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) Pagina 1 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. Pagina 2 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. Pagina 3 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.