MARS & MERCURY - EUROPE

INTERNATIONS COORDINATION COMMISSION

Report of the General Assembly of the 10th of October 2019, La Louvière (Belgium)

At the request of the General President, members of the Association Mars & Mercury – Europe met this day in General Assembly.

Are present, Sirs :

Gaston REINIG General President (LUX) & President M&M GrDLux Eddie VAN RAEMDONCK General Vice-President (BEL) Philippe GIELEN Secretary general (BEL) Jan LENIÈRE Treasurer general (BEL) Eddy DE BOCK President M&M Belgium Marc VAN DE WAL Vice-President M&M Belgium Pierre DEGREEF Honorary President M&M Belgium Michel COURTIN Honorary General President (BEL) Marc DE BRACKELEER Delegate M&M Belgium Alain ARYS Delegate M&M Belgium Olivier CINGRIA Delegate M&M Switzerland Wolf-Arthur KALDEN Honorary General President & Delegate M&M Germany Torben von LOWZOW President M&M Denmark Max NIELSEN Delegate M&M Denmark Pierre DISSEL Honorary General President & President M&M France Christian CUNY Delegate M&M France Jacques LEROY Delegate M&M France Henri BARTKOWIAK Delegate M&M France René FABER Delegate M&M GrDLux Peter PIETERSEN President M&M Netherland Lon VAN DE ZON Delegate M&M Netherland Jen FONGERS NIEBUURT Delegate M&M Netherland Jan UNGER Delegate M&M Netherland

Are excused, Sirs :

Ronald CAZAERCK Auditor (BEL) Hervé HUBERT Delegate M&M Belgium Pierre ZUMWALD Honorary General President & President M&M Switzerland Denis AUGSBURGER Delegate M&M Switzerland Jean-Marc PETERMANN Delegate M&M Switzerland Ulf HANSE President M&M Germany Stefan JAENECKE Delegate M&M Germany Joaquin ILLA JUANDO Honorary General President & President M&M Spain Michel GRETSCH Honorary General President (LUX) Jean-Paul KRAUS Delegate M&M GrDLux Pierre FREICHEL Delegate M&M GrDLux Raymond SCHMITZ Delegate M&M GrDLux Hans MATHIJSEN Honorary General President (NLD) Jan BAUDOUIN Honorary General President (NLD)

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George BROUWER Delegate M&M Netherland Zygmunt BUGOWSKI President M&M Poland Slawomir MICHALSKI Vice-President M&M Poland Jerzy BOGUSZ Delegate M&M Poland

1 – Opening GA

2 – Welcome of the General President Gaston REINIG

3 - Composition of the delegations

The list of the potential participants, submitted in advance to all present delegates, is approved. The Auditor, the Presidents (CHE, DEU, ESP, POL) and delegates, who are excused, are mentioned. Switzerland is represented by Mr Olivier CINGRIA (CHE). Germany is represented by Mr Wolf-Arthur KALDEN (Hon. Gen. Pres. - DEU), Spain by Mr Michel COURTIN (Hon. Gen. Pres. - BEL) and Poland by Mr Philippe GIELEN (S.g.).

4 – Adoption of the agenda

The draft agenda is adopted. The General President proposes to add the item «General terminology» at article 21 of the agenda.

5 – Minutes of the GA of 9th of November 2018, Gent (BEL)

The minutes of the GA are adopted without comments.

6 - Report of the General President

Let me start with some geopolitical thoughts.

This year 2019 is marked by (at least) 3 very important anniversaries, the 80th Anniversary of the beginning of WW II, the 75th Anniversary of D-Day and the 70th Anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Washington creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). (30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, 20th Anniversary of KFOR .. and I could add more … ). In late August 1939, Hitler and Soviet leader Stalin signed the German-Soviet Non-aggression Pact, which incited a frenzy of worry in London and Paris. Hitler had long planned an invasion of Poland, a nation to which Great Britain and France had guaranteed military support if it was attacked by Germany. The pact meant that Hitler would not face a war on two fronts once he invaded Poland, and would have Soviet assistance in conquering and dividing the nation itself. On September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland on the west. Two days later, France and Britain declared war on Germany, beginning World War II. On September 17, Soviet troops invaded Poland from the east. Under attack from both sides, Poland fell quickly, and by early 1940 Germany and the Soviet Union had divided control over the nation, according to a secret protocol appended to the Non-aggression Pact.

On June 6th 1944, D-Day, more than 170,000 Allied troops successfully landed on the beaches of Normandy, and more than 4,000 young men and women lost their lives in the assault. This was a major step to the end World War II, but also the beginning of a new era. Europe was recovering from the most devastating conflict causing the deaths of almost 70 million people, including 45 million civilians.

Today, the witnesses of this period are less and less numerous. For the youngest generation, it could appear today as just a date in a history book. It is our responsibility to let them understand what guided our political leaders at that time in their determination to ensure we live in peace with all people and governments by creating an Alliance that serves to this day as the shield for our freedom, prosperity, and peace.

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I wanted to emphasize this as we are celebrating this year also the 70th anniversary of the most successful military Alliance in recent history. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization remains since the 4 April 1949 the pillar of our security and the symbol of a community of values that link together 29 Nations. Since the signature of the Washington Treaty, the Alliance has had to face extremely diverse challenges, from the Cold War to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, to 9/11 and the War in Afghanistan. NATO has always been able to adapt and to overcome the sometimes inevitable diverging views that can rise among Allies thanks to the core principle of strength through unity.

In the open and globalized world we have created, we are faced today with a growingly unpredictable and complex security environment where peer competitors, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cyber-attacks and non-governmental adversaries using asymmetric approaches interfere daily with our Nations’ security. Instability across the Middle East and North Africa, migration crises and a continued terrorist threat have become part of our daily challenges. Their consequences ripple across our countries, ignoring our traditional physical borders. For this reason, no single nation today is able to solve such numerous and complex challenges by itself. Our potential adversaries know that very well as they constantly seek to divide us by all available means. The strength of this Alliance is rooted in the idea that we need each other to ensure stability and security, and through that, foster prosperity. The past 70 years remind us all of the challenges we are facing together, and our collective success in preserving the security of the Euro-Atlantic area. I am deeply convinced that the Alliance is both a factor of stability and unity amongst our Nations ... and is definitively not obsolete.

This community of values is at the basis of Mars & Mercure and what it stands for.

I thank you for the confidence you have shown in accepting my candidacy for the position of General President of the Circle Mars & Mercury Europe. I promise you to live up to the tasks ahead of me throughout this mandate. I would like to thank the previous General President, Hans MATHIJSEN, for the work he has accomplished to revitalize the European Circle. I have taken note of the cardinal points of the last Presidency - the promotion and strengthening of contacts between national Circles, between individual members and the extension of the Circles network to other European countries. As I stated in my message to the last GA, I fully subscribe to those goals and intend to pursue them, even to strengthen them. I will come back to it in more detail in items 17 and 18 of the agenda.

6 - Report of the General Secretary

1 – Meetings of the Executive Board :

Unlike in previous years when the Ex. Board met only once a year aside the GA, it was decided to meet in the future 4 times a year, following a turnover, in a place close to the respective members of the Board - 3 meetings have already taken place.

1.1 – 10th of February 2019 – Liège (BEL) : - Composition of the Ex Board : the candidacy of Dr Eddie VAN RAEMDONCK as Vice-President. - The objectives of M&M Europe are specified : promotion and strengthening of contacts between national Circles and their members, extension to new Circles, representation of the Board at national events of interest.. - Proposal of the new text of Art 6.1 of the statutes to lift the obligation imposed on the Vice-President to become President while maintaining the same national Circle. - Establishment of the list of responsible members for contacts in view of extension and of accessible events. - Establishment of intentions towards social networks.

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1.2 – 08th of June 2019 – Echternacherbrück (DEU): - The Vice-President and the change of Art 6.1 were accepted unanimously by email by all the national Presidents. - Review of the financial situation and the options to improve the income. - Better definition of the objectives of M&M EU is to be sought. - Specification of the actions on social networks and revision of the website. - Initialization of the preparation of the GA 2020 to be separated from the National Day of M&M BEL.

1.3 - 28th of August 2019 – Koksijde (BEL) : - Precision of the mails to organize the reception of the late membership fees, for the precision of the objectives M&M EU, towards the social networks, for the improvement of the Website, the extension towards new countries and application for candidature to the national Circles to organize future GAs. - Review of reactions for and on LinkedIn, definition of management modalities. - Situation on the revision of the website by Honorary General President Pierre ZUMWALD. - Review of the letter of the General President to the Baltic states and analyse of the archives to identify countries that were members of the CLIMM or M&M EU. - GA 2020 : discussion about the potential date and location.

1.4 – Next meeting of the Board is foreseen the 27th of November 2019, Antwerp (BEL)

2– Participations and events :

- During the last GA, I explained the results of my visit on October, 24th, 2018 to Warsaw about the problems of M&M Poland. This year, our General President made a similar visit on last 24th September and will explain in agenda item 14 what he experienced. - 9th of March : During the closing drink of the GA of M&M BEl, a small ceremony took place to thank and honour the Honorary General President Hans MATHIJSEN and the new General President Gaston REINIG. - 22nd of March : I assisted as General Secretary to the Annual GA of M&M NLD. - 29th of June : I was present at the “Diekircheoise” in the Military Center Grand-Duc Jean in Diekirch, organized by the Belgian Club Luxembourg together with M&M GrDLux. Our new General President was also present as assuming the function as new President of M&M GrDLux. - 24th September : The General President visited the President and Vice-President of M&M POL in Warsaw. - 26-28th of September : The General President participated, together with his predecessor, Hans MATHIJSEN, at the 60est anniversary of M&M DEU in Berlin. - 10th of October : Annual GA M&M EU in La Louvière (BEL). - 11th of October : National Day of M&M BEL : 6 foreign members (2x DNK, 3x NLD, 1x CHE), some with spouses, were registered. - 23th of October : I will assist, with some other Belgian members, to the Symposium organized by M&M NLD in Stroe.

8 - Report of the General Treasurer

Mr Jan LENIERE began his presentation by distributing the financial situation as of 31/12/2018 to all the delegates present and then explaining it in detail. Main figures : Assets available € 13,165.65 - expenses € 1,894.34 - revenues € 2,251.95 - balance € 357.61 Extraordinary expenses : Trans-Europe Project € 2,592,09 - total balance <€ 2,234,48>

(see Annex 1)

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9 - Report of the Auditor

The positive report of the Auditor, Hon. Brig Ronald CAZAERCK, excused, was read by the General Secretary (see Annex 2).

10 - Discharge of the General Treasurer

The request to the Assembly, of the Auditor, to discharge the General Treasurer is unanimously accepted.

11 – Financial situation on 07/10/2019

(see Annex 3)

Following the discussion on the very limited financial means of M&M EU and the options to increase them, in particular by a possible revision of membership fees, the delegate of the Netherlands asked whether the General President has set clear objectives to justify this increase in the budget. The General President argued that he will not put new financial means in place, as the objectives of M&M EU are not precisely defined way, issue to be discussed in agenda item 20 of the agenda. In the meantime, he proposes to maintain the current applicated formula for the membership fee.

12 - Membership fee for 2020

Membership fee of the national Circles :

- All countries paid their 2019 membership, except Poland. Developments in the political situation of Poland are expected in the near future. - Definition of the 2020 membership fee of the national Circles : The application formula as of 01-01-2017 is maintained, ie €150 per Circle + €0.75 per member as of the 31st December of the previous year, without exclusion.

(see Annex 4)

13 - Budget for the year 2020

The Treasurer presents his budget for 2020 (see Annex 5). The Trans-Europe project is maintained in the extraordinary expenses 2020 for an amount of € 1500.

The GA approves the budget and decides to keep the Trans-Europe activity out of the regular budget and to consider it a provision. DEU states that projects must first be created and afterwards only budgets must be requested to cover them.

14 – Reports 2018-2019 of the national Circles

BEL : Activity report 2018-2019 of M&M Belgium

The assessment from the point of view of the members

At the end of 2017, we were 815 and end 2018 789 or a drop of more than 3%. This decrease has several reasons:

- First of all, the growing disinterest of young people to become members of an association - Increase in natural departures (death, relocation, illness, high age) - Given the high age of most of our members, many events during the week are done during the day, which often excludes our still active members

A few words about the events of the last year

In addition to the monthly meetings, major annual events in each club went very well. The national day organized by the Ghent Club on November 10, 2018 met a great success.

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The dancing gala dinner organized by the Antwerp Club was a success. A large-scale concert brought together more than 600 people in Mons. An academic session in Bruges in December attracted many participants from both clubs and non-members of the political, economic and judicial community. The shared activities in the north and south of the country, between sister clubs, are very popular The participation of an M & M delegation in ceremonies at the Cenotaph in London. An excursion and a meal organized in Diekirch with the participation of M & M Luxembourg and Belgian members. During the meal we enjoyed a conference on "European defence" of Jean-Pol PONCELET, former Minister of Defence.

How do we see the future of M&M ?

As already announced last year by my predecessor Pierre DEGREEF, we organized last year a symposium at the Royal Military Academy. Following this symposium, a strategic group set to work and meets once a month. This group includes about fifteen members from virtually every club. Given the number of symposium recommendations, we first worked on three different themes.

- First, the making of a PowerPoint presentation with speaking notes to distribute in all clubs. In order to recruit new members, this presentation will be used in every province, say in every club. At the national level, it will be given in the near future to the Commander of the RMA. We will then ask the Commanding Officer for permission to give the same briefing to the graduating trainees of the first, second and third cycles. - A "Member for Member" project has been set up. This project has been approved by the Board of Directors. Before mid-November, we hope to have 60 volunteers to test this project which is mainly a platform to facilitate communication between members. The skills of the members will be included in a database, which will guide research and questions via this computer tool. - The third theme is highlighting the agenda of the Circle and Clubs to publicize all activities. We have established in chronological order an agenda that includes all the events organized by the national and the clubs. This agenda is published in the national newsletter and on the website. This allows members to participate not only in the events of their own club, but also in the activities of other clubs.

The implementation of the other symposium recommendations is spread over time and in terms of priority. Work will continue in 2019 and 2020. This concludes, dear friends, my brief account of M & M Belgium. Thank you for your attention.

Presented by the President of M&M Belgium, Mr Eddy DE BOCK

CHE : Activity report 2018-2019 of M&M Switzerland

Mr. President-General, dear friends, In the preamble, the President, the Treasurer and the Activity Manager kindly ask you to excuse their absence at this GM held on this Thursday by professional activities. They are already looking forward to participating in the next GM and address you all their Friendship. The balance of the year of the Circle Mars & Mercury Switzerland will be organized around the number of members, the program and the actions to boost the Circle. The workforce first. With 92 members the number remains stable, the Committee having decided not to carry out recruitment campaigns until the program of activities will be more filled up. At the level of the activities, the Committee organizes two stamms, one at the beginning and the other at the end of the year, with the objective of keeping the link with its members. The GM held in June was organized around a pistol shooting as activity. This activity seems to please the participants and will be renewed next year. In terms of actions to revitalize the Circle, the Committee is working on a rapprochement with the association of @ campus, which brings together officers following high graduations.

This rapprochement should allow students who finish to become a member of Mars & Mercure Switzerland and thus ensure a renewal of the workforce but especially to integrate young officers who

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will be the next generation of the Circle in the coming years. The contribution during their studies would be free and they would be member of the association and the circle in parallel. Current work focuses on the organizational logic of committees and especially identity sharing. If this project succeeds, it will not be doubted a major advance for Mars & Mercure and should allow the current Committee, faithful among the faithful, to transmit the conduct of Mars & Mercure Switzerland to young people. In summary, even with reduced activities, Mars & Mercure Switzerland exists and has a reason to be that deserves to be attached to it. Everything must be done to guarantee its development and its future. The Committee is attached to it and does not give up anything. On behalf of the Mars & Mercure Switzerland Committee, I send you my best messages. Long live Mars & Mercury! Long live his national circles and long live at Mars & Mercure Europe.

Presented by the representative of the President of M&M Switzerland, Mr Olivier CINGRIA

DEU : Activity report 2018-2019 of M&M Germany

Number of members : 128, recruitment continues 1. Strength and weakness : a. Strength : good relations with the Ministry of Defence and important concerns enterprise b. Weakness : ./.

2. Activities : a. Spring 2019 : HQ Stettin b. Autumn 2019 : Deutsche Telekom Berlin c. Spring 2020 : NATO and EU Brussels d. Autumn 2020 : Torquato Gesthacht 3. Finances : √

Presented by the Hon. General President M&M Europe and delegate of M&M Germany, Mr Wolf-Arthur KALDEN

DNK : Activity report 2018-2019 of M&M Denmark

Mars and Mercury Denmark members are officers with senior positions in the Danish military, Chairman, CEO and other senior managers incorporates and institutions and some officers with senior positions in the government administration. The membership is personal, but a member will retire from Mars and Mercury Denmark , when the member leaves his position for retirement. Mars and Mercury Denmark has presently app. 190 members.

During 2019 we have had and will have the planned 2 main events and one additional event visiting a military establishment:

Following the AGM in May, an event was held with the theme: The political development in USA and the consequences for the relationship between USA and NATO - as well the future development of NATO as a consequence of the changes in USA. The presentations were made by the Permanent Secretary for Foreign affairs and The Acting Danish Representative in NATO.

In August the Chief of Staff Joint Forces invited the members to visit a live sound test with Norwegian F35 fighter jets of the Danish air base, where the Danish F35 fighters will be domiciled,

The theme for the coming October event is: National and commercial interest in the regulation, collection, sale and use of data. The presentations will be made by the Director for the Centre for Cyber Security, Danish Defence Intelligence Service and the CTO & CISO of Microsoft Denmark & Iceland

Presented by the President of M&M Denmark, Mr Torben von LOWZOW

ESP : Activity report 2018-2019 of M&M Spain

The M&M Spain Circle unfortunately still has only one member, Joaquim ILLA JUANDO.

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His health does not allow him to travel to attend the GA. Nothing new to add.

His message :

In answer to your mail of Monday, 16th September, on behalf of Mr. Illa, I inform you that there is no activity on Spanish Circle, due to Mr. ILLA's health. However, he wishes to continue to be a member of Mars & Mercure Europe and to represent the Spanish circle, and to be a member of it.

Taking the opportunity, for next general meeting for 10th. October, please kindly ask to Mr. Michel Courtin to represent the Spanish circle, as usual last years.

Message of the Hon. General President EU and President of M&M Spain, Mr Joaquim ILLA JUANDO

FRA : Activity report 2018-2019 of M&M France

MANPOWER We dropped below 100 members (active and associates) mainly because of their aging. However, we contributed in 2019 for 102 people.

STRENGHT AND WEAKNESS STRENGHT Our relations with the military authorities are excellent; ditto for the civil authorities. Numerous participations in military and civil events allow us to easily find speakers for our monthly dinners as well as opportunities for visits to companies and military sites. As well, we find each year about thirty speakers to give courses at our EMIA instruction. WEAKNESS : aging of our members and recruitment difficulties.

BALANCE 2018/2019 CONFERENCE DINNER: In Flanders-Artois as well as in Alsace (Strasbourg and Mulhouse sections) 9 dinners are held. We do not organize anything in July, August and December. EMIA: The oral exam preparation course for the EMIA entrance exam took place in 2018 from Monday 19th to Friday 23rd March (5 days of classes) and in 2019 from Monday 1st to Tuesday 9th April (5 days of classes). class and 2 days of blank exams). 60TH ANNIVERSARY AND TWINNING WITH THE LUXEMBOURG CLUB OF M&M BELGIUM: These two ceremonies took place on Saturday 22 September 2018 .

FUTURE PROJECT VISIT of CCPD (Police/Customs Cooperation Centre in Kehl) and the Franco-German River Brigade. Yearbook: Realization (finally) of a new yearbook. RECRUITMENT: Make a serious recruitment effort.

Presented by the Hon.General President of M&M EU and President M&M France, M Pierre DISSEL ,

LUX : Activity report 2018-2019 of M&M GrDLux

2018-2019 is the year when the Circle Mars & Mercure of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has taken over for the second time the responsibility of the European presidency through Gaston REINIG Gaston took also over the presidency of the national Circle in early 2019. He took over from Michel GRETSCH, who was the national President for over 20 years and had the desire to hand over to a “younger” president to bring a new momentum to the Circle.

This year, we have to announce again that the number of our members dropped because several members died. We are now anchored in the 40s, and we are far from the 60s we still had a couple of years ago. The average age of our members remains around 74 years. The reasons for this continual decline are well known since years : the suppression of the compulsory military service in the Grand Duchy since 1967, the absence of a reserve service, a “reservoir” necessary for a continued Mars & Mercury recruitment.

We always tried to mobilize military professionals, as well as responsible persons in the civilian sector, but without great success. Indeed, it is difficult to motivate young and active members due to the fact that

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the average age of our members is very high. But we don’t give up and we are continuing our efforts in all possible directions.

Our new president wants to focus more on the civilian economical sector and this idea is starting to be explored. Contacts with the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce will be made in a short time. It is true that the interest in defense matters does not arouse much enthusiasm among the local population. Also, the idea of setting up a Defense agency in the Grand Duchy, actively supported by Gaston, has not yet reached the government approval. But we do not despair and hope that it will succeed and so will allow an easier relationship between Mars and Mercury.

Our activities, as during the past years, are limited to 4-5 meetings per year. This does not mean that we do not see each other more often. The opportunities to do so are indeed numerous in the Grand Duchy. The meetings, as already announced last year, are for the most part of culinary type, given the advanced age of the members. The main activity of the year, our "gala", as we do not celebrate a national day like in Belgium, is held as always in spring. So, the next "gala" will be held on 8 May, location still to be defined. You will be cordially invited to this event.

Outings with military or economic interest were more rare. We will try to restore them. Indeed, the army, still in a state of restructuring to become an army of modern technologies, will in the near future acquire new major equipment, in particular an A400 M strategic transport aircraft, in collaboration with Belgium, helicopters and satellite equipment to form deployable satellite teams to be engaged in international operations. This will be done in collaboration with the public-private partnership Luxembourg Government and SES, called GovSat, which launched a military-frequency satellite reserved for governments and institutions in early 2018.

Contacts with our neighboring Circles are mainly done with our Belgian and French neighbors, but remain rather sporadic.

Presented by the representative of the President de M&M GrDLux, Mr René FABER

NLD : Activity report 2018-2019 of M&M Netherland

To settle the problems of 2018 in the Executive Committee and de Dutch Board, two of our Honorary members, Jan BAUDOIN and George BROUWER, have in the summer of 2018 taken the initiative to set up a new Roadmap for the Dutch Circle and to review and update the Strategy. This action should be supported by all Members. Part of the objectives was to appoint a new and smaller EC. During a special organized Extraordinary members' meeting on November 30th 2018, the Interim Board (plus the two honorary members) was able to present a new Board, consisting of Lon VAN DER ZON (secr.), Peter ROOIJMANS (treas.), Jen FONGERS NIEBUURT (member) and myself as President. From that day, the new Board functioned on a temporary basis until the official Annual Members meeting 2019. Our Aim and Duty was to work from that start on a revival, on good friendships and to start with fresh activities on the Circle level. On March 22th 2019 was the Annual General Meeting where the new EC (same members) and Board were installed and where our intentions and plans were accepted. That included also a substantial update of the Statutes and Internal rules of procedure. Quite soon we could establish a Joint Venture with the Dutch KIVI DV (Defence and Safety) and started more communications with the Board and also with the members. We suggested that certain Club activities should be open for other Clubs etc. And now we are able to organize ourselves a Mars & Mercurius symposium on October 23th, where we are proud to present four Keynote speakers: the former Army Commander (4-stars), the new Commander Land (3-stars) and two speakers from the Ministry of Defence. We see this event as a good opportunity to get more awareness and to meet potential members for our Association. Also we strive to strengthen the Board meetings with the Representatives of the six Clubs. Part of the new Statutes is that the Representative does not always have to be the Club president. During the Board

Pagina 9 meetings we ask for ideas and for support. After one year in function we do think that our initiatives and reviving actions will prove to be successful. But that does not mean that we do not have troubling issues. The average age of our 200 Members is about 65 years and we do not see a strong growth yet. But we are working on new Members, on Brand awareness, also via Social media (carefully). And we will try to interest younger Dutch officers who are yet working for the Army as well as in our Society. There are also ex officers (retired or reserve), who joined the Army again. Both groups are more than welcome in the Dutch Circle. And here are some Dutch facts and figures :

 Members and concerns o Facts: . End of September 2019: about 200 members in 6 Clubs. . About 10 new members in 2019 and a loss of about 12. . New board chosen at the General Assembly March 22, 2019. o Concerns: . Decrease in members has been stopped, but not growing yet. . Average age (67); members 35-90 years, many between 55 and 59. . Lack of younger new members, but it is getter better. . Club North is of high age, but they have two new younger members.  Financial position o Healthy financial position enables support of activities to increase number of members. o Committee New Members and Member retention is preparing new strategies and working on specific plans. Based on a higher budget of € 10.000 to focus on recruitment, member retention, communication, website and social media.  Projects 2019 o M&M Golf day o M&M General Assembly March 2019 in Lunteren. New EC and board was installed. High attendance. Meeting completed with a M&M walking dinner; o New committee for Recruitment and Communication established: . Publicity campaign in professional magazines, etc. . Personal approach.  Clubs activities in the year 2019 o Monthly Club meetings in all clubs, almost all with a program (like a lecture or a excursion). o Dutch Circle activities: 19 (till September 2019). Club Noord 11 activities; Club Oost 23 activities; Club Utrecht 20; Club Noord Holland 14; Club Zuid Holland-Zeeland 13; Club Noord Brabant-Limburg 24. o In total 105 Club activities, among which some Battle Tours.  Plans 2019 o Drafting a new vision paper on future position taking into account by the new Board, based on enquiries of the members: . Evaluation strategy 2018 . Developments in the surrounding society . Developments within and around National Armed Forces . Decrease in number live time career officers (Mars) . Flexible employment Dutch officers (Mars) . Flexible employment (Mercurius) . Physical meetings partly replaces by digital social communities.  Projects 2019 o Implementation of the M&M vision paper by a portfolio of projects . Communication, including website and social media . Working on recruitment and member retention. o New height of the Dues 2019 and 2020 and the amount of distribution to the 6 clubs directly.

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o Participation / Presentation on National network events. o Harmonisation national/circle public relation and recruitment products. o Organising a M&M Symposium in October 2019 with 4 keynote speakers. o Plans for a Year Book (digital; printed version on demand probably). o Clubs: . Events, with and without partners . Visiting military bases and civil companies . Battle tours . Participation vision related activities . Recruitment. o M&M gala 2020 to be organised by Club Utrecht? Or a boat trip with partners and walking dinner? Presented by the President of M&M Netherland , Mr Peter H. PIETERSEN

PLD : Written message of the President of M&M Poland, Mr Zygmunt BUGOWSKI (presented by the le General Secretary)

Mr. Chairman, Gentlemen, Colleagues,

Good afternoon, Firstly I would like to apologize for absence polish representatives on the Annual M&M Europe Meeting. I have had inform General President Gen .Gaston Reinig about it during his visit on 24th September in Poland which visit was very fruitful for us and both side were very satisfied to exchange opinion and to discuss about future. I would like to authorize Secretary General Philippe GIELEN to represent Poland at the GM and introduce polish situation after meeting in Poland . I think that now he is the person who knows the best current polish situation and will be able to present it in the best way during GM.

At the end I would like to wish all participants of GM all the best and to have a very successful meeting.

Chairman of the Board of Polish Circle Col.ret.Antoni Zygmunt Bugowski

15- Discharge of the Executive Board

Discharge is unanimously given to the Executive Board for its management of the past financial year. The General President thanks the delegates for their confidence.

16 – Designation of the Auditor

The current Auditor, Ronald CAZAERCK, excused for medical reasons, informed in advance that he agrees to extend his term of office for the current year, the accounting year 2019, which is unanimously applauded. The Honorary General President, Mr Michel COURTIN, accepts the succession and the function of potential substitute for the current year.

17 – Elections

All mandates are filled until the end of 2021.

The Vice-Presidency is now ensured through the candidate proposed end of 2018 by M&M Belgium, Captain Eddie VAN RAEMDONCK, member of the Brugge Club. He currently has the military function of Commander of the Belgian Navy Reserve, aside his civil function as General Manager of Statamat SA, and is one of the directors of the Naval Staff.

18 – Communication Strategy of Mars & Mercury Europe

18.1 LinkedIn Groupe ‘’Mars & Mercure Europe’’ Pagina 11

A first message from the General President attracted some 50 members to the group. Following this relative success, he drew up a new letter addressed to all members of the national Circles to apply for the group. The current number of members is 85. NLD insists on a professional management of the group.

18.2 Broadcast of a message to join the group Mars & Mercure Europe on the social networks Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. A few days ago, the General Vice-President has issued a message, approved by all members of the Board, on the various social networks to invite to join the LinkedIn

18.3 Website An improved website is being built by the President of M&M Switzerland, Pierre ZUMWALD, which will allow the management by all members of the Board and, for the national content, to all the national Presidents. A test version has been produced and is under scrutiny. Once this version approved, the production of the new website will be launched. The General President insists that all Circles feed the system. Also, national Circles, which do not have a national website yet, are invited to create one. Those websites will be mentioned with a link in the M&M Europe website.

Honorary General President Michel COURTIN insists on visibility.

At the level of the electronic directory, containing personal data, the opinions are divergent. DNK is for a great restraint and wants to wait to know the purpose of the site, ie contact platform for national Presidents or more. DEU also seems to have a restricted. more.

19 – Extension to new Circles of Mars & Mercury Europe

The General President explains his current contacts with other potential countries and requests the assistance of all delegates who would have contacts in the mentioned countries. He also stated that progress in this domain is very slow. However, and before engaging with other potential countries, it is important to know and await the advice of the national Presidents regarding the objectives of M&M Europe, objectives which will be defined once these advices received from all national Circles. He proposes to stick to the current status and not to engage with new potential countries. In any case, it is generally admitted that a Mars & Mercury Circle is first created at the national level and should have reached a reasonable level of functioning, before being admitted to M&M Europe.

20 – Objectives of Mars & Mercury Europe

The General President considers this point to be the focus of the discussions. He recalled that in his letter dated June 25th, 2019 addressed to all national Presidents, he mentioned that he quickly gained the feeling that the objectives of Mars & Mercury Europe are not clearly defined. In view of this, he has encouraged the national Presidents to share their ideas on this subject, and to detail the national objectives which are at the basis of the creation of the respective national Circles.

The discussion then turned to the "status" of members of the various national Circles (reserve officer, retired reserve officer, active officer, etc.). This concerning, the President DNK detailed the restructuring of M&M Denmark, stating that in the future, the Circle would only gather active officers at important positions (45-60 years) and industrial CEOs . The Circle currently gathers some 190 members (in comparison to the previous 400). The General President, in his function as national President described the difficult situation of M&M GrDLux and suggested to integrate young active officers, idea taken up by the President NLD. Also, representatives of NLD and BEL mentioned a new statute of reserve officer as being recruited as specialist in the civilian sector and commissioned to a defined rank of reserve officer.

As for the "Way Ahead", a letter will be sent to all national Presidents requesting to convey their mission and vision statement of M&M Europe. All answers are expected before the end of year holidays, so that the Board is able to initiate a study during the first quarterly meeting 2020. Thereafter, a Skype meeting of the Board together with all the Presidents (and/or Vice-Presidents) will be held in the March-April

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timeframe aiming achieving consensus on the statements. A follow up strategy to achieve these objectives will then be detailed during the 2020 GA.

21 - AOB

21.1 National activities liable to be visited by the Board The question, asked a couple of times, to transmit the list of activities of national Circles likely to interest the members of the Board is formulated again. The information will be published on the website.

21.2 Countries wilful to organize the 2020 GA Given the decision of the Antwerp Club of M&M Belgium to organize the National Day of Belgium in June 2020, the tradition of linking the GA to this day is abandoned. Moreover, to increase the visibility of M&M Europe among the members, the General President expressed the wish to see a rotation between the different national Circles regarding the organization of the annual GA. Following his request, the candidature of M&M Netherlands was received to hold the GA 2021 in the Netherlands, information to be confirmed end of 2019. M&M GrDLux's firm bid to hold the GA 2020 in Luxembourg was noted with satisfaction. The decision was taken to hold the GA 2020 in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Grundhof, 16th -18th October 2020.

Provisional program: Friday 16th of October: Arrival of the delegations and “check-in” at the hotel 1930 hrs : Icebreaker – Walking dinner

Saturday 17th of October : 0900 hrs : General Assembly at the hotel Cultural program for accompanying ladies 1200 hrs : Lunch at the hotel 1400 hrs : Common cultural or industrial visit 2000 hrs : Official dinner at the hotel

Sunday 18th of October : End of the meeting and departure of the delegations. Hotel : Hotel Brimer L-6360 GRUNDHOF Tel.: + 352 26 87 87 1 www.hotel-brimer.lu

For organizational reasons, bookings for the event must be received strictly and no later than May 2020.

21.3 General terminology The General President, in regard of the multiplicity of denominations concerning the Circle Mars and Mercury Europe, proposes the following denomination :

FRA : Mars & Mercure Europe GBR : Mars & Mercury Europe

Moreover, Bureau (FRA) will be named Executive Board (GBR).

22 - Final word of the General President

The General President closed the meeting at 19.30 hours. The agenda being completed, the General President expresses his satisfaction and thanks all the participants and the organizers.

Philippe Gielen General general

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Annexes :

Annex 1: Financial report as of 31/12/2018

Annex2 : Report of the Auditor

Annexe 3 : Financial report as of 7/10/2019

Annex 4 : Membership fees

Annex 5 : Budget 2020

Secrétariat : Philippe Gielen - Aardbruggenstraat 61, B-3570 Alken Tel +32 (0)11 31 35 99 GSM +32 (0) 472 07 37 23 Compte banque ING : IBAN : BE57 3100 2925 9835 – BIC : BBRUBEBB www.mars-mercurius.eu

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