2015 EuroGeographics Regular General Assembly Held

The 2015 EuroGeographics Regular Annual General Assembly, which was hosted by the Republic Geodetic Authority of the Republic of Serbia, was held on 4-6 October 2015 in Belgrade, the Republic of Serbia. The General Assembly was opened with a becoming address by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Mme Zorana Mihajlović.

EuroGeographics is a nonprofit organization that gathers and represents national cadastral and mapping agencies from Europe. The association currently has over 60 member agencies from 46 countries of the European region. The main theme of this year's general assembly was „Strategic Importance of European Location Framework“. A series of interesting presentations and lectures on the role that the national cadastral and mapping agencies have in the European frameworks was held as part of the general assembly. Emphasis during the working part of the general assembly, presentations and ensuing discussion was placed on the strategic importance of the European Location Framework (ELF) to e-government functioning and future advancement of cadastral and mapping agencies.

An interesting session entitled „Focusing on Members – Regional Collaboration“, which was chaired by Mr. Danko Markovinović, Director of the State Geodetic Administration of the Republic of Croatia, was held on the second day of the general assembly. Latest developments in the Western Balkans region were presented during this session, and Mr. Lorenc Cala, Director of the SDI Development Coordination Agency of the Republic of Albania, presented on this occasion regional IMPULS Project, its progress and future plans to the delegates present. Formal handover of the data contributed by the cadastral and mapping agencies to the EuroGeographics's products (Euro Boundary Map, Euro Regional Map, etc.) was also organized during this session. On behalf of the Federal Administration for Geodetic and Real Property Affairs of FBH, its Director, Mr. Željko Obradović, handed over the data to the President of the Association, Mme Ingrid Vanden Berghe. The data of the Federal Administration for Geodetic and Real Property Affairs of FBH have thereby become part of the EuroGeographics's products that are available to the broader European community.

During the general assembly, the Association's operations for the previous 2015 were also reviewed, the 2015 operating balance sheets were adopted, the 2016 plan was discussed, and the 2016 operating plan was adopted by voting. New members of the Eurogeographics Management Board were also selected. The new members of the Eurogeographics Management Board in the next two years will be Werner Hoffman, Director General of the Federal Agency for Survey and Metrology of Austria (Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen - BEV), and Igor Vasiliev, Head of the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography of Russia.

The Federal Administration for Geodetic and Real Property Affairs of FBH was represented at the general assembly by its Director, Mr. Željko Obradović, and staff of the Department of Geoinformatics, Mr. Denis Tabučić. The next EuroGeographics regular general assembly is to be held in early October 2016 in Budapest, Hungary.