STRUCTURE AND OPERATION

The Presidency is entrusted every year by rotation to all member associations. The President’s term of office can however be renewed once when current problems make it necessary.

The acting President and the three vice-presidents form the Presidium to which the General Assembly gives authority to take decisions.

General Assembly

The Ordinary General Assembly meets once a year in the country of the President who hands over the Presidency to the 1st vice-president.

An Extraordinary General Assembly can be convened when statutory matters make it necessary to have recourse to a formal vote. This happened three times since the foundation of CEMA (in 1961, 1967 and 1975).

Secretaries General and Presidium

The liaison with Industry members and the implementation of decisions are entrusted to the Secretaries General of member associations who meet twice a year and submit their recommendations to the Presidium.

Committees

Out of the three Committees formed at the beginning, the « Nomenclature and Statistics » Committee has ceased to work in 1973 after collaborating with ISO to the development of the nomenclature of this organization and issuing a multilingual « Illustrated Terminology ».

Two permanent Committees remain :

The Economic Committee and the Technical Committee , which are composed of experts from each association. They consider the working papers prepared by the different working-groups, collect data, determine the CEMA position and set up joint positions to be submitted to the General Assembly or, in urgent cases, to the Presidium.

These Committees meet when necessary, but at least once a year.

The term of office of the Committee Chairmen is of two years duration and can be renewed once. The Technical Committee is currently chaired by Mr A. Vermeulen (Belgium) and the Economic Committee by Mr P. Lezer (France).

Working-groups

At the request of the Committees, working-groups examine specific issues and meet as often as necessary.

Economic Experts

The Economic Experts of member associations constitute a permanent working-group, chaired by Mr C. Evans, British association. 

Technical Experts

The six technical working-groups, each chaired by a convenor, are composed of experts of member firms. These working-groups are the following :
  • WG1
    : OTA and adaptation to technical progress (tractors)
    > Convenor and Secretary : Mr G. Howling (UK)
    > 15 experts

  • WG2 : Braking (tractors and trailed equipment)
    > Convenor : Mr J. Frolli (France)
    > Secretary : Mr J.F. Goupillon (SYGMA)
    14 experts

  • WG3 : Safety and Highway Code (machines)
    > Convenor : Mr A. Vermeulen (Belgium)
    Secretary : Mr N. Alt (VDMA Landtechnik)
    12 experts

  • WG4 : Electronics (liaisons)
    Convenor : Mr B. Paquet (Belgium)
    Secretary : Mr J.F. Goupillon (SYGMA)
    9 experts

  • WG5 : Pollutants (engine emissions and bio-fuels)
    > Convenor : Mr B. Horstmann (Germany)
    > Secretary : Mr F. Diedrich (VDMA Landtechnik)
    8 experts

  • WG6 : Noise (tractors and machines)
    > Convenor : Mr J. Frolli (France)
    Secretary : Mr J.F. Goupillon (SYGMA)
    12 experts

These working-groups have been given a greater autonomy so that CEMA can submit its views to national and European authorities within the prescribed time-limit, since only two meeting sessions are scheduled during the CEMA year :

1. The General Assembly session (usually in June), which includes :

  • a meeting of the Secretaries General
  • a meeting of the Presidium
  • the meeting of the Economic Committee
  • the General Assembly proper.

This session is organized in the country of the Presidency.

2. The Autumn session (usually in October) including :
  • the meeting of the Technical Committee
  • a meeting of the Economic Experts
  • a meeting of the Secretaries General
  • a meeting of the Presidium
This session is organized in turn by one of the four major associations.

Moreover, the Economic Experts meet in the Spring (April) at the invitation of one of the member associations, but preferably in Brussels or in Paris.

When necessary, additional meetings are organized at the request of the Committee Chairmen, with the agreement of the CEMA President and through the Secretariat General.

In addition, special product-group meetings have been organized under the aegis of CEMA which interested manufacturers can attend in order to exchange their views on technical and economic problems. Several groups have met shortly after the foundation of CEMA : motorcultivators and motorhoes, livestock husbandry equipment, electric fencers. After a few years of inactivity, these meetings have been resumed. The group « seed drills and fertilisers » led by the German association, meets once or twice a year. A « ploughs » group, led by the French association, met once during SIMA the meetings have been discontinued. A group « plant protection equipment », also led by the German association, held its first meeting during SIMA 1999.

Secretariat General

The Secretariat of the Committee has been entrusted to the French association. The location is fixed by the General Assembly.

Since 1993 CEMA has a representation in Brussels to follow up work at the European Commission and make appointments for the visits of the CEMA delegation, led by the acting President, with some Directorates General of the Commission such as DG Enterprise, Agriculture, Enlargement, Environment and, if necessary, Competition.

In addition to these – usually annual - official visits of the CEMA Presidency, the Secretariat General is invited to meet other representatives of the European mechanical industries during meetings called « Mechanical Engineering Dialogue » which are organized by DG « Enterprise ». The purpose of these meetings is to report on harmonisation progress in the technical field, the enlargement of the EU to CEECs and the Baltic States, the competitivity of the European Industry, the WTO negotiations and different partnerships with North America and some Latin American countries.

Secretariat General : Mr J. DEHOLLAIN / Ms M.F. BOURY

19, rue Jacques Bingen Diamant Building
F - 75017 PARIS 80 Bld A. Reyers
Tel. : +33.1 - 42 12 85 90 B - 1030 BRUSSELS
Fax. : +33.1 - 40 54 95 60 Tel. : +32 497 67 00 50
E-mail : cema@sygma.org