08 - 15 June 2001

1. OPENING OF THE CONGRESS:

Opening speeches, presented by:
1. Mr. Piotr Paschalis, President of UEF
2. Mr. Gheorghe Zaman, Presidential Counselor, presenting the message of the President of Romania, Mr. Ion Iliescu
3. Mr. Constantin Tamaga, Prefect of Arges County, presenting the message of the Romanian Prime-Minister Mr. Adrian Nastase
4. Mr. Filip Georgescu, Director General of the National Forest Administration
5. Mr. Viorel Ghelasa, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forests
6. Mr. Marian Stoicescu, President of Consilva Confederation

2. KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS

a) The contribution of Forests and Forestry in Rural Development, by Mr. Alexandros Christodoulou, UEF Secretary
b) Rural Development in Romania, message of the Secretary of State for Rural Development, presented by Dr. Marian Dragoi and Mr. Cioroianu, General Manager of Rural Development Department in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forests;
c) The Challenges of European Foresters in Turn of XXI Century, by Mr. Eduardo Rojas Briales

The discussion, comments and questions related to the presentations have addressed issues on the way in which Romania deals with different aspects related to forestry; on common forestry policy of EU; the role that UEF may play in the forestry policy; the way in which forestry can integrate with rural development policy; different methods for funding activities in forestry.
Τhe presentation of Messrs Al. Christodoulou and E.R. Briales are availables on the UEF Homepage.

3. ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON, THE SECRETARY AND ASS. SECRETARY OF THE CONGRESS

Mr. Roger Fitter has been elected as Chairman and Mrs Claudia Biris as Secretary and Mrs Marta Pop as Assistant Secretary of the Congress.
The Agenda was approved by the delegates.

4. PRESENTATION OF THE REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE UNION IN THE PERIOD 1988-2001.

The UEF President Mr.Piotr Paschalis presented the report on behalf of the Presidency. The report has covered the following main issues:

I. A brief review of the XIVth UEF Congress Resolution (Punkaharju Resolution)
1. Pan-European Forest Certification (PEFC)
2. Promoting the policy of sustainable forestry in Europe in co-operation with the EU.
3. The obligation of making necessary changes, amendments, and completions in the UEF Statutes
4. Co-operation between UEF Organizations, information flow, education, vocational matters such as employment, profession rank, group exchange

II. Governing Council and Presidency Meetings
The most important issues and topics covered in the past term during the Presidency and Governing Council Meetings are the following :
5. Presidency Meeting in Punkaharju, Finland ,11th of June 1998.
2. Presidency Meeting in Brussels-Gent (Belgium) 28-29 May 1999.
3. Governing Council Meeting in Nuremberg ( Germany) November 11-13. 1999.
6. Presidency Meeting ( Białowieża- Poland) January 23-26. 2000
7. Governing Council Meeting (Barcelona- Spain), 25-26 November 2000.
5. Presidency Meeting (Nice- France) 2-4 March 2001.

III. Contacts and co-operation with member organizations and other associations

IV. UEF involvement in Pan European Certification System, Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe and Intergovernmental Panel of Forestry.

V. Co-operation with EU Authorities and Working Groups, Councils, and other bodies – European Level

VI. Internal matters
a) Publications and documentation
b) Flow of information
c) Administration
Discussion upon the report: related to supporting both the certification systems – PEFC, and FSC; need for better flow of information related to the activity of the member organizations.
The report has been approved.
The report is available on our Homepage.

5. PRESENTATION OF THE PROPOSED NEW CONSTITUTION OF UEF, BY MR. KARLHEINZ STEPHAN, VICE-PRESIDENT OF UEF

Mr. Karlheinz Stepfan expressed his gratitude for the members that have been actively involved in the preparation of the new Constitution. He presented the reasons for upgrading the Constitution resulting from the experience and from the need for flexibility. The proposals received from the member organizations have been compiled and the first draft has been presented in Nuremberg and an improved version in Barcelona. The final version has been sent for final comments and it has been discussed paragraph by paragraph in the PM in Nice. The version presented during the Congress represents the official proposal of the Presidency.
Discussion, comments upon the proposed Constitution:
- If the change in the Presidency should follow a pattern between organizations, from one country to another so that all the countries to be represented.
- Another proposal was that the Presidency should be elected as a whole and then the members of the Presidency will designate the various posts i.e. President, Vice-Presidents etc.
- The need for more flexibility, a stipulation in the Constitution should state that the Statute can be changed during the Congresses, according to the realities of that time;
- The need to register the Constitution officially so that the juridical aspects be supervised;
- The delegation of Denmark proposed to change Article 5, point 3, so that the Presidency members would not have any votes. The proposal has been rejected by the majority of the delegates.
The proposed New Constitution was approved.
The New Constitution is available on the UEF Homepage.

6. FINANCIAL REPORT OF THE TREASURER, MR. NIELS CHRISTIANSEN

After presenting the figures on the previous years Mr. N. Christiansen emphasized that the expectations for this year are not so high as the former year, due to more expenses related to the
Congress. He discussed also the fee payment of the member organizations and stated that some of them haven´t yet paid.
One of the issues discussed was the financial support to some organizations, to attend the
Congress. Mr. Stoicescu said that CONSILVA contacted the Hungarian organization, and sent the invitation to the Congress, but unfortunately they didn´t get any reply.
More efforts have to be made by the Presidency to get in contact with the organizations from Lithuania, Ukraine, Byelorussia, Austria, Italy, Greece, and to reactivate them.
It is a good evident that Portugal, Ireland and Norway will join soon the UEF.
The financial report is also available on the UEF-Homepage.
Report of the auditors, by Peter Klink
The auditing was done by the auditors, Peter Klink and Andre Grochovski.
The Report has been approved unanimously.

7. ADMISSION OF NEW MEMBERS

Mr. Antony Stefanov President of the Union of Independent Bulgarian Professional Foresters presented the application of his organization to join UEF.
According to its Decision no. 9/23.05.2001, BULPROFOR presented its candidacy to UEF in order to be able to support and unify the efforts of the professional foresters from Bulgaria, to join the family of European Foresters and to develop their professional work. Mr. A. Stefanov emphasized that the Bulgarian organization is willing and committed to participate actively, according to its possibilities, in the UEF activity.
The Secretariat of UEF checked the Statute of BULPROFOR, which has been proved to be completely compatible with the conditions for membership.
The application has been approved unanimously and BULPROFOR became a new member of the UEF.

8. ACTION PLAN FOR THE NEXT PERIOD, BY HAKAN NYSTRAND, VICEPRESIDENT OF UEF

Mr. Hakan Nystrand thanked the member organizations which have made comments on different drafts of the Plan. He emphasized the need that the Plan has to be realistic and in accordance with the income of UEF. He presented also the proposal of the Presidency, that the Governing Council will prepare the action plan for one year in advance in detail.
The Action Plan will cover the following main topics:
• Contacts between member organizations: the importance of finding out what special knowledge the organizations have inside, and to use it more effectively than at present; Governing Council and Presidency Meetings should be brought out in the media immediately; the Home Page should be improved continuously; intensification of student exchange.
• Forest matters of the EU:
• Sustainable forest management in Europe
• Forest certification
• Forests and forestry in countries in transition
• Global forest matters

Discussion, comments and questions on the Action Plan:

Mr. Alex Christodoulou said that there have been in the past several discussions on the first issue
and that it is not only the task of the Presidency to promote these contacts; it should be also the task of the member organizations. He expressed the hope that there will be some very precise proposals related to the exchange of foresters. He emphasized that it is difficult for the Presidency to arrange these exchanges and this can be done only with the help of the member organizations.
Mr. Marian Stoicescu expressed his appreciation for the Action Plan. He also suggested that the contacts between the member organizations should be defined more precisely and that a program is needed in order to establish all the necessary links. The ideas in the program should result from the consultations with the member organizations and these consultations should have a precise deadline; afterwards the program can be elaborated based on different proposals in a few months.
Another proposal was related to the promotion of UEF image so that it can play its role as a strong organization, and facilitate the contacts with other international organizations, which would result in the expansion of the UEF with more members.
Mr. Herve Nemoz-Rajot expressed his belief that the main objective of UEF is to represent the European Foresters. He also stated the need to know more about the European programs for financing some precise activities, programs like the one for the PECO countries or the LEONARDO Program for student exchange. He suggested that UEF should coordinate such activities related to student exchange. Other aspects presented were related to the need to professionalize the contacts with UE, to develop the flow of information via Internet, publish articles about forestry, not only in specific reviews. Another proposal referred to the way the Presidency works and it was suggested that each member should be able to address and coordinate a specific activity.
Mr. Alex Christodoulou replied saying that the Presidency has tried to form special working groups on different tasks but it failed, maybe due to organizational matters but also because the member organizations did not express the interest to get involve in such activities. He also stated that it is, nevertheless, important to find ways and means to implement some of the French proposals.
Mr. David Ogg expressed the need to support all the existing certification systems, and in this
respect UEF should make efforts to join also FSC.
Mr. Hakan Nystrand stressed the need for basic knowledge about FSC in order to be able to take the decision to join FSC and that this can be done only after consulting the member organizations and after finding out which are their interests and opinions on this issue.
Mr. Kees Mol made a presentation of the activity of UEF in Brussels, on behalf of Mr. Peter Harland. Related to the precise results of the Brussels activity Mr. Mol said that the results are limited, due to the fact that a lot of changes are taken place in Brussels and that there were no results in the efforts made to get financial assistance. He also stated that the Brussels work is more than that and it is important to know what would happen if UEF would not be represented there.
12 JUNE, 2001

 

9. PRESENTATION OF ONE YEAR - WORKING PLAN FOR UEF BY HAKAN NYSTRAND

Several issues discussed after the presentation of the Working Plan were related to the way in which UEF can get help from the member organizations to fulfill the set objectives and tasks.
Mr. Herve Nemoz-Rajot noted that the Working Plan has been devised in terms and ideas that are too general, that it should include more precise terms, structured in a table with precise objectives, the names of the persons responsible, the means to achieve the objectives, the expected results, etc.. He also expressed the importance to publish the reports of all the meetings on the Internet in order to get the feedback, as soon as possible.
Mr. Marian Stoicescu made some proposals related to the six points included in the working plan:  the need to devise a Framework Protocol among the member organizations which they have to propose a series of precise actions, and to facilitate different exchanges. He also expressed the necessity for UEF to get actively involved in the PEFC activity, giving precise proposals, which should also referred to the need to protect the foresters during the certification process. Referring to point 5 of the Working Plan, Mr. Stoicescu stated that UEF should have a firm and strong position, related to the situation of the forest sector in the countries in transition, and the UEF initiatives should not be only limited to recommendations addressed to these countries. Mr. Veikko Jouhiainen emphasized the importance of a closer cooperation between UEF and the European Forest Owners Association.
Mr. Leif Lyngso expressed the need to have a contact person from each member organization for facilitating the flow of information, especially via the UEF web page.
The Working plan and the Action Plan have been approved.

10. RESOLUTION OF THE CONGRESS PRESENTED BY ALEXANDROS CHRISTODOULOU, SECRETARY OF UEF

After the presentation and discussion upon each paragraph the Resolution of the Congress has been approved with some slight changes only. After the presentation and discussion upon each paragraph the Resolution of the Congress has been approved with some slight changes only.

11. ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENCY MEMBERS 

The Chairman of the Congress Mr. Rojer Fitter checked the presence of the quorum and explained the procedure to be followed for the election of the Member of the Presidency, according to the Article 5.9 (By. Laws) of the Constitution.
Forty (40) delegates representing the Member Organizations from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark,
Finland, France, Great Britain, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the Member of the
Presidency (seven) were eligible for voting. The French Delegation has deposited with the Secretary and the Treasurer a written proxy from the Swiss Organisation “Societe Suisse des
Ingenieurs et Architects” FGF. Without the proper checking the proxy has been accepted to be
valid for three (3) votes. Therefore the total number of votes was fifty (50).

The results of the elections have as follows:
Positions/Candidacies Votes
A. President
• Hakan Nystrand: 22
• Piotr Paschalis: 28
B. Vice-Presidents:
• Niels Christiansen 34
• Michael Diemer 43
• Peter Harland 20
• Hakan Nystrand 45
• Marian Stoicescu 8
10
C. Secretary
• Alexandros Christodoulou 24
• Juan Luis Jara 25
D. Treasurer
• Andre Grochowski 49
E. Assisting Secretary
• Peter Harland 14
• Bjorn Karlsson 36
F. Auditors
Mr. Piotr Pascalis proposed Messrs Peter Klink and Marian Stoicescu for the post of auditors.
The proposal has been accepted unanimously.
12. NEXT UEF CONGRESS
Mr. Karlheinz Stephan expressed the wish of BDF Germany to organize the next UEF Congress.
The invitation was accepted.

13. MISCELLANEOUS

 
Mr. Piotr Paschalis expressed his special thanks to Karlheinz Stefan, Kees Mol, Alex Christodoulou and Peter Harland for their entire activity within UEF.

14. OFFICIAL CLOSING OF THE XV CONGRESS, BY PIOTR PASCHALIS, PRESIDENT OF UEF

13 JUNE, 2001

On the morning of the 13th of June, the Delegates of the Cyprus Organisations addressed to the Presidency a written protest against the elections, arguing that the proper order for voting was not followed, due to the reason that the proxy of the Swiss Organisation has been regarded to be valid for three (3) votes instead of one. They were of the opinion, if this was the case, that the elections should be repeated either for all or for some of the positions of the Presidency. The newly elected
Presidency discussed the protest, found it justified and called upon a Governing Council Meeting to solve the problem. The G.C.M. acceptedthe proposal of the Presidency to repeat only the election for the position of the Secretary.
Before the reelection the Treasurer stated that the proxy was not valid and could not be accepted, due to the fact that the Swiss Organisation has not paid the fees for the year 2001.
Alex Christodoulou elected as Secretary with twenty five (25) votes. The other candidate Mr.e Juan Luis Jara got twenty two (22) votes.