The FTA Europe formally established as European umbrella for Flexo.

The flexo technical associations of the France, Italy, the UK, Spain and the Benelux countries have formally established FTA-Europe as their common European umbrella organisation. On 5 February, 2015, the inaugural General Assembly of the new organisation took place in Brussels at the offices of Intergraf, the European printing industry federation, where FTA Europe will have its registered address.

The new umbrella organisation will have three major objectives:

  1. Encourage technical standardisation and the dissemination of standards of practice across European borders;
  2. Develop a European curriculum and certificate for professionals operating in the European flexo industry;
  3. Supporting its member associations through joint European advocacy as well as collaboration in promotional activities (awards) and the development of a technical knowledge resource.

At the General Assembly, the founding members also elected their first Board. Sante Conselvan (President of ATIF) was elected as the President; Wim Buyle (Board member of EFTA Benelux) will act as Vice President, and Debbie Waldron-Hoines (Director of EFIA) as FTA Europe’s Treasurer will take care of the association’s finance. Jules Lejeune (Lejeune Association Management, Netherlands) was appointed as Director of the newly established organisation, while Béatrice Klose (Director of Intergraf) will act as the association’s Secretary-General.

Upon signing the documents, President Sante Conselvan commented that “the establishment of FTA Europe is an important step forward for the European flexo community. There are formal or informal platforms for the advancement of flexo in at least 10 countries across Europe, with a total membership that will not be far off from the numbers of our parent organisation FTA in North America. Each of the national organisations is doing excellent work in their own country or language region, but so far a common European platform was lacking. With FTA Europe, we are aiming to tackle common European issues that each of us cannot achieve on his own. By establishing our office in Brussels with Intergraf, we will benefit from their existing European connections, and with the engagement of Lejeune in our management, we will have an important liaison with several packaging organisations related to flexo.”