On 27th and 28th October 2022, the Ceemet members met for the 40th General Assembly in Berlin. The European MET Federations discussed concrete solutions and proposals for decision-makers on several EU dossiers such as the Due Diligence Directive or the Directive on Platform work. Topics such as the ongoing energy crisis and national collective bargaining systems were also on the agenda. As the variety of issues was rich and diverse, the discussions were dense and members took some time to exchange about the difficulties faced by their member companies at national level in an economic context of inflation and lack of human resources.
Indeed, this General Assembly took place under the issue of “Tackling Skills Shortages in the MET industries’’. This was a good opportunity for our President, Rainer Ludwig, to recall that “it’s urgent to invest in skills and support companies which are facing increased skills shortages due to the Green and digital transitions, in addition to demographic challenges, energy shortages and economic crises.” For Ceemet members labour and skills shortages are the number one obstacle today for companies – and should be considered a priority for EU and national policymakers as well as companies, education & training providers and social partners.
This General Assembly was also the occasion for the members to re-elect for a two-year mandate – running until 2024, Rainer Ludwig as President of Ceemet together with Nancy Pallares and Diego Andreis as two vice-Presidents. Mr. Rainer has been elected in 2020 for a first mandate. He is the Director of Human Resources, of Ford Germany and has been head of the German association Gesamtmetall’s committee on international affairs for many years and is an expert in European affairs.
Nancy Pallares is International Director for Business Development at Teledyne FLIR. She sits on various advisory boards especially in MakeUK in the UK. Diego Andreis was President of Ceemet before 2020. He is Managing Director of a 70 year old multinational family business.