Nick Davis elected to Development Committee. The winds of change were blowing strong at the 20th European Athletics Congress in Cannes on 14 April 2007. The 20th European Athletics Congress gave its overwhelming support for President Hansjörg Wirz's proposal, to overhaul the competition structure, in the Royal Casino Hotel in Cannes Cannes today. With this, the council was given a strong mandate to continue the development and expansion of the competition structure, which, subject to approval from the various stakeholders, will mean an outdoor European Athletics Championships, taking place on even years, starting in 2012, at the earliest. The added European Athletics Championship would take place at the same time as the US Olympic trials, and would contain all standard stadium events (excluding 10,000m, Race Walking and Combined Events). The championships would take place over five days and among the added innovations would be that qualification could be achieved by the normal qualification process, but, also, by performances and positions achieved in specific meetings. The specific details will be finalised and publicised in the future, after negotiations conclude with the European Broadcasting Union, the biggest financial partner of European Athletics, along with further consultation with the relevant stakeholders about the format, and satisfactory financial analysis on the proposed developments. Speaking about the rational behind the proposal Wirz explained "In the six months from August 2006 to March 2007 we organised both the European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg and the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham" "However, from March 2007 until July 2010 we will only organise the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Turin in March 2009 and this is not an ideal situation from all points of view" he added. Congress also approved the introduction of a European Team Championships to replace the current European Cup, which will be expanded in to a 12-team competition and will include a number of exciting innovations, to make the event more appealing to a wider audience. Delegates from the 50 Member Federations also elected ten new members, including two new vice presidents, to the 17 strong council and then overwhelmingly supported plans put forward by President Hansjorg Wirz, to overhaul the sports competition programme in the future. In the elections Spain's Jose Luis de Carlos and Norwegian Sven Arne Hansen were elected to the position of vice president, while Portugal's Jorge Salcedo, topped the poll in the Council elections. Former Olympic Triple Jump champion Jonathon Edwards, of Britain and former European 1,500m champion, Franco Arese, from Italy, were both elected to their first terms on the Council. The other new members of the council are Bulgarian Dobromir Karamarinov, Antti Pihlakoski, Finland, Toralf Nilsson, Sweden, Frank Hensel, Germany, Salih Munir Yaras, Turkey, Vadim Zelichenok, Russia, and Sylvia Barlag, from the Netherlands. Treasurer Karel Pilny, from Czech Republic retained his seat unopposed while Salcedo, Ludmila Olijara from Latvia, Slovenian Janez Alancic and Philippe Lamblin, from the host nation, all retained their seats for the next four years. Christian Milz, Director General of European Athletics (above) said "European society has changed dramatically over the past number of years and athletics must adapt to these changes in order to maintain its position as the number one Olympic sport." "We have said good bye to a number of faithful servants of European Athletics but I am confident that the right mix of experience and youth, which forms the new council, will ensure a successful future for the sport in Europe" In the competition committee Italian, Anna Ricardi, Czech Republics Libor Varhanik, Serbian, Ivica Matijevic and Jean-Pierre Schoebel from Monaco took the four available seats while former Olympic Decathlon champion Erki Nool, Estonia, Jean Gracia from France, Nick Davis from Ireland and Ihor Hotsul from Ukraine took the seats on the The next congress will take place in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2009, while the calendar congress in 2008 and 2009 will take Place in Amsterdam, Netherlands and Miskolc, Hungary, respectively. Honorary membership of European Athletics was bestowed upon retiring Council members Erika Strasser (Austria), Giorgios Constantopolous (Greece), John Lister (Great Britain), Valentin Balakhnichev (Russia) and Irena Szewinska of Poland and the Athletics Federation of Montenegro was officially ratified as the 50th Member Federation of European Athletics and was therefore entitled to full voting powers in the elections. For full details go to www.european-athletics.org