On 15 October 2025, the annual general meeting took place in Velbert. This year, we chose the Park-Hotel Best Westen in Velbert as the venue. The conditions were ideal. The sun was shining and the German U20 national team, who happened to be staying at the same hotel, had won 5-0 against Ghana. To ensure that everything ran smoothly with the hybrid event, a team of technicians and sound engineers had already prepared everything the evening before. As two guest lectures were scheduled for the afternoon, the event began with club business for once. This year, elections for the association's committees were once again on the agenda. As our long-standing treasurer, Marita Voss-Hageleit, was no longer available due to her age, we are all delighted that Dr Julius Gröne, a qualified and committed colleague, stood for election. The Executive Board and the Advisory Board were re-elected with broad approval and we look forward to working together over the next few years.
After the lunch break, it was time for the highlight of the day. Dr. Marko Susnik from the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber joined us via video link from Brussels and gave a very interesting presentation on the topic of ‘essential use’. This concept was adopted by the former EU Commission as one of its last acts in office, and we are now wondering whether and how it will affect the future regulation of chemicals in surface technology. Could it play a role, for example, in determining exemptions from the restriction on chromium trioxide? Will these criteria make it easier for the committees to assess applications, or will we go from bad to worse because we have to prove which applications really contribute to the smooth functioning of society? And what does that even mean? We will see.
This was followed by a presentation by Dr. Leonhard from Karl Storz GmbH. Mr. Leonhard reported on the restriction of PFAS in medical technology. Even though the PFAS issue is only discussed marginally in the world of surface technology, this look beyond the horizon into the future of the upcoming restriction was very valuable. How do the limit values work? How and to what extent are exemptions defined? Dr. Leonhard's presentation was very entertaining and very striking for what is actually a rather complex topic. The actual message was: ‘Reach out to the public through all channels’ and ‘Seek public support.’ But beware: ‘When politicians signal right, sometimes they turn left.’
The board then attempted to place these two presentations in the context and world of Vecco e.V. Essential use will probably only play a role in the minds of the officials in the committees. We will probably only know what the restrictions under Annex XVII will look like when the ECHA draft is on the table in April 2025. Until then, we will work on getting our message across to political decision-makers in Berlin and Brussels. The central issue will then probably be the limit values or ‘scientific values’, as the exposure values are currently referred to in ECHA terminology. Vecco's database is a valuable tool in this regard, as it can provide an accurate picture of the risk situation in companies using benchmarks and historical values.
So it remains exciting. The newly elected board and advisory board will do everything in their power to support you on the way to new regulations.
Vecco Board
The presentation and guest lectures can be viewed in the protected member area.