The European Council of the Paint, Printing Ink, and Artist's Colours Industry (CEPE) has appointed Roald Johannsen as the new Chairman of the CEPE Board.
On 24 September, CEPE, the European Council of the Paint, Printing Ink, and Artist's Colours Industry, elected Roald Johannsen, Vice President of PPG, as the new Chairman of CEPE's Board. Johannsen joined the Board in September 2018 and has held the position of Vice President for the past year.
The new Chairman works at PPG's European headquarters in Rolle, Switzerland, and has thirty years of experience in coatings in various geographic areas and industrial sectors. Since last week he has replaced André Vieira de Castro, CEO of Argacol - Tintas and Vernizes, S.A, who has been a member of the Board since 2015 and Chairman of CEPE since October 2020.
“I am honoured and privileged to assume the role of CEPE Chairman. I have a real passion for this great industry of ours and I want to ensure the best possible representation for our entire industry so that paints, coatings, printing inks and artists’ colours are seen as part of the solution to enhance and enable sustainability”, declared Johannsen following his appointment.
Regarding the main priorities, he commented: “I am looking forward to working together with the CEPE Board and team, and all our stakeholders, to raise the image, relevance and importance that our coatings sector plays with innovative products and processes in supporting the carbon neutral ambitions of the EU Green Deal, a Circular Economy and the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability. Our biggest challenge going forward is to ensure that our sector stays ahead of the fast-changing regulatory environment and ensuring that we remain competitive.”
As outgoing Chairman, André Vieira de Castro said: “It was an honour for me to represent our entire industry, including the many SMEs. It has been a demanding time, marked by a persistent shortage of raw materials and inflated transportation costs that are weighing on our industry. I welcome Roald Johannsen and believe he is the right person to take our sector forward. I wish him the best of luck for the coming period.”
The General Assembly also re-elected to the Board Paula Salastie (Teknos). Additionally, the Board will now consist of Rachel O'Connor (General Paints Group) and Andreas Bubenhofer (Karl Bubenhofer AG); while Daniel Llinas (Industrias Titan) left the Board after serving successfully since 2017.