The fifth Executive Board of the EBU took steps to reinforce the ‘strategic cohesion’ of the Union’s governance at its first meeting (25 February) for the 2015–2016 mandate.

Meeting in Brussels, the Board introduced a ‘pairing system’ to enhance communications with the EBU Committees/Assemblies. Six Board Members have been identified to  liaise with the chairs of the statutory EBU Committees/Assemblies and will give a verbal report to the Executive Board on current developments at least once a year following Assembly meetings.

The approved pairings are:

Cilla Benkö (SR)                                Radio Assembly / Committee

Petr Dvořák (Ceská Televize)          Sports Assembly / Committee

Petr Fedorov (RTR)                           News Assembly / Committee                      

Peter Salmon (BBC)                         TV Assembly / Committee

Anna-Maria Tarantola (RAI)              Legal & Public Affairs Assembly / Legal & Policy Committee

Alexander Wrabetz (ORF)                Technical Assembly / Committee

The Board, led by President Jean-Paul Philippot (RTBF) and Vice-President Anna-Maria Tarantola (RAI), was also briefed on the progress of preparations for a joint Strategy Seminar with the Chairman of the Committees and EBU Management, for the weekend of 25-26 April.

Advisory bodies

The composition of the Board’s two advisory bodies, the Audit Committee and Personnel Committee, composed exclusively of Board Members was also confirmed:  

Audit Committee

Anna-Maria Tarantola – Chairwoman (RAI) 

Petr Dvořák   (Ceská Televize)

Petr Fedorov (RTR)

Faiçal Laraïchi (SNRT)

Personnel Committee

Rémy Pflimlin – Chairman (France Télévisions)

Cilla Benkö (SR)

Andrzej Siezieniewski (PolskieRadio)

Ulrich Wilhelm (BR/ARD)

In other governance related matters, the Board took note that revisions to the mandate and composition of the Operations Council will be presented at its next meeting in April, which will enable the Council to more effectively focus on the commercial strategy and activities of the Union. The revisions as approved by the Board will then be submitted to the 2015 Summer General Assembly in June for final approval.

The Board also welcomed the introduction of a new information service which will be provided to Board Members by the EBU Governance Unit on a monthly basis. The communique will include highlights and presentations from EBU meetings, events or publications related to themes being followed by the Board.