During CEN’s Extraordinary General Assembly of 24 November, CEN National Members designated Dipl.-Ing. Friedrich Smaxwil as the new CEN President for a three-year term starting January 2012, with a running-in period as President Elect for the year 2011.

Mr Friedrich Smaxwil will take over from Mr Juan Carlos López Agüí, who has been leading CEN since 2007. Mr Smaxwil has been a Board Member of the Transportations Systems Group with Siemens AG, responsible, as Senior Vice-President, of the Mobility Division for the Corporate Account DB AG and Industry Relations. He has also been an Executive Board Member of the Association of the German Railway Industry (VDB), where he was president from 2004 until 2009.