On Thursday 16 June 2016, in Lisbon, Portugal, an EFIL extra-ordinary General Assembly took place alongside the Heads of Office retreat. Main item on the agenda was the EFIL Board elections. The following four nominees were voted on the EFIL Board of Directors for a two-year term: Sabine Siegriest from Switzerland (for a first term), Sinemis Candemir from Turkey (for a first term), Jatta Erlund from Finland (for a second term), and Andrea Franzoi from Italy (for a second term).
These four Board members join Ekaterina Bagdasarova from Russia, Philipp Wagner from Austria and Bart van Doveren from Belgium. The EFIL Board consists of seven members, serving two-year terms (renewable).
Two Board members stepped down: Jörn Lehmann from Germany who served on the Board for six years three of which as Chair, and Ragnar Thorvardarson from Iceland who was on the Board for two years. Their contributions have been highly valued by the other Board members and by the EFIL network at large.
The first meeting of the new EFIL Board will be in October, and is scheduled to take place in Krakow, Poland. At the meeting in Poland, the Board will decide on the mandates (Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, Secretary).
Also at the extra-ordinary General Assembly, the EFIL Affiliate Membership of the Father Siemaszko Foundation (approved at the EFIL General Assembly in May 2013), was transferred to the newly founded AFS Polska. This proposal was formally put to the vote and unanimously accepted by the EFIL membership.