EPEE names new director general

BELGIUM: EPEE  – The European Partnership for Energy and the Environment – has announced the appointment of Folker Franz as its new director general to replace Andrea Voigt on August 1.

Franz, a German national and public affairs professional, joins EPEE from Hitachi ABB Power Grids and the ABB Group, a multinational corporation active in power and industrial automation technologies, where he was the head of government relations for the EU. 

Before joining ABB in 2012, Folker worked at BusinessEurope, the European business federation. As industrial affairs director, he notably represented European industry in the political discussions around the landmark 2020 EU climate and energy package.

Folker replaces Andrea Voigt who, having successfully led the work of EPEE for the past 12 years,  is joining Danfoss as vice president, head of group public affairs and sustainability.

“This is a very exciting time to join EPEE. The heating and cooling industry is a key sector in the European Green Deal and clean energy transition,” said Folker. 

“EPEE has grown considerably over this last decade and is considered today as a major voice of the refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump industry in Europe and internationally,” said Andrea Voigt. I truly enjoyed leading EPEE over these past 12 years, both from a professional and from a human perspective. Now it’s time to move on and I am very much looking forward to taking up a new challenge at Danfoss.”