INSOL Europe Council Appointments Process

INSOL Europe is governed by its Constitution. Its affairs are managed by the Executive Committee with the support of the Council, which is elected by its members. The Executive Committee, which includes the Officers and the Chief Executive Officer, represents the Council and is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Association.

Composition of Council
The INSOL Europe Council is made up of three sections:

• Reserved Seats – Each country with 30 or more Members is entitled to a Reserved Seat. The Council Member on a Reserved Seat is elected by the Members in that specific country. Tenure for these seats is 3 years with the option to continue for a further 3 years (should they be re-elected).
• General (Non-Reserved) Seats – There can be a maximum of 6 Council Members in Non-Reserved Seats in total at one time. Two of the seats must be represented by smaller countries that have 20-30 members. The tenure of this is 3 years with the option to continue for a further 3 years (except for the smaller countries).
• Co-opted Directors – There can be a maximum of 8 Co-opted Directors and tenure is 1 year. The co-opted directors are appointed by Council and not by election. Therefore, co-opted directors are not eligible to vote in Council decisions, but are on Council for their experience in particular matters.

Elections Process

• Each year, seats become vacant at the OGM in October when Council members reach the end of their 3-year tenure. 
• In June of that year, nominations are requested to replace the outgoing Council members, and to invite nominations for any new countries which have reached the 30 member threshold.
• If there is more than one nomination for a vacant seat, members from the relevant country are invited to cast a vote and the candidate with the highest number of votes by 10 September will win the seat.
• Full details of the vacant seats and candidates will be published here throughout the process.

Following this process, it is possible for a member to make their way onto Council, the Exec and then the President.

Full details of the Role of Council and Council Members can be downloaded here.

If you have any questions regarding the process, please contact CEO Paul Newson.

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This is the time of year when we consider retirements from and elections to our Council. Changes take place at the OGM during the Annual Congress, which this year will be in Vilamoura, Thursday 15 October. Details of the OGM will be sent out later in the year.

Reserved Seat Vacancies - Click the highlighted Country to download the relevant Nomination Form
Countries with 30 or more members are entitled to a reserved seat on Council. In October this year, vacancies will arise for the following seats:

• Florian Bruder (Germany) will have completed his second 3-year term of office and will therefore retire from Council, creating a vacancy for Germany.
• Patrizia Riva (Italy), Simeon Gilchrist (UK) and David Sequeira Dinis (Portugal) will have completed their first 3-year term of office and may stand again for election against other nominations if they wish.

Members from the above countries will receive an email requesting nominations for candidates from their own country. Only members from the individual countries can be nominated for that country's seat, and then voting will take place for each seat from members of that country only. If there is only one nomination for a country, that person will automatically win the seat. If there are no nominations for a reserved seat, the seat will remain vacant and may be filled the following year.

General Seat Vacancy - Click to download Nomination Form
In October there will be a general seat vacancy on Council, as Incoronata Cruciano (Germany) will have completed her first 3-year term of office and has chosen to stand for the reserved seat for Germany instead. The seat is open to any member from any country, and voting will be open to all members. All members will be sent the appropriate form to make their nominations. If there are no nominations for a general seat, the seat will remain vacant and may be filled the following year.

For further information on the role of the Council, please see attached. 

Please note: All nomination forms must be completed and signed by members wishing to stand for election and must then be proposed and seconded by two current INSOL Europe members. All candidates, proposers and seconders must be fully paid up members of INSOL Europe. All nominations must be accompanied by a photograph and CV/resume, as well as a personal statement about their suitability for the role. The CVs of all nominees will then be circulated to the relevant membership with an invitation to cast their vote.

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Now that the closing date of 21 July for receipt of nominations has passed, we can confirm the following situation:

Reserved Seats

• Austria - Lukas Grill was the only nomination, so automatically wins the seat from October.
• Denmark - Preben Jakobsen was the only nomination, so automatically wins the seat from October.
• Netherlands - Noor Zetteler was the only nomination, so automatically wins the seat from October.
• Poland - Bartosz Groele won the seat from October.
• Romania - Paul-Dieter Cirlanaru was uncontested so will retain his seat for a second term.
• Switzerland - Lukas Bopp was the only nomination, so automatically wins the seat from October.

General (Non-Reserved) Seats

• Laurent le Pajolec (Poland) and Angelina Bakker (Netherlands) won the two seats from October.

Special General (Non-Reserved) Seats (for countries with 20-30 members)

• Andri Antoniou (Cyprus) and Pekka Keloneva (Finland) won the two seats from October.

CVs for all the candidates are linked to their names for information.
Details about the role of Council Members can be found here.

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Now that the closing date of 21 July for receipt of nominations has passed, we can confirm the following situation:

Reserved Seat Vacancies

• Belgium: Bart de Moor will come to the end of his first term in October and has decided to stand for a second term. As he was the only nominee for this seat, he will automatically be re-elected to Council with effect from October 2024.
• Ireland: Damien Murran will come to the end of his first term in October and has decided to stand for a second term. As he was the only nominee for this seat, he will automatically be re-elected to Council with effect from October 2024.
• France: Christophe Thevenot was the only nominee for this seat, so he will automatically be elected to Council with effect from October 2024.
• Spain: Fedra Valencia Garcia won the seat and will join Council from October.
• Luxembourg: Christel Dumont won the seat and will join the Council from October.

General (Non-Reserved) Seat Vacancies

• Ian Benjamin (UK) won the seat and will join the Council from October.

CVs for all the candidates are linked for information.
Details about the role of Council Members can be found here.

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Now that the closing date of 21 July for receipt of nominations has passed, we can confirm the following situation:

RESERVED SEAT VACANCIES

• Germany: Florian Bruder will come to the end of his first term in October and has decided to stand for a second term. As he was the only nominee for this seat, he will automatically be re-elected to Council with effect from 12 October 2023.
• Portugal: David Sequeria Dinis was the only nominee for this seat, so he will automatically be elected to Council with effect from 12 October 2023.
• Italy: Patrizia Riva was the only nominee for this seat, and will therefore automatically be elected to Council with effect from 12 October 2023.
• UK: Simeon Gilchrist won the seat and will join the Council from October.

NON-RESERVED (GENERAL) SEAT VACANCIES

• Incoronato Cruciano (Italian but living and working in Germany) won the General seat and will join the Council from October.

CVs for all the candidates are linked for information.
Details about the role of Council Members can be found here.

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Now that the process for election onto INSOL Europe’s Council has ended, we can confirm the following updates:

NON-RESERVED (GENERAL) SEATS

• Frank Heemann and Jan Lilius, both of whom represent the two seats reserved for countries with fewer than 30 members (as per our Constitution), were re-elected for a second term. 
• José Carles and Noor Zetteler were elected to Council for their first term.

RESERVED SEATS

• Pawel Kuglarz won the new seat for Poland (now with 30+ members).
• Paul-Dieter Cirlanu was uncontested and automatically wins the seat for Romania, replacing Vasile Godinca.
• Matthias Prior, Michala Roepstorff and Sabina Schellenberg were uncontested and remain on Council for a second term.
• Evert Verwey chose to stand for the reserved seat for the Netherlands instead of remaining in a non-reserved seat, and was uncontested.

CVs for all the candidates are linked for information.
Details about the role of Council Members can be found here.

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This is the time of year when we consider retirements from and elections to our Council.
Now that the closing date of 21 July for receipt of nominations for the vacancies on INSOL Europe’s Council has passed, we can confirm the following situation:
 
RESERVED SEAT CANDIDATES

• BELGIUM: Bart de Moor. As no other nominations were received, Mr de Moor will automatically be elected to his first 3-year term of office with effect from 7 October 2021.
• FRANCE: Jean Baron. As no other nominations were received, Mr Baron will automatically be elected to his second 3-year term of office with effect from 7 October 2021.
• IRELAND: Damien Murran. As no other nominations were received, Mr Murran will automatically be elected to his first 3-year term of office with effect from 7 October 2021.
• SPAIN: Adrian Thery. As no other nominations were received, Mr Thery will automatically be elected to his second 3-year term of office with effect from 7 October 2021.

NON-RESERVED SEAT CANDIDATE
As no further nominations have been received, Laurent Le Pajolec will automatically be elected to his second 3-year term of office with effect from 7 October 2021.

On behalf of the Executive and Council of INSOL Europe, we offer our congratulations to all candidates and look forward to working with them over the coming years. 

To find out about the role of Council Members, please read the attached document.

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Executive Officers
At the close of the OGM on 2 October 2020, Marcel Groenewegen (Neths) became Presdient, replacing Piya Mukherjee (Denmark) who becomes Immediate Past President. Frank Tschentscher (Germany) became Deputy President and Barry Cahir (Ireland) was appointed as Vice President. Eammon Richardson (Ireland) replaced Chris Laughton as Treasurer. Caroline Taylor (UK) stepped down as Director of Administration and became Event Strategy Director on a part-time basis.  

A full list of all the changes and new appointments are shown here. 

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This is the time of year when we consider retirements from and elections to our Council. Countries with 30 or more members are entitled to a reserved seat on Council and in October this year, vacancies have arisen for the following seats: Germany, Italy, UK and Portugal. Therefore, members from these countries will have received an email requesting nominations for candidates from their country, and now the opportunity to vote for their chosen candidate. 

RESERVED SEAT VACANCIES

• GERMANY: As three nominations have been received, a vote will therefore take place and members from Germany will be invited to vote by email. Only fully paid-up members from Germany are eligible to vote. The successful candidate will be the one receiving the highest number of votes by 10 September 2020.
• ITALY: Giorgio Corno. As no other nominations were received, Mr Corno will automatically be elected to his second 3-year term of office with effect from 2 October 2020.
• UNITED KINGDOM: Frances Coulson. As no other nominations were received, Ms Coulson will automatically be elected to her second 3-year term of office with effect from 2 October 2020.  
• PORTUGAL: As two nominations have been received, a vote will therefore take place and members from Portugal will be invited to voteby email. Only fully paid-up members from Portugal are eligible to vote. The successful candidate will be the one receiving the highest number of votes by 10 September 2020.

NON-RESERVED SEAT VACANCY

• As no further nominations have been received, Rita Gismondi will automatically be elected to her second 3-year term of office with effect from 2 October 2020.  

If you have not yet received email notification of the election process, please contact Membership Manager Hannah Denney.

To find out about the role of Council Members, please read the attached document.

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Executive Officers
At the close of the Copenhagen Congress in September, Alastair Beveridge (UK) became Immediate Past President and was replaced by Deputy President Piya Mukherjee (Denmark) as the new President. Vice President Marcel Groenewegen (Neths) became the new Deputy President and Frank Tschentscher (Germany) was duly appointed by Council as the new incoming Vice President. Chris Laughton (UK) agreed to remain on as Treasurer for one further year. Furthermore, Caroline Taylor (UK) Director of Administration announced her plans to remain in office for one further year with a view to continuing her assistance on the Secretariat on a part-time basis after that time.   

Council
Following the 2019 Council Election process, the following situation arose:

RESERVED SEATS

• Austria: Susanne Fruhstorfer preferred not to stand again for a 2nd 3-year term of office and was succeeded by Matthias Prior.
• Denmark: This is a new seat as Denmark now has over 30 members (the qualifying number for a reserved seat on Council). Michala Roepstorff was successful in the voting process and began her first 3-year term of office.
• Ireland: Barry Cahir retained his seat for a 2nd term office.
• Netherlands: Alice van der Schee (previously in a non-reserved seat) began her second 3-year term of office.
• Romania: Simona Milos preferred not to stand for a 2nd  3-year term and was  succeeded by  Vasile Godinca.
• Sweden: As numbers had dropped below 30, the reserved seat on Council was lost  
• Switzerland: Thomas Bauer retired after his 2nd 3-year term and was succeeded by Sabina Schellenberg who began her first 3-year term of office. 

NON RESERVED SEATS
David Rubin completed his 2nd 3-year term of office and Alice van der Schee had moved into the reserved seat for the Netherlands. The successors of those 2 seats were Evert Verwey (Neths) and Georges-Louis Harang (France). This year 2 new non reserved seats for countries not currently represented on Council were made available and duly taken by Jan Lilius (Finland) and Frank Heemann (Lithuania).  

Co-opted Seats:  
The following have been co-opted to Council:

• Radu Lotrean (in his capacity as EECC co-chair and for his work on the High Level Courses).
• Alberto Nunez Lagos (in his capacity as co-chair of the Turnaround Wing and co-chair of the Development Committee). 
• Steffen Koch (in his capacity as co-chair of the Turnaround Wing and the new Board member for INSOL International liaison).
• Tomas Richter (in his capacity as chair of the Academic Forum, succeeding Michael Veder).
• David Rubin (in his capacity as co-chair of the Sponsorship Committee).

Retirements:
Therefore, in view of the above, we say goodbye and thank you to the following people who now retire from Council:

• Hans Renman (Sweden)
• Susanne Fruhstorfer (Austria)
• Simona Milos (Romania)
• Thomas Bauer (Switzerland)
• Michael Veder (Netherlands)
• Catherine Ottaway (France) 
• Robert van Galen (Netherlands)

Honorary Members:
From time to time, the Council of INSOL Europe are entitled to confer honorary membership on any person who, in their opinion, has given outstanding meritorious service to the insolvency profession or who has performed outstanding work on behalf of the Association. This year honorary membership was awarded to Michael Veder who had been chair of the Academic Forum since 2016 and also Steffen Koch in his capacity as past President and co-chair of both the Turnaround Wing and Strategic Task Force 2025. Steffen also became the newly appointed INSOL Europe representative on the Board of INSOL International.  

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Executive Officers: At the close of the Athens Congress this month, Radu Lotrean (Romania)  stepped down as President to become Immediate Past President, Alastair Beveridge (UK) became the new President, Piya Mukherjee (Denmark)  became the new Deputy President and Marcel Groenewegen (Netherlands)  was elected by Council as incoming Vice President.

Chris Laughton (UK) remains as Treasurer and Caroline Taylor (UK) as Director of Administration.
 
Council: There were also several changes to the structure of Council. As a reminder, countries with 30 or more members are entitled to a reserved seat on Council and the following situation arose this year:

• A vacancy became available for Spain and France’s reserved seats as Vicente Estrade and Marc Senechal retired from Council.   
• Frank Tschentscher came to the end of his first 3 year term of office holding the reserved seat for Germany and agreed to stand for re-election against other nominations.
• Poland lost their reserved seat on Council as membership numbers fell below 30. 

Therefore, nominations from members in Spain, France and Germany were invited for candidates from their own country. Following the nomination and election process, Adrian Thery was duly elected to the reserved seat for Spain for his first 3 year term of office, Jean Baron to the reserved seat for France for his first 3 year term of office and Frank Tschentscher to the reserved seat for Germany for his second 3 year term of office.

One non-reserved seat vacancy on Council also became available (which may be occupied by any country) as Piya Mukherjee (Denmark) had been appointed as Vice President in the previous year.   2 nominations were received and following the election process, the successful candidate was Laurent Le Pajolec (representing Poland).    
 
Each year, Council may co-opt or re co-opt  a maximum of 8 members to Council and this year the following members were appointed: Michael Veder (Netherlands), as chair of the Academic Forum, Catherine Ottaway (France), as  representative of INSOL International and Constitution specialist, Wolf Waschkuhn (UK), as co-chair of  STF 2025, Steffen Koch (Germany)  as co-chair of the Turnaround Wing and co-chair of STF 2025, Evert Verwey (Netherlands), as co-chair of EECC, Robert van Galen (Netherlands), as EU co-chair and Brexit matters, Alberto Nunez-Lagos as co-chair of the Turnaround Wing  and our newcomer Georges-Louis Harang (France),  as co-chair of the Young Members Group. 
 
Honorary Membership for outstanding meritorious service on behalf of the Association was awarded to Heinz Vallender (Germany), chair of the Judicial Wing, who steps down after 13 years of service and also Alberto Nunez-Lagos (Spain), Past President and co-chair of the Turnaround Wing.
 
Secretariat: Wendy Cooper retired from the Secretariat and was duly thanked for her 11 years of service. Wendy will be missed by all colleagues and members who knew her during her time as INSOL Europe’s Membership and Conference Registrations Co-ordinator and we wish her well for the future. Going forward, recently appointed Event Manager, Harriet Taylor, will take charge of Conference Registrations and Hannah Denney will take charge of Membership, to become Sponsorship & Membership Manager

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