?We should be sat round the table in Brussels?

The Dutch native, Hans Poulis, was elected as the new President of the umbrella association, EPPA (European Promotional Products Association) at the General Meeting on January 12, 2010. Poulis runs a consulting company in the promotional products industry and has been CEO of the Dutch association, PPP (Platform Promotional Products), for two years. Before that he was CEO of the promotional products distributor company, CCO Poulis, which he also founded. In a dialogue with eppi magazine he illustrated, what direction he intends to lead the EPPA in over the coming three years.

You have been steering the destiny of the Dutch Association, PPP, for two years. What induced you to commit yourself on a European level now too?

Hans Poulis: I was occupied with European issues on a daily basis at my old company, CCO Poulis. Our customers were multinational enterprises such as Philips, Nike or Canon, so I unavoidably became an expert for European legislation. My work for the PPP quickly made it very clear to me that European themes urgently needed to be focused upon. The controls in the import business are very strict and every European country has its own interpretation of EU legislation. Product safety and ecological aspects play a major role in our industry, which is why we should also be sat round the table in Brussels when legislation issues are being negotiated.


What are the most important themes you are going to address during your term as EPPA?s President?

My top priority is transparency. In my opinion this is extremely important within our industry. We need exact market data, not just estimations. Market surveys in the individual countries are thus urgently necessary, as is the exchange between the individual countries themselves. Seven nations took part in the first annual market survey that EPPA has just carried out for the past fiscal year. More countries should participate, as many as possible. Ten countries are affiliated to the EPPA via their national associations, we also want to activate more associations here too, in order to provide the best possible transparency within the European market, exchange information among each other and to be able to learn from one another.