The EA Advisory Board (EAAB) held its autumn meeting on November 8, 2024, in Brussels (Belgium) at the EFTA-House. One important item was the election of the new EAAB officers, and Andrew Evans (Industry College, CAPIEL) was elected Chair of the EAAB.

Andy Evans CEng MInstMC¹ is the technical director of GAMBICA, the association for UK suppliers of instrumentation, control, automation, and laboratory equipment, based in London. He is one of the UK representatives on the IEC Standardisation Management Board.

For the last 12 years, he has been on the EA Advisory Board as part of the industry college, representing CAPIEL, the European Coordinating Committee for the Associations of Manufacturers of Switchgear and Controlgear equipment for industrial, commercial, and similar use in the European Union.

With this experience in mind, we asked him to share his vision for the future of the EAAB.

What is the mission of the EAAB? 

The Advisory Board should support EA to ensure that accreditation in Conformity Assessment activities maintains a high level of competency, is harmonized across all signatories to the MLA, and is applied with openness and transparency.

It also monitors EA developments to promote an accreditation process leading to quality and competence-driven competition between accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) and coherence with international accreditation practice.

What strategic goals do you envision for your mandate and the future of the EAAB?

Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 sets out the requirements for European co-operation for Accreditation, and the EA Advisory Board forms part of that structure. With the imminent amendment of the New Legislative Framework, to take into account digitalisation and circular economy objectives, it is important that the new framework for accreditation effectively supports complex value chains, facilitating remanufacturing, high-quality recycling of products, and the Digital Product Passport.

Ariane Van Cutsem (National Authority College, Belgium Ministry) and Alexander Safarik-Pstrosz (CAB College, EUROLAB) were elected as Vice-Chairs.

The EAAB thanked the former Chair Miruna Dobre (EURAMET), Vice-Chairs Martin Stadler (BUSINESSEUROPE), and Bruce McGill (TIC Council) for their outstanding work and support for the benefit of the European accreditation and conformity assessment system.

¹ Chartered Engineer Member of the Institute of Measurement & Control