OCCAR Director Handover ceremony

Symbolic handover of the OCCAR banner ©OCCAR

The official handover ceremony of the OCCAR director position from Mr. Arturo Alfonso Meiriño to Adm. Matteo Bisceglia took place in the OCCAR premises in Bonn on 12 September, in the presence of the OCCAR Board of Supervisors, national  and industry representatives, NSPA General Manager  and EDA Deputy Chief Executive.

Board of Supervisors Chairman, MG de la Plaza ©OCCAR

The Board of Supervisors Chairman, MG de la Plaza, thanked Mr Alfonso-Meiriño for his excellent leadership of OCCAR-EA and strategic view, that has lead to more open paths for the organisation.

MG de la Plaza welcomed Mr Bisceglia, wishing him a successful and great time as OCCAR-EA Director.

Mr Peter Dohmen, GM NSPA ©OCCAR

Both the the GM Manager of NSPA, Mr Peter Dohmen, and the EDA Deputy Chief Executive, Mr Olli Ruutu, spoke during the ceremony, and highlighted the very good relationship their organisations enjoy with OCCAR, and their complementary roles.

Mr Olli Ruutu, EDA Deputy CE ©OCCAR

Mr Alfonso Meiriño thanked all OCCAR stakeholders for the great cooperation during his time as OCCAR-EA Director and offered his sincere thanks to all OCCAR-EA staff members for the immense support that they have given to him and OCCAR. On the basis of these joint efforts, OCCAR is recognised today as a centre of excellence in the management of cooperative armament programmes in Europe, and as the way to achieve greater defence capabilities within limited budgets.

OCCAR-EA Director, Mr Arturo Alfonso Meiriño ©OCCAR

Vice Admiral Matteo Bisceglia, incoming OCCAR-EA Director ©OCCAR

Mr Bisceglia, who will start his tenure as OCCAR-EA Director on the 21st September, thanked the BoS representatives for their trust, and expressed his joy in joining such a mature organisation. He looks forward to building on the work of his predecessor with OCCAR's European partners,  and maintaining the good relationship with EDA and NSPA.

Mr Bisceglia is currently Vice Admiral,  in charge of the Naval Armaments Directorate of the Italian MoD.