EEF Board video conference on 19.06.2023

For Discussion:

1.1 Allocations of EU-CH at FEI Board meeting in June 2023

TP and GD inform the Board about their frustration regarding the FEI’s procedure of allocating EU-CH at the recent FEI Board meeting. The FEI discipline committees and the EEF had put forward different recommendations and the FEI Board then voted in favor of the FEI technical committee recommendations. The EEF was not provided with all information related to the bids which is not in line with the MOU between the EEF and FEI regarding the consultation process between the two parties. A letter has been sent to the FEI accordingly to express the discontent of the EEF.

1.2 EEF Sustainability Strategy

UB reports about the recent activities related to sustainability, among them the first EEF sustainability webinar which received very positive feedback. It is agreed that a meeting shall be scheduled by UB with White Griffin to finalize the EEF sustainability strategy by clarifying the details of the three proposed phases (remove contradictions between phase 2 and phase 3) and negotiating a lower quotation than the one that is currently proposed by White Griffin.

The Nordic countries have expressed their dissatisfaction regarding the slow process in addressing the recommendations of the FEI Equine Ethics & Wellbeing Commission which are all public now and UB is tasked to coordinate the roll-out in Europe which shall be realized as soon as possible to avoid further delay in addressing the issue of the social license to operate in Europe.

1.3 EEF GA 2023

The Board is presented with the draft agenda, list of applications received for the elections and the draft budget for the year 2023/2024. The final budget will be presented to the Board for approval in July. It is agreed that no electronic voting (but voting by hand) will be applied at the 2023 EEF GA because there will be no contested elections.

CM is tasked to check whether the appointment of Quentin Simonet as EEF 2^nd Vice-President would have to be formally renewed by the President if QS is re-elected as an EEF Board member or whether his mandate as 2^nd Vice-President will simply continue if he is re-elected.

For Information:

2.1 Update 2023 Longines EEF Series

GD provides an update on the status quo of the series which is all going well. He will report back to the Board regarding the host agreement of Mannheim in the next Board meeting. A meeting will be held with the sponsor KEP on June 21^st to have a possibility to receive feedback from KEP after all the qualifiers were held and the semi-finals and the final are still upcoming.

The EEF Communication working group has been in contact with the Jumping Owners Club (JOC) to realize a “LES Horse of the Year Award” in the context of the 2023 LES Final in Warsaw. The details are to be finalized and the Board will be kept informed.

2.2 Status quo re EU-CH takeover plans

Following the report provided by Will Connell and the subsequent in-person EEF Board meeting in Lausanne, a business plan is currently being prepared for the potential takeover of EU-CH from the FEI.

2.3 EU-CH U25 Jumping & Eventing

As discussed in a previous Board meeting, further consultation with the EEF member NFs is necessary in order to come to a final EEF position in this matter. An online round table shall be organized to discuss with NFs the pros and cons of adding EU-CH for the U25 age category in Jumping and Eventing. The EEF Secretary Generals meeting could be one possibility to host such round table discussion.

2.4 Update EU Project (EYLE)

CM presents the project proposal for an in-person EEF Young Leaders seminar to be held in the context of the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. The detailed proposal will be presented to the EYLE partner countries in the next online meeting in early July to discuss and agree on the details. An application for FEI Solidarity funding will be submitted by TS. The project will also be presented to the 2023 EEF General Assembly.

TP comments that in the draft PowerPoint presentation the term of “non-EU members” shall be replaced with “non-EEF members”.

AOB

3.1 Complaint of grooms regarding EHV measures

QS reports that apparently there are grooms complaining about the FEI’s measures related to the EHV prevention which also includes temperature taking of horses upon arrival at an FEI event. Several grooms were kicked by horses in this context.

3.2 FEI rule changes

CM is tasked to inform the Chairs of EEF Working Groups about the upcoming release of proposed rule changes by the FEI and the timeline for the EEF working groups to provide feedback for the EEF Secretary Generals Meeting and EEF Board before formal EEF positions will be submitted to the FEI.

3.3 Jumping opportunities for teams in 2024

TP and GD raise their concerns regarding the impact that the introduction of the Longines League of Nations will have on the overall structure of Jumping team competitions and the lack of starting possibilities for teams as of next year if they don’t belong to the top 10 teams in Jumping. It is also stated that for the future the voice of the NFs and their Chef d’Equipes must be better aligned because in the FEI’s process related to the LLN decision making the discrepancies between these two groups weakened the negotiation positions of the NFs and the EEF representatives.

3.4 Development of national officials

GD informs the Board that the EEF Development manager TS has put together a proposal related to the development of national officials in the three Olympic disciplines. TS is also in close contact with Frank Spadinger, FEI,  regarding this project. The Board supports this initiative and highlights the importance of facilitating younger talent to progress as officials.