EPR structures

General Assembly

The General Assembly is the decision-making body of EPR. Its main task is to set the EPR strategic, financial and organisational framework. It is formed by members’ Chief Executives/Directors with voting rights. The General Assembly meets at least twice per year to discuss and approve EPR budgets, financial reports, policies and activities, as well as discuss issues of common interest. It also gives Directors the opportunity to reflect on strategic issues affecting the sector.

Board

The Board is the representative body of EPR. It is composed of 9 Chief Executives/Directors. The members of the Board (including the function of Chair and vice-Chair) are nominated by the General Assembly for a renewable period of four years. The current Board members are: Tom Cardoso (CRM), Anne Marie McDonnell (Rehab Group), Veronika Kaska (Astangu), Sabina Lobato (Fundación ONCE), Patrick Ruppol (GTB), Pablo Sánchez (Fundación Intras), Furio Gramatica (Fondazione Don Gnocchi), Nektaria Sifaki (Theotokos Foundation), and Timo Heiskala (Autism Foundation Finland). These positions cannot be delegated. Furio Gramatica is the Chairperson, Sabina Lobato and Timo Heiskala are Vice-Chairpersons, Patrick Ruppol is the Treasurer, and Anne Marie McDonnell is the Human Resources contact point. 

Its main task is to supervise all EPR activities and to execute the decisions of the General Assembly. The Board meets several times per year in-person and online.

Centre Coordinators

Centre coordinators of all members are the direct link between EPR and its member organisations. Their main role is to disseminate throughout their organisation information related to EPR and implement decisions taken by the General Assembly. Usually EPR Centre Coordinators meet twice a year. These meetings also provide the occasion for sharing and learning about good practice from in and outside the network, discussing policy developments, developing joint projects and general networking.

EPR Secretariat

The EPR Secretariat is responsible for the development and implementation of the network’s activities. Based in Brussels, the Secretariat acts as the interface with EPR member organisations and with external stakeholders. All together, the members of the EPR secretariat speak most major European languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Dutch.