The European Council of the Liberal Professions (CEPLIS) is an advocacy group bringing together these professions at the Community level with the objective to promote their interest and points of view with the institutions and bodies of the EU.
Based in Brussels, the European Council of the Liberal Professions is one of the oldest interest groups at the European level. SEPLIS (European Secretariat of the Liberal Professions) was in fact founded in 1974 at the initiative of Jean-Pierre de Crayencour, a former EU official, in order to succeed to a former Secretariat internal to the European Commission. The establishment of SEPLIS strengthened the alliance between the various European Committees of specific Liberal Professions and the Interprofessional Federations of Member States. It was not until the late 1990s that the name changed from SEPLIS to CEPLIS.
Today, CEPLIS is governed by a General Assembly, meeting at least twice per year; a ten-member Executive Board, elected by the Assembly every three years; and a Secretariat General based in Brussels.
The current members of the Executive Board of CEPLIS are Mr. Jacques Reignault (UNAPL), Mr. Rudolf Kolbe (ECEC - CLGE), Mr. Peter Swindlehurst (UKIPG), Mr. Carlos Carnicer Díez (UP), Ms. Simone Zerah (EFCC/EC4), Mr. Armand Gersanois (FEO), Mr. Michael Van Gompen (ECCO), Mr. Eric Thiry (UNPLIB), Mr. Serge Coimbra (CEP) and Mr. Gaetano Stella (Confprofessioni).