No European supremos

The debate calls to mind the problems of the European Union. EDRA, until now dominated by two strong members ("all too strong" according to some), is to be put on a broader basis with the aim of turning it into an organisation of forceful, self-confident members that is genuinely European. Until now responsibility for the association has been in the hands of the BHB (Federal Association of German DIY, Building & Garden Specialist Stores) and the FMB, its French partner organisation. Régis Degelcke, president of EDRA, defines the new European spirit of the DIY retailers in the following words: "We speak with one powerful voice for the entire European sector, for our members big and small, right across Europe."
This is the reason behind the adoption in Berlin of a new constitution at the beginning of December 2009 by the DIY retailers and representatives of associations from 18 European countries. EDRA is now under the leadership of its president, Régis Degelcke of Groupe Adeo. The other members of the executive for the next three years are Ian Cheshire (Kingfisher), Ray Colman (Woodie's DIY), Martin Essl (Baumax), Sergio Giroldi (Obi), Carl-Otto Løvenskiold (Løvenskiold-Vækerø), Nick Wilkinson (Maxeda DIY) and Rinat Muhametvaleev (Trest SKM). John W. Herbert was confirmed in the position of executive director which he has held since 2004.
EDRA's first goal is to have a representative in Brussels by 1 March 2010. This will enable the association to undertake lobbying activities right in the place where relevant laws are enacted. After all, information from the association reveals that the sector is responsible for estimated sales of € 80 bn annually. Further issues of importance to EDRA are networking and the compilation of market data.
The membership of EDRA includes five national trade associations: BHB, FMB, the Spanish ADFB association and the hardware associations of Italy and Finland, Assofermet and RaSi ry respectively). Other members are Bricoalliance, Byggmax, Focus, Homebase, Kesko, Kingfisher, Løvenskiold, Maxeda Group, Merkur, Obi, Silvan, Travis Perkins and Woodie's DIY. Obi occupies a special position with reference to its strong international orientation, since the DIY retailer is actually already represented in EDRA by the German BHB grouping. EDRA's votes are weighted as in the European parliament, so that the BHB and FMB each have ten votes, and the votes of individual members are scaled from two to four according to the annual sales of…