The Board of Directors of the European Alliance to Save Energy (EU-ASE) at its meeting on Dec. 3, 2013 appointed Harry Verhaar, Head of Global Public & Government Affairs at Philips, as the new chairman of the Board.

The appointment of Verhaar comes after the three-annual chairmanship of Tony Robson, Group CEO at Knauf Insulation.

“On behalf of EU-ASE I would like to thank Tony Robson, Group CEO of Knauf Insulation, for the foundation he has put in place for the alliance,” said Verhaar. “With the support of all members of the alliance, I look forward to further unlocking the economic and competitiveness potential of energy efficiency for Europe, thus leveraging energy efficiency to relief budgets at all levels, to create jobs and to making Europe more competitive.”

Verhaar is a recipient of the 2011 UN Leader of Change Award, and has received the Carbon War Room’s Gigaton award on behalf of Philips at COP17 in Durban. More recently he received the 2011 Philips Lighting Leadership Award. He holds a MSc in Solid State Luminescence from the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.

The Board of EU-ASE also appointed three Vice-Chairmen of the Board: Tony Robson, Group CEO of Knauf Insulation, Claude Breining, Head of European Affairs and Strategic Influence at Schneider Electric, and Nick Mabey, CEO of E3G.

“In continuity with the past, the new Board is working to ensure that the voice of the business community is heard to get an ambitious energy efficiency target in the forthcoming EU energy and climate framework for 2030,” said President of EU-ASE, Monica Frassoni.