EEF Board video conference on 14.02.2023

Participants  
Theo Ploegmakers President & Chair
George Dimaras 1st Vice-President
Quentin Simonet 2nd Vice President 
Eleonora Ottaviani Board Member & Athletes Representative 
Nayla Stössel Board Member

Elisabeth Max-Theurer

Board Member
Soenke Lauterbach Board Member
Simone Perillo Board Member 

Alan Andabaka

Board Member
Carina Mayer Secretary General
Invited  
Hanfried Haring EEF Honorary President (excused)
Teodor Sheytanov Sport Development Manager
Alice Ward Communications Manager 
Ulf Bromster Sustainability Chair

For Discussion:

1.1 FEI Elections & Appointments

The Board takes note of the FEI positions currently open for election and appointment and highlights the vacancy of the Chair for the FEI Driving Committee and the two European representations on the FEI Nominations Committee. NS will investigate the correct application process for the European representatives in the FEI Nominations Committee and enquire about the FEI’s plans of staggered terms to avoid that almost all Nominations Committee members have to leave at the same time. European NFs shall be encouraged to apply for vacant FEI positions.

1.2 EEF organization

The President summarizes the outcome of a recent meeting between the President and the two Vice-Presidents regarding the long-term future of the EEF as well as planned changes to the EEF organization which aim to facilitate this objective. There is the desire to further strengthen the EEF to the benefit of all members and intensify the relationship between the EEF and its members. The President will give a detailed presentation on this subject at the next in-person EEF Board meeting.

1.3 Procedure for EEF input to FEI rule change deadline 01 March 2023

The Chairs of EEF discipline working groups are tasked to provide their input regarding FEI rule change proposals to CM by Monday, February 20th , for a review by the EEF Board and subsequent dissemination among the EEF members ahead of the FEI submission deadline of March 1st.

SMT provides an update on the current discussions in the EEF Dressage working group and summarizes the four items that the group wishes to submit in the context of the FEI rule changing process (qualifications, collective marks, rounding of results, JSP length of terms). SMT also informs the Board about the status-quo of discussions between the different stakeholder clubs regarding the desire to increase the per diems for Dressage officials.

For Decision:

2.1 Reining request from AUT NF

The Board took note of the initiative taken by the World Reining Committee to keep Reining activities in Europe going after the discipline dropped out of the FEI. The EEF welcomes the initiative of the Committee and several European NFs in this regard but agrees not to become involved in this matter for the time being. The EEF Board will closely monitor the European Reining activities over the coming year and will review the EEF’s position in this matter accordingly.

For Information:

3.1  Update 2023 Longines EEF Series

GD informs the Board about the status-quo of signed host agreements and the next steps in reviewing the draft schedules in cooperation with the OCs. All NFs have also been contacted regarding their intentions to send teams to the events outside their qualification region so that the wildcard procedure can be coordinated with the OCs and the FEI.

3.2  Update Communication Working Group (January media coverage report)

NS provides the media coverage report of January 2023 and informs the Board that the Longines EEF Series (LES) is now also active on Instagram. It is agreed that a document shall be provided to the Board which summarizes all EEF accounts on the various social media platforms so that these can also be actively used by the Board members and staff. A Zoom meeting has been set up with EEF NFs and LES OCs with the objective to increase the dialogue between EEF – NFs - OCs regarding communication of the LES.

3.3  Update EU Project (EYLE)

CM provides an update of the EEF activities for the EYLE project. The regular Zoom meeting with project partners has been held last week with a focus on coaching and budgeting of the EU funds. In April a seminar will be organized by the NED NF as a knowledge partner to train two NF trainers each of BUL, HUN and NOR so that they can train the EYLE trainers back home in their respective countries. With regards to the e-learning system all content for Level 1 (out of 4 levels) has already been uploaded into the system. In a next step the Steering Group will be asked to approve the logo for the EYLE project after which a press release will be sent out.

AOB

4.1 FEI Nations Cup Division 1 Meeting in March

The Board discusses the FEI proposal for the future of the NC as recently communicated to the involved NFs. The various NF representatives on the EEF Board share their differing positions and raise some concerns regarding the proposal. One NF would like to see a minimum number of weeks to be mandatory in between the 2 “O”-events held in a country. It is questioned whether the new proposal will be a game changer as the current issues regarding date clashes / calendar management still remain. There is the wish to receive more elements of information to form the full picture before being able to give a “carte blanche” of trust to the FEI. In the current proposal there is still no veto right for NFs. The Board agrees that the EEF will not be actively involved in the conversations between the NFs and the FEI on this matter but wishes to be kept informed about the individual positions of the various NFs.

4.2 EU-CH Jumping Milano 2023

The President asks the Board whether there is the intention of the EEF to be involved in the EU-CH Jumping in Milano in September with regards to the collection of knowledge and experience in the consideration process of taking over the EU-CH from the FEI. The Board states that the purchase of a VIP table is not desired but that knowledge collection would be beneficial.

4.3 IOC proposal regarding participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes

The President informs the Board that the recent discussions on this subject in the FEI Board where of an informative nature and no official decision was taken by the FEI at that point. There will soon be a meeting between the IOC and FEI on this matter. Over the recent weeks around 35 nations have announced that they would consider a boycott of the 2024 Olympic Games if Russian and Belarusian athletes would be allowed to compete on the international stage as long as the Russian war against Ukraine is ongoing.

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