Belgian female top executive at the head of European SME umbrella organisation

16/12/2016

The Belgian Véronique Willems was unanimously elected as the new Secretary-General of UEAPME, the European SME employers' association.

In January 2017, Véronique Willems will start as the new Secretary-General of UEAPME for a period of 5 years. In this position, she aims to focus on innovation. She also wants to ensure that the many traditional SMEs in Europe will develop a stronger connection with the latest digital developments.

UEAPME is the umbrella organisation of no less than 67 European employers' organisations, spread over 34 countries. UEAPME represents 12 million companies, employing approximately 55 million people across the European continent. This makes UEAPME ideally suited to represent the SMEs in Europe.

Véronique Willems, who received her law degree at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, started her career in 1999 at the Unizo Study Department. As of 2009 she was responsible for European Affairs within Unizo. In that position, she represented the interests of Belgian SMEs at a European level.