Anna Maria Tarantola, President of RAI and newly elected Vice-President of EBU

Jean-Paul Philippot (RTBF, Belgium) was re-elected for a fourth consecutive term as president of the European Broadcasting Union during the 72nd General Assembly in Naples.  

In addition, Claudio Cappon, (RAI, Italy) who has served as EBU Vice-President since 2009, will hand over office in January 2015 to Anne Maria Tarantola, who has been President of RAI since 2012 and is a former director of the Bank of Italy.

Mr Philippot began his tenure as leader of the world's largest union of public broadcasters in 2009 and will serve for another two years.

"I am grateful for the renewed confidence demonstrated by our Members and I am proud to be able to continue my work with the Executive Board and Director General Ingrid Deltenre at this crucial time for public service broadcasting," said Mr Philippot. "It is more important than ever to defend and promote the EBU Values to ensure that public service media in our 56 Member countries continue to serve audiences with relevant, high-quality and distinctive content."

Ms Tarantola acknowledged the contribution of Mr Cappon, whose five years of service had coincided with a serious challenges for public service media.  

"In the difficult times we are experiencing, the role of PSM is more important than ever, but requires a strong capacity to innovate in the new technology sector,” she said. “I am really pleased for RAI and proud to have been elected by my EBU colleagues. I promise my full commitment to the success of our organization’s mission."