In attendance:
Country Representatives:
United Kingdom – Paul Spellward (PS, chairman)
Belgium – Yves Lannoy (YL, vice president)
Denmark – Jan Andersen (JA, treasurer)
Netherlands – Martijn Hoogeslag (MH, secretary)
Austria – Elisabeth Kindermann-Schon
Czech Republic – Petr Kubicek
Spain – Neus Llado
France – Olivier Cuenot
Sweden – Charlotte Algotsson
Germany – Benni Eimers
Additional members:
UK – Dave Cameron
Opening remarks
Paul Spellward opened the meeting at 19:33, greeting all members. He noted that all EBF members were invited to this AGM, including representatives from the major balloon manufacturers in Europe. As this was the first meeting for some members, each participant introduced themselves.
Minutes of the 2024 General Assembly
Paul presented the agenda using a PowerPoint. Starting with the minutes, all members agreed, and the minutes were formally approved.
Activity report by EBF in 2024-25 & Activity Plan for 2025-26
PS presented the activity report. He highlighted last year’s changes within the EC and the administrative challenges of working with the French banking system and federation laws.
EBF has also joined Europe Air Sports, thereby strengthening cooperation and perspectives with EAS. Since many of ballooning’s challenges are similar to those faced in gliding, cooperation with EGU is also very beneficial.
At EASA, EBF regained its seat at the GA.CSTG/TeB meeting table, where Paul and Martijn Hoogeslag joined the November meeting. Physical attendance at these meetings is now prioritized to maintain the network of contacts. Yves Lannoy attended the EAS meeting in Spire, and emphasized the constructive mindset of EASA delegates towards ballooning’s future challenges.
Continuing with EASA topics, updates on Part-66, Part-BFCL, and Part-BOP were summarized. MH and PS carried out a detailed analysis of tasks performed during annual inspections, and EASA appears to support a task-based recency requirement of eight annual inspections in the previous 24 months.
All other aspects of the activity report and the plans for 2025–2026 were summarized. No additional questions or remarks were raised by the members.
- Finance Report 2024
JA presented the finance report. There were no questions, and the annual report was unanimously approved. PS also introduced a proposal for a reduced membership fee for countries with fewer pilots. No objections were raised.
- Elections to the Executive Committee (Board)
PS outlined the rules for Executive Committee membership. Both Martijn Hoogeslag and Yves Lannoy were required to be re-elected, as they had previously stepped into vacant positions rather than being formally elected. With no other volunteers, both Yves and Martijn were duly re-elected.
- Any Other Business
No further topics or questions were raised.