The EBU Presidency has decided a number of changes in the structure
of the Union's Permanent Services. The changes, proposed by
Secretary General Jean Stock, include enlargement of the mandate of
the Technical Director and transformation of the Legal Department
into a Department of Legal and Public Affairs encompassing
Lobbying, Communications and the Strategic Information Service. |
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EBU President Arne
Wessberg explained in the following letter addressed to
the directors general on 30 January 2003:
I write to inform you personally of
decisions taken by the EBU Presidency, meeting in Geneva on 28
January, on the structure of the Union's Permanent Services.
As you are no doubt
aware, Jean Stock undertook - on his
appointment as Secretary General in 2001 - to propose a new
organigram once he had developed a strategic plan.
After the General Assembly unanimously
adopted his "GMT" plan in July 2002, Jean Stock began
developing a structure that would allow him to perform fully the
catalytic role expected of him by Members and foreseen by the
Statutes. A key element was to free himself of direct
responsibility for several supporting services.
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On 29 November 2002, the Presidency decided to examine the
Secretary General's proposals in-depth at its next meeting. The
Secretary General then developed his proposals further through
intensive consultations with the senior management of the Permanent
Services, and discussed the results at length with the Presidency
on 28 January.
At this recent meeting, the Presidency
adopted the Secretary General's proposals by taking the following
decisions in support of the Union's strategic plan:
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1. Reappointment of the Technical Director and the
broadening of his mandate
The contract of Philip Laven, Technical
Director, was renewed and extended to include
responsibilities for the IT Service (including IT aspects of
the Union's web activity) and the New Media Group (in consultation
with the Directors of Radio, Television and Operations).
2. Enlargement of the Legal
Department into a Department of Legal and Public Affairs to
encompass future perspectives (SIS) and follow-up of the legal
texts it produces (Lobbying and Communications)
As Director of the
Department, Werner Rumphorst will have two
deputies - Michael Wagner (for legal affairs)
and Jacques Briquemont (for Lobbying and
Communications, which will be merged).
Paolo Baldi, head of the SIS, will report directly
to Werner Rumphorst.
The role of EBU Spokesman will remain
attached to the Secretary General in the person
of David Lewis.
3. Julian Ekiert, Controller
of Finance & Administration, will be given the additional
responsibility of studying how the Union might diversify its income
through venture capital.
He will carry out this study as Chief
Financial Officer (CFO) reporting to the Secretary General.
After this reorganization,
only the functions of Governance/ Spokesman, Human Resources/
Training and Strategic Audit will report directly to the Secretary
General. These functions will be the responsibility respectively of
Jean Stock's three Assistant Secretaries General (ASGs)
David Lewis, Michel
Poncet and Giacomo
Mazzone.
The Secretary General is replaced in his
absence by one of the Directors.
The new organigram is effective from 1
February 2003 and will be submitted in its entirety to the
Administrative Council on 15-16 May 2003.
Finally, on conclusion of the discussion on
the restructuring, the Presidency thanked the Secretary General for
the quality of his work and expressed its hope that the Permanent
Services would continue to benefit from his dynamic
stewardship.
