Philippe Citroën has been appointed the new Director-General of UNIFE at the General Assembly 2011 held in Rome. His appointment is effective from 1st July. Philippe Citroën, who for the past nine years has served as CEO of Systra, one of the world’s leading public transport engineering companies, has a long-standing career in the rail business.

Philippe Citroën studied law and politics and has extensive background and experience in the transport sector. Prior to his role as CEO of France-based Systra (2002-2011), he served as Strategy Director at SNCF (1999-2002), Manager and Chief of Staff at RATP in Paris (1993-1999), Special Advisor to the French Transport Minister (1990-1993), and in Brussels as Transport Counsel at the French Permanent Representation to the EU (1986-1990).

Incumbent UNIFE Director-General Michael Clausecker had informed the Presiding Board in late 2010 about his plans to leave UNIFE after 10 years managing the German rail industry association (VDB, 2001-2006) and UNIFE (from January 2007 onwards) to pursue new professional challenges.

Newly elected UNIFE Chairman Henri Poupart-Lafarge stated that “with Philippe Citroën, UNIFE has gained a strong leader with lots of experience in the European and global rail transportation environment. We expect him to help strengthen the position and business perspectives of the European Rail Industry in the context of the new European White Book for Transport, climate change, globalisation and global mega-trends with impact on customer requirements and demand.”

Outgoing Chairman Hans-Jörg Grundmann in his address to the General Assembly also gave credit to Mr Clausecker’s achievements while leading UNIFE during the last four and a half years: “Michael initiated and implemented a strategic shift of our industry’s presence in Brussels. He rebuilt UNIFE including the team, closely involved members and National Associations in the work of the association and developed a profound partnership with the European Institutions. As a result, European transport-, trade-, regional- and industrial policies today much better consider the necessities of our industry.”