MANAGEMENT
European business travel organisations convene to create ENACT network On 23 February at a conference in Brussels, five leading travel management organisations met to create a unique European network with the purpose of actively contributing to the European discussion on business travel. The specific focus concerned issues that deal directly or indirectly with management of business travel and travel expenses that have an impact on the business traveller.
T
he initiative is a logical consequence of a common undertaking started by the five organisations in September 2013. At that time, a European initiative was agreed upon that takes into account the specific situation of the business traveller. The reason for this was to conform with CE no. 261/2004 directive concerning the rights of airline passengers.
Joining forces
The founders of this European network, named ENACT (European Network of Associations for Corporate Travel), are, in alphabetical order: - ACTE EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa), Association of Corporate Travel Executives, represented by Caroline Allen, Director of ACTE EMEA ; - AEGVE, La Asociacion de los Decisores en Viajes de Empresa (Spain), represented by Augusto Pardo, honorary president; - AFTM, Association Française des Travel Managers, represented by Michel Dieleman, president; - BATM, Belgian Association of Travel Management (Belgium), represented by Geert Behets, president; - CORTAS, Corporate Travel Association (the Netherlands), represented by Herman Mensink, president. The founding document expressly underscores the goal of “parties entering into a partnership in order to represent the common interests of the members on a European level with an official structure. To this end, they emphasize the well-being of the industry, and a healthy understanding and respect for ethical values. ENACT is intended to harness the synergies and strong points of each organisation in order to promote the industry as a whole.”
Advocacy
The founders point out that the network will not be used to promote commercial interests or to influence the market, but to instead act as a “common and open platform to support the industry as an “advocacy” group (and not as a lobbying initiative) with European institutions. “BATM sees it as important that our members are represented in the best way possible,” says Geert Behets of BATM. “We can only do this by joining forces; we stand stronger together than we do alone. Over the course of 2014, BATM seeks to forge closer ties with AFTM in order to ensure that our members may also gain access to their events and training programmes. Our members already have automatic access to all of the advantages of membership in ACTE. With cooperation of this nature, we can offer our members not
½½ GEERT BEHETS, BATM only an outstanding network in Belgium, but also outside of it. For more information about membership, you can contact info@batm.be or gbehets@gmail.com.”
Regular meetings
In addition to following developments in Europe closely, the ENACT network will meet together regularly in order to organise a number of meetings and campaigns regarding business travel as well as their potential impact on the policies of its respective members. Following the European elections later this year, the members of the ENACT network will take up contact with the newly chosen leaders of the Transport and Tourism Commission of the European Parliament. The network, in which all members are represented equally independent of their size or internal organisation, is an open platform for all European organisations dedicated to business travel which seeks to take part in certain campaigns without any specific requirements.
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