technology and standardisation issues, as well as with the expectations of EPAL Euro pallet users.

“I am looking forward to playing an even more active role in shaping the EPAL Euro pallet pool in the future as a member of the EPAL Board," says Alexandre Coppée. "My aim is to ensure all decisions on the future development of the EPAL Euro pallet pool always take the interests of users from industry, retail and logistics into consideration. The basis for EPAL's success is the fact that the open EPAL exchange pool is very well known and widely accepted in Europe and many other countries. I would like to contribute to further expanding this acceptance of the EPAL Euro pallet exchange pool as an indispensable component of safe and sustainable logistics.”

Representatives from more than 20 countries attended EPAL's General Assembly on 24 June 2022. The EPAL General Assembly is an annual event but could only be held virtually in 2020 and 2021 due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants were therefore even more pleased to be able meet in person this year to exchange their experiences of the EPAL Euro pallet pool in different countries.