At its 41st meeting, held in Sofia on 16 and 17 May 2018, the EA General Assembly elected Ignacio Pina (ENAC, Spain) as EA Chair and Maria Papatzikou (ESYD, Greece) as EA Vice-Chair.
After Peter Strömbäck announced he would step down from his position in SWEDAC in early 2018, the position of EA Chair became vacant. Ignacio Pina, elected EA Vice-Chair, has been the Acting Chair since then and it was decided to organize a call for nominations for the election of a new EA Chair and Vice-Chair.
Ignacio Pina, acting Chair since January 2018 and Maria Papatzikou, who has been seating on the Executive Committee as an additional member since January 2016, were elected in Sofia to be the new Chair and Vice Chair of EA for the term 17 May 2018 – 31 December 2019.
This new duo will lead EA and the Executive Committee in order to ensure confidence in accredited conformity assessments results through harmonized operation of accreditation activities in support of European and global economies.
Presentation of Ignacio Pina (ENAC)
After being graduated in Chemistry at the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid, Ignacio Pina joined ENAC, the Spanish Accreditation Body, in 1996 to launch the accreditation schemes of certification and inspection bodies.
Since 2000, he has held the position of Technical Manager with responsibility for all areas of ENAC’s activity, concerning the development of accreditation criteria, the design and implementation of new schemes of accreditation, as well as institutional relations with the government and other stakeholders.
During his career in ENAC, Ignacio has also been very active at the international level:
- Chairperson of the Subcommittee of Food Certification of EA (European cooperation for Accreditation);
- Representative of EA in the IAF Executive Committee (International Accreditation Forum);
- IAF contact person with Food industry;
- Co-Chairperson of the Inspection Committee of ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation).
Simultaneously, he has been member of the EA Executive Committee since 2005 and Chairperson of EA Horizontal Harmonization Committee from 2013 to 2017.
In his thanks to the EA members for his election, Ignacio insisted on how proud he is to be working in the accreditation field. “This means a lot to me and now, being the EA Chair, reinforces my commitment to serve the needs of European business and citizens. I certainly feel proud and thank you all for your confidence. I’ll work hard to prove that it is well placed!” said Ignacio Pina.
Presentation of Maria Papatzikou (ESYD)
Maria Papatzikou graduated as a Chemical Engineer from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2001, followrd by a Master in Business Administration (MBA) in 2005. Then, she joined ESYD to held different positions and is now Quality Manager, Head of the Quality and Training department, Head of the Development and Promotion department, Development Manager and Manager of Complaints.
At EA level, she has been a member of the EA Multilateral Agreement Council (and member of the EA MAC Management Group from 2010 to 2017) as well as member of the EA Horizontal Harmonization Committee and Communication and Publications Committee for several years. She has been also a member of the EA Executive Committee since January 2016.
“I would like to express my commitment to EA in order to enhance its role as a membership organization which serves the needs of all its members. The timing for me to be elected as EA Vice Chair is very challenging as we are in the implementation phase of EA Strategy 2025 “from Good to Great” in which I was involved as a member of the EA Strategy Group since the beginning” said Maria Papatzikou.