On 5 December 2014 ECCT members voted in new boards of directors and supervisors for 2015 at their 2014 Annual General Meeting (AGM). The boards will serve a one-year term. Bernd Barkey, Managing Director of Robert Bosch Taiwan, will serve as Chairman of the ECCT's board of directors in 2015. Barkey was elected by the new board of directors at their first meeting following the AGM. At the AGM outgoing (2013-2014) ECCT Chairman Giuseppe Izzo gave a report to members summarizing the main activities and achievements made over the past year. Besides the chairman's report, ECCT Vice Chairman Godwin Chang gave a summary of the chamber's financials while remarks were also made by ECCT Executive Supervisor Martin Lindstrom and Head of the European Economic and Trade Office, Frederic Laplanche.

In his annual report to members at today's AGM, the outgoing chairman reported that 2014 was a very successful year for the chamber. He noted that the ECCT was extremely active in 2014, holding over 180 activities including events, meetings and government visits, with attendance of around 4,500 members and guests. A number of high profile activities included the Europe Day dinner, conferences and seminars. There were also a number of other Premium Events which attracted high profile guest speakers from Taiwan and Europe.

Izzo noted that the chamber regularly engaged with the Executive Yuan throughout the year, helping to further promote members' business interests. Membership rose to over 820 individual members and the quality and participation at events remained very high. In terms of advocacy, the chamber saw a similar high level of progress compared to 2013. Of the issues raised in the 2013 Position Papers, over 24% of issues were either successfully resolved or saw progress towards resolution.

The chamber continued to increase the level of activities beyond Taipei. For example, the ECCT's Low Carbon Initiative was exceptionally active again this year, participating in events all across Taiwan. The LCI now has a well-established reputation and excellent relations with a number of government ministries, academic and other prominent institutions such as the Chunghwa Institution of Economic Research and ITRI. Besides organising its own events, the LCI is now regularly invited to participate as co-organiser of large-scale events arranged by various agencies. This included the EU-Taiwan Mobility Solutions conference (held on 19 September), hosted by the ECCT and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MoTC), which featured three sessions on various aspects of mobility. The event gave the ECCT access to the MoTC minister and two deputy ministers. Given its success and the recognition of the value of the conference as a forum to exchange ideas and information on mobility solutions, the MoTC has expressed its wish to hold similar conferences in conjunction with the ECCT annually in future. In March, the LCI teamed up with SEMI, to host a forum on the subject of green energy storage and smart grid development in Hsinchu and in June the ECCT participated in the "International Conference on Climate Change Adaptation and Carbon Asset Management" as a co-organiser together with the Kaohsiung City Government (KCG). In Taichung, the ECCT's Central Taiwan committee was active in hosting regular monthly happy hour events.

Besides its relations with the Taiwan government, the ECCT has maintained excellent relations and frequently consults with representatives from the European Economic and Trade Office (EETO) and trade offices of individual EU member states in Taiwan. An ECCT delegation will travel to Brussels, Belgium for its annual Open Door Mission meetings with the European Commission members of parliament, European trade and industry groups as well as think tanks from 15-17 December.

In 2014, the ECCT continued to maintain regular contact with the regional European Business Organization's (EBO) World Wide Network. The ECCT continued to maintain regular contact with the regional European Business Organization's (EBO) World Wide Network. CEO Freddie Hoeglund attended two series of EBO meetings in 2014 and he was re-elected to serve another one-year term as Vice Chairman of the EBO. In addition, in April, an ECCT delegation visited its counterpart in Jakarta Indonesia.

2014 was a successful first year of the four-year EU-Taiwan Business and Regulatory Cooperation (EBRC) Programme funded and coordinated by the European Union and run by the ECCT. Besides the EBRC, the ECCT has been awarded a contract for the second phase of the GNSS.asia project, promoting the EU's Galileo satellite programme. The project will start from January 2015 and run for two years.

Izzo concluded that 2014 was a good year for the ECCT. The chamber finished the year with a strong membership and a stable financial base and continues to be the leading organization representing European businesses interests in Taiwan and is seen by the Taiwan government, the European Commission and business as one of the most influential foreign business organizations.

2015 Board of Directors

Chairman
Bernd Barkey, Managing Director, Robert Bosch Taiwan

Other directors (in alphabetical order)
Helmut Bolt, Chief Representative, ThyssenKrupp AG Representative Office Taiwan
Derrick Chan, Deputy Chairman/Managing Director,     Swire Group Taiwan / Taikoo Motors, Taiwan Branch
Godwin Chang, Chief Country Officer, Société Générale Taipei Branch
H Henry Chang, Principal, Baker & McKenzie
Erdal Elver, President & CEO, Siemens Limited Taiwan
Eng Leong Goh, Managing Director, BASF Taiwan
Uwe Halstenbach, General Manager, TÜV Rheinland Taiwan
Giuseppe Izzo, General Manager, STMicroelectronics
Gabriela Koehli, President & Chief Financial Officer, Bayer Taiwan
Daver Lau, General Manager, AMADEUS Taiwan
Eckart Mayer, President & CEO, Mercedes-Benz Taiwan
Rufus Parkinson, Managing Director, Moët Hennessy Taiwan
Olivier Rousselet, Country Manager, BNP Paribas Taiwan
Francine Wu, CEO, Schroder Investment Management (Taiwan)

Alternate Directors (in order of election)
1st Peter Trampe, Country Manager, ISS Facility Services Taiwan
2nd Rene Jensen, VP & GM, GlaxoSmithKline Far East B.V. Taiwan Branch
3rd Bart Linssen, Service Manager, Solvent GmbH Taiwan Branch
4th Brandon Hsu, Country Manager, Taiwan, Regus

2015 Board of Supervisors (in alphabetical order)

Peter Huizing, General Manager, Heineken Brouwerijen BV Taiwan Branch
Mike Jewell, Senior Research Director, TNS Taiwan
Nathan Kaiser, Attorney at Law, Eiger
Martin Lindström, Group Director, DFI Home Furnishings Taiwan Limited - IKEA Taiwan
David Raymond, Managing Director, CHANEL, Taiwan

Alternate Supervisor
Thomas Kuiper, Chief Operating Officer, Gandi Asia