The EA Communications and Publications Committee held its 25th meeting on 5 and 6 March 2014 in Belgrade, Serbia. It was the first meeting for the new Chair, Peter Kronvall, from SWEDAC. The meeting gathered 22 participants, including two stakeholder organizations CEOC and IIOC.

A wide range of issues was discussed during the two-day meeting, perfectly hosted by Katarina Bogojevic from ATS, Accreditation Body of Serbia, in the beautiful Hotel Moskva in the heart of Belgrade. The participants were welcomed by Jasna Stojanovic, ATS Director General.

Going through an extensive agenda, the fresh Chair soon applied his personal touch, and led the sometimes heated discussions towards consensus.

“This is the first meeting chairing this committee and it is a learning process for me. I hope you will continue to speak during the meeting and that those of you who haven’t said so much yet, that will speak out during the second day”, Peter Kronvall said after the first meeting day.

Most members of the CPC – 18 members from 17 countries came to the meeting in Belgrade – work in the field of communications; some members are also specialised lead assessors.

“English is not our mother language for most of us, but we all do our best to communicate”, Peter Kronvall said, touching one central point when it comes to international co-operation.

There were also three newcomers in the CPC, who all expressed the view that they had a good impression of the Committee. One said: “It is a very friendly atmosphere, we try to learn from each other by discussing and I am looking forward to keep on the work in the CPC”.

Peter Kronvall is succeeding Vagn Andersen from DANAK, the Danish NAB, who chaired the CPC for several years. Both Vagn Andersen and Peter Kronvall are members of the EA Executive Committee. Vagn Andersen will still participate in the CPC as the DANAK representative.

At the Belgrade meeting, Knut-Thomas Sjolie from NA, Norwegian Accreditation, was also elected by applause as the new CPC Vice-Chair. He is succeeding Jon Murthy, who decided to resign after many years. Jon Murthy will also continue his work in the CPC as the representative for UKAS, the UK NAB.

The next CPC meeting will be hosted by TURKAK, the Turkish NAB, in September 2014 in Istanbul.

Johan Mikaelsson (SWEDAC)