As I said in Metz, during our recent Congress our federation would not have been the same without the hard work, dedication and commitment of all my predecessors. Thanks to their drive and ambition, UDiTE has continued to deliver and bring us together for the good of our sector and the development of our members.  In particular, I want to thank our founding President, Gérard Combe, who succeeded in building a solid foundation for everyone that followed and salute the memory of my good friend and gentleman, Didier Duraffourg, a former president and someone without which no UDiTE meeting was complete.

This has been another difficult and challenging year for us all. Local Government has been at the forefront of the community efforts to to tackle the pandemic and I thank you all for your tireless efforts in ensuring that our workforces have been able to step up to the challenge and the role that all of you have played in injecting realism and delivering solutions on the ground that have contributed to saving lives and protecting our citizens health and livelihoods. Just take a look again at the rich discussions that took place in our Congress in Metz on 15th & 16th October.

My term as President, as per UDiTE’s statute, will end at the end of this year.  It is my pleasure though that my friend Stéphane Pintre will be taking over the presidency for the next 3 years. An able, dedicated person, Stéphane will no doubt bring value to our federation and will work hard to continue to grow UDiTE into the future as we head into 2022 with the hope that we can overcome the pandemic and help the communities we service flourish and grow again strong again.

Wishing you all the very best for Christmas and the New Year 2022

Stay safe!
 

Paul Gatt
UDITE President