Minutes of the General Meeting, Monaco December 7th 2013
The ordinary general meeting was opened by the president at 10.30 am.
After welcoming the 48 members present (49 powers of attorney received), the president informed the meeting that 2013 was a good year for our academy, but also spoke of the sad loss of a number of friends:
Otto Hornung, Jovan Velickovic, Cécile Gruson, Aude Ben Moha (formerly a member of the AEP), François Veillault, Sava Velickovic and Marcel de Jong
A minute's silence was observed in their memory.
The minutes of the general meeting, which was held in October 2012 in Rome, were unanimously accepted.
With reference to his report, the president indicated that the club had 224 active members on 30 November 2013. He emphasised that the situation is harmonious within the AEP, but hopes that healthy links will be developed with some countries, such as Spain, the United Kingdom, Poland, Greece, Russia, and encouraged the AEP to be present in New York in 2016.
Henk Slabbinck confirmed that the AEP has been actively present and exhibitors have taken part in a number of philatelic events since the last GM in Rome:
- IPHLA 2012 in Mainz (November 2012);
- Championnat de France de Philatélie Polaire in Belfort (November 2012);
- Championnat de France in Amiens (May 2013);
- World Stamp Expo in Melbourne (May 2013);
- BALPEX 2013 in Baltimore (August 2013);
- ROSSICA 2013 in Moscow (September 2013);
- FEPA Congress in Madrid (October 2013).
Eduardo Barreiros (Portugal), Luis Barreiros (Portugal), Paolo Guglielminetti (Italy), Mario Mirman Castillo (Spain), Bernardo Naddei (Italy), Michel Poultier (France), Adriano Cattani (Italy), Alexsandar Boricic (Serbia), Alan Brink (Denmark), Akis Christou (Cyprus), Bento Dias (Portugal), René Hillesum (Netherlands), Sava Velickovic (Serbia), Hans Schwarz (Switzerland), Hany Salam (Belgium)
Roll of Distinguished Philatelists 2013:
Luis Frazao (Portugal) and Anthony Virvilis (Greece)
Opus XIII was a huge success. Guy Coutant appealed to authors to submit articles for the 2014 edition. Luis Frazao then further discussed his idea of developing themes focusing on Africa for Opus XIV.
Three editions of Trait d'Union were published in 2013. The floor was given to Mark Bottu, who summed up his work as the former editor of Trait d'Union, before being warmly thanked by the members present.
It was pointed out that the next directory is due to be published in the first quarter of 2014.
No comments were made regarding the president's report, which was unanimously accepted.
Moving to the financial report, the treasurer stated that the figures presented in Rome in October 2012 provided an almost definitive overview of the accounts for 2012. The accounts unveiled at this meeting, which were prepared on 31 December 2012, showed a surplus of €1,270.92 for the financial year 2012.
It was stated that the subscription charge remains unchanged at €120.
The president read out the report produced by auditor Jacques Wils.
The accounts for 2012 were unanimously approved and the treasurer was endorsed for his management of the 2012 accounts.
The meeting then focused on the elections for the new president and board. No comments were made regarding the list of names sent to all members. The new president Bruno Crevato-Selvaggi and board were unanimously elected.
Henk Slabbinck awarded José Ramón Moreno and Rainer von Scharpen the Order of European Philatelic Merit (MPE).
Bruno Crevato-Selvaggi then addressed the meeting and looked to the future, stressing the importance of continuing to work as a team, as has recently been the case.
Henk Slabbinck was warmly thanked for his two terms as president of the AEP. In the presence of Patrick Maselis, Henk Slabbinck was presented with the philatelic gift of a sheet of overprinted Belgian Congo stamps, which are highly sought after by Belgian philatelists. The retiring president was also presented with Order of European Philatelic Merit (MPE) by the new president. He was clearly very moved as he handed over the baton.
Two new board members introduced themselves to the members present at the meeting - Peter Suhadolc (Slovenia) and Igor Rodin (Russia).
Andrey Strygin presented the Rossica certificate to Ludvik Pytlicek and Paolo Vaccari. Jean-Pierre Magne accepted the diploma of the Russian Philatelic Academy from Andrey Strygin. Our Russian friend ended his speech, by inviting us to two philatelic events due to take place in 2014:
- Russian Cultural Center, Jerusalem (Israel) from 21 - 25 April;
- Museum of Communications, Saint Petersburg (Russia) from 9 -12 October.
The incoming president brought the ordinary general meeting to a close at 11.45 am, after congratulating all those responsible for organising this superb MonacoPhil 2013.
| H. Slabbinck Outgoing president |
S. Kahn General Secretary |
Bruno Crevato-Selvaggi Incoming president |