Andre Vieira de Castro new Chairman of the CEPE Board

André Vieira de Castro joined the Board in 2015 and served as Treasurer since 2018. On his appointment, André Vieira de Castro commented: “It is an honour for me to take on this role. As Chairman, firstly, I will ensure the best possible representation of our whole industry. At the same time, the contribution of smaller companies to the EU economy is substantial and I will put forward the important role of SMEs in the paints, printing inks and artists’ colours industry.”

With regards to the European political agenda, André Vieira de Castro explained: “I support the climate ambition of the EU Green Deal to become carbon neutral by 2050. Our products are part of the solution for a Circular Economy and contribute to sustainability. At the same time, we need politics with a sense of proportion, and this is what I hope for the upcoming chemical strategy for sustainability. We already have the strictest chemical policy worldwide. We need to carefully, not fundamentally, make adaptations to remain competitive and achieve a sustainable recovery.”

“The right person to take our sector forward”

As outgoing Chairman, Harald Borgholte remarked: “It has been my pleasure to act as spokesperson and serve this very dynamic coatings sector. I welcome an SME representative to lead CEPE and believe that André Vieira de Castro is the right person to take our sector forward. I wish him good fortune in the time ahead.”

The General Assembly has also appointed Klaus-Georg Gast, Axalta Coatings, to become the new Treasurer. Newly joining the Board will be Martin Beck, BASF Coatings, Toon Bossuyt, BOSS paints, Peter William Lockley, INX Europe, and Jan Piet Van Kesteren, AkzoNobel. In addition Roald Johannssen, VicePresident of PPG Industries, will become the new Vice-President.