Structure

The General Assembly: The General Assembly is the decision-making body of ECMA and meets twice a year. It approves the organisation’s strategic plan for the forthcoming year and agrees on the budget. 

The Board: The Board sets the direction of the organisation and deals with urgent decisions. The current ECMA Board members are: 

• Beat Burger, ECMA President and CEO of Burger Söhne and Dannemann 
• Fernando Dominguez, CEO of Tabacalera S.L.U.
• Beat Hauenstein, CEO of Oettinger Davidoff AG
• Niels Frederiksen, CEO of Scandinavian Tobacco Group
• Stefano Mariotti, CEO of Manifatture Sigaro Toscano
• Frederik Vandermarliere, ECMA Treasurer and CEO of J. Cortès  

ECMA Secretariat: Paul Varakas has been Director General of ECMA since July 2019. 

Prior to joining ECMA, Paul worked for 6 years in Brussels in various roles: within a consultancy, a trade association and an international non-profit-making non-governmental organisation, with a particular focus on EU policies in the areas of food, trade, environment, health and agriculture. 

Since 2018, Paul is also a Board member and Vice President of the Society of European Affairs Professionals, the European representative organisation of all EU public affairs professionals. 

A French national, Paul holds degrees in European Affairs, French, Belgian and Common law.