Formation and History
EuroExpert was formed as a not for profit organization in 1998 by ‘The Academy of Experts’ (TAE), United Kingdom, the ‘Fédération Nationale des Compagnies d’Experts Judiciaires’ (FNCEJ today CNCEJ), France, and the ‘Bundesverband öffentlich bestellter und vereidigter sowie qualifizierter Sachverständiger e.V.’ (BVS), Germany as the founders. It was registered in Luxembourg, home of the European Court and its logo is registered at the EU Registry in Alicante, Spain.
The first substantial step forward was when the French (Fédération Nationale des Compagnies d’Experts Judiciaires) and United Kingdom (The Academy of Experts) organisations signed a Declaration of Intent. The Intent was to work together to establish mutual standards and to encourage other organisations to join them. At the same time the German organisation (Bundesverband öffentlich bestellter und vereidigter sowie qualifizierter Sachverständiger e.V.) was working with some Eastern European organisations with a view to forming an Association.
During the 1990s two new initiatives came together. Meetings in London, Prague, Milan and Paris culminated in “The Muggendorf Declaration” in May 1998. By that Declaration The BVS, FNCEJ and TAE formed “EuroExpert”; The Organisation for European Expert Associations. EuroExpert was registered in Luxembourg, which was thought appropriate as it is the home of The European Court. The Statutes having been adopted and filed in Luxembourg, a Council was elected and the substantive work commenced to establish the new Organisation. Following the 1st General Assembly held in Munich, a Secretary General was appointed and the Secretariat established in Cologne.
Emil A. Kolb, Germany, May 1998 to June 1999
Michael Cohen, United Kingdom, June 1999 to April 2001
Jean Donio, France, April 2001 to June 2002
Dr. Günter Schäffler, Germany, September 2002 to August 2004
Cástor Iglesias Sanzo, Spain, September 2004 to August 2006
Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Matthias Rant, Austria, September 2006 to August 2008
António Louro, Portugal, September 2008 to August 2010
Nicola Cohen, United Kingdom, September 2010 to August 2014
Jindřich Kratěna, Czech Republic, January 2015 to June 2015
Helge-Lorenz Ubbelohde, Germany, July 2015 to December 2015
Cástor Iglesias Sanzo, Spain, January 2016 to June 2016
Melita Bestvina, Croatia, July 2016 to December 2016
Vis. Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Matthias Rant, Austria, January 2017 to June 2017
Francisco Costa Gomes, Portugal, July 2017 to December 2017
Philip Newman, United Kingdom, January 2018 to June 2018
Jindřich Kratěna, Czech Republic, July 2018 to December 2018
Willi Schmidbauer, Germany, January 2019 to June 2019
Cástor Iglesias Sanzo, Spain, July 2019 to December 2019
Melita Bestvina, Croatia, January 2020 to June 2020
Vis. Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Matthias Rant, Austria, July 2020 to December 2020
Francisco Costa Gomes, Portugal, January 2021 to June 2021
Annie Verrier, France, July 2021 to December 2021
Jindřich Kratěna, Czech Republic, January 2022 to June 2022
Willi Schmidbauer, Germany, July 2022 to December 2022
Cástor Iglesias Sanzo, Spain, January 2023 to June 2023
Alain Coppe, Belgium, July 2023 to December 2023
Melita Bestvina, Croatia, January 2024 to June 2024