1. Definitions
Annual Meeting means all official activities of EPCA as described on the event pages of the 57th Annual Meeting and the EPCA webpage.
Meetings/events which are organized by Delegates at the occasion of the Annual Meeting are not part of the Annual Meeting.
Delegate means Annual Meeting registrant, representative of an EPCA member company (full or associate), an EPCA customer or an EPCA sponsor or any other person EPCA may deem appropriate to attend.
2. Registration process and access to the Annual Meeting
2.1. Attendance
Registration for the EPCA Annual Meeting 2023 is limited to delegates of EPCA member companies having paid their 2023 membership fees, membership applicants, speakers or any other person EPCA may deem appropriate to invite.
Registration for the Annual Meeting includes access to all or some EPCA official activities and is offered in-person.
The following registration types are available:
EPCA member delegate registration - receives access to the business sessions, access to all EPCA areas situated in the participating hotels, access to the delegate list and to the streamed business sessions via the Event platform and on-demand video of these sessions.
i) All Access registration - receives access to the opening dinner on Monday, 25th September, all business sessions scheduled from Tuesday, 26th September to Thursday, 28th September 2023, access to all EPCA areas situated in the participating hotels, delegate list and all streamed business sessions via the event platform and on-demand video of these sessions.
ii) One day registration - receives access to all business sessions taking place that specific day and access to all EPCA areas situated in the participating hotels for that day, delegate list and all streamed business sessions via the event platform and on-demand video of these sessions.
iii) Opening dinner registration – receives access to the opening event on Monday, 25th September 2023. That registration will be offered in addition to one day registration. This registration type can be booked only in combination with the One Day Registration or All Access registration.
Persons registered as EPCA Member Delegates must be employees or staff members of the ECPA Member that register them. Registrations are not transferable to third parties. Substitution of employees or staff members is possible under the conditions foreseen in article 3.
2.2. Registration Process
Registration can be made online at www.epca57.eu/main/register. Registration is binding and must be paid directly. To register, all delegates need to provide at least the following details: first name, last name, position, company name, VAT registration number, company email address, business phone.
In case any sanitary regulations foreseen at any time prior to the Annual Meeting require additional personal information in order to attend events in person (for example private address as well as private email address or private telephone number) EPCA will inform the delegate, and the delegate will have to provide such information, or the respective registration will be cancelled without refund. This additional information will only be shared with Austrian authorities in case of a sanitary urgency and deleted four (4) weeks after the event unless a longer period of retention is required by sanitary authorities (in which case the Delegate will be informed hereof). Would the additional information no longer be required under the sanitary regulations applicable, prior to the Annual Meeting, EPCA will delete that information accordingly.
EPCA cannot take responsibility if bookings made by other methods do not reach us. When registering online the Delegate will receive an auto-acknowledgment with the invoice to the e-mail address(es) provided, once the registration is completed. If you do not receive the confirmation e-mail with the invoice, please check your spam/junk folder. If you still do not see the confirmation e-mail, please contact EPCA at meetings@epca.eu. If you cannot register online, please call the helpdesk for assistance: +32 2 741 86 60. EPCA accepts and processes registrations on the basis that you have followed all the internal procurement procedures of your organization and you will be charged accordingly. By registering, you are also confirming that the information you submit is accurate and complete. Registrations are made at your own risk, and we cannot take responsibility for registrations booked in error. This responsibility lies with your organization, or you, if you are booking as a private individual. Furthermore, EPCA will not refund the registration fee, or any other costs should you register in error and fail to cancel with adequate cancellation notice.
The registration process and fees are described in detail on the Annual Meeting website.
EPCA reserves the right to reject or cancel any registration if the registration infringes the present Terms & Conditions or if the attendance of the delegate to the Annual Meeting would become contrary to any applicable law or regulation EPCA has to abide to (such as for instance sanctions imposed by the EU on individuals or companies).
2.3. Payment
Access to the event and event online platform will not be given unless all fees are paid. All costs in relation to payment are to be borne by the registering person.
2.3.1. Online payments
Credit card - Accepted credit cards: American Express, MasterCard, Visa
The online registration system uses secure encryption to protect your card and personal details. You will receive an invoice at the end of the registration process and via the confirmation e-mail upon completion of the registration.
2.4. Taxes
All fees and prices are subject to all applicable taxes as known today. EPCA reserves the right to amend the listed prices should the prevailing rate of VAT be increased. Registration to EPCA events falls into the exception foreseen at article 52 of the EU VAT directive 2006/112/CE. The VAT rate of the country where the event takes place applies when paying for a registration. Even if your organization is VAT registered, EPCA has to apply local VAT and pay this VAT to the Austrian authorities. A local reverse charge mechanism is applicable to Austrian VAT-liable customers that are established in Austria (Article 194 of EU VAT directive 2006/112/CE). The VAT number used for this event will be AT U68482545
2.5. Confirmation
Upon registration for the Annual Meeting, delegates will receive a registration confirmation including practical information relating to the event and the event platform, originating from meetings@epca.eu.
2.6. Online attendance
In order to attend the Annual Meeting online, the delegate will need hardware/software that meets the requirements indicated on the event website. To use some of the functionalities of the event online platform, delegates will have to log in.
2.7. Suspension or termination of access to the Annual Meeting
EPCA reserves the right to suspend (or terminate) the access to the Annual Meeting to delegates who do not act in accordance with any of the present terms, or whose behavior may disturb the good standing or the smooth running of any Annual Meeting activity.
3. Modifications, name change, substitution
Substitution of a delegate registered by a member company by another person of that member company is permitted as long as the badge has not been issued. Substitution can be requested by email at meeting@epca.eu
3.1. Cancellation: refund policy for the Annual meeting registration
Should a delegate cancel, the following refund policy will apply:
- Cancellation received on or before 03 July 2023, 23:59 CEST: reimbursement of the registration fee is limited to 60% of the full registration fee.
- Cancellation received between 04 July 2023, 00:00 CEST and 31 July 2023, 23:59 CEST: reimbursement of the registration fee is limited to 40% of the full registration fee.
- Cancellation received on or after 01 August 2023, 00:00 CEST: no reimbursement.
- No-shows: no reimbursement.
This cancellation policy applies to the following fees:
- Delegate registration (all registration types as indicated under article 2.1.)
4. Liability
EPCA is only responsible for the meetings and activities that are part of the Annual Meeting (as defined in article 1); EPCA will bear no responsibility whatsoever for any and all peripheral arrangements/events/meetings made by Delegates or member companies, directly or indirectly. EPCA's obligations in relation with the Annual Meeting are obligations of reasonable efforts only, not obligations of results.
EPCA shall furthermore only be liable to the delegate and to the member company for losses or damages in relation with the Annual Meeting in the event of fraud or of gross negligence on EPCA's part. With regard to its subcontractors, EPCA's duties are limited to contracting with reputable subcontractors; EPCA shall therefore not be liable in case of damages caused by negligence of one of its subcontractors, unless it has failed to select such reputable contractor.
The liability of EPCA is in any case limited to direct material damage caused to the Delegate, and therefore no compensation will be paid for immaterial damage such as loss of data, loss of reputation, loss of business (opportunities) and other losses (including but not limited to costs for private functions or events organized by the Delegate or third parties around the Annual Meeting dates).EPCA does not accept any liability for reimbursement of travel costs unless otherwise stated. EPCA only provides the technical means for the Annual Meeting and does not take any responsibility or assume any liability, directly or indirectly, for any third party's content or information presented or made available during the Annual Meeting.
The limitations of liability contained in the present section are only applicable to the extent that they are not contrary to any provisions of mandatory law and will be reduced accordingly as to comply with such provisions, if needed.
EPCA has the right to modify the content and the schedule of the Annual Meeting, including the content and the schedule of the sessions which are part of the Annual Meeting, and the identity of speakers if this is needed for factors not resorting to EPCA, such as unexpected unavailability of subcontractors or speakers, logistic problems, etc.. No compensation will be paid by EPCA if such modifications are made.
EPCA also reserves the right to amend, postpone or withdraw the event for reasons of Force Majeure. Force Majeure includes: pandemic, the application of security measures imposed in this context, the unavailability of personnel due to contagious infection, interruption of services provided by third parties for reason independent of EPCA's will, acts of God, war, civil disturbance, insurrections, acts of government, strikes or other labour troubles, threats or acts of terrorism or similar acts, or other emergency or hindrance, which make it impossible or financially not sustainable, for EPCA to further organize the Annual Meeting or otherwise carry out its obligations under the present Terms and Conditions).. In such case EPCA will not be held responsible for any costs, damages or expenses incurred by delegates. In such a situation, EPCA will inform the delegates by prompt written notice with details following the occurrence of the cause relied upon. Registration for the EPCA Annual Meeting will then automatically be refunded.
There may be circumstances that affect delegates and that prevent the delegate to attend the Annual Meeting.. In these instances, EPCA is unable to refund registration fees if the delegate cannot attend the Annual Meeting, even if this is due to a case of force majeure.
5. EPCA trademark and copyright
EPCA is an internationally protected name, trademark and logo and EPCA's recordings of the Annual Meeting are copyrighted material.
5.1. Usage
The EPCA name, trademark and logo cannot be used in any communication, company literature, press release or any other promotional material or communication without EPCA's explicit prior consent in writing.
5.2. Recording / streamed content
The streamed content / recordings of the Annual Meeting are protected under international copyright law and EPCA is the owner of the copyright of these. Any re-recording or further broadcasting of any part of the Annual Meeting without prior written authorization of EPCA infringes the copyright of EPCA and is prohibited.
6. Compliance
6.1. Compliance with competition law
Compliance with competition law is one of EPCA's core values. EPCA and its members are committed to strict competition law compliance. Compliance must be ensured at all times during the attendance of the Annual Meeting, including any one-to-one meetings or events in which the delegate may participate in the context of the Annual Meeting. Member companies are also committed to strict compliance when they participate in activities that are not part of the Annual Meeting as such but take place in the wider context of EPCA's mission (for instance meetings/events -no matter the format online or face to face- which are organized by delegates during the Annual Meeting date but outside the Annual Meeting).
6.2. Presented content
Speakers, moderators, panelists, delegates and others intervening in a debate or discussions during sessions organized by EPCA as well as during side events and when visiting meeting tables, act on their own and on their company's behalf and are solely responsible and liable for the oral or written content of their input and the impact on the public thereof.
Delegates will always abide to the rules regarding competition law and also follow EPCA guidelines regarding competition law, which can be found www.epca.eu/dos-donts (and as may be amended from time to time by EPCA).
In particular, when participating to activities pertaining to the Annual Meeting, Speakers, Moderators, Panel Members and the Delegates must refrain from addressing sensitive market information (unless it is legitimately in the public domain) and topics such as quantitative market analysis and projections, in particular where this includes forward-looking data and projections on prices, costs, production capacity, demand, margins, promotion of a company, etc. Topics that can be addressed are general topics of interest to the industry, such as climate change, emission reduction targets, CO2 emissions reduction, CCS and other decarbonizing technologies, circular economy, etc., global events and their socio-economic impact (e.g. COVID-19), regulatory and legislative developments and government initiatives, Diversity and Inclusion, Leadership programs, promotion of STEM to the younger generations, Digitization as an enabler of greater sustainability, etc. Also, any information provided by Speakers, Moderators, Panel Members and Delegates should focus only on facts and events in the public domain and report on historic and aggregated data. In compliance with the EPCA guidelines, content may not reveal individual company positions, strategies or future market conduct. When Speakers, Moderators, Panel Members or Delegates participate to a panel or are involved in the organization of an event and are requested to make a presentation, the topic will have to be submitted to EPCA for consideration and approval in advance with a presentation of the topic, the main initiative and the format of the presentation.
In the case of breach of these rules, EPCA will have the right to immediately terminate the access of the person that has committed the breach, without payment of any compensation, and notwithstanding the right for EPCA to claim for damages.
7. Photographs and videos
In case of in-person participation in the event, it is possible that the delegate appears on photos or incidentally on the recordings that are made to allow the streaming of the event. The delegate accepts this. In case of online participation, the delegate has the choice to appear or not, by activating or not his webcam. The recordings of the event may be distributed to EPCA members.
EPCA may also take pictures and videotape the event and use these to promote its activities in internal and external communications. If a delegate does not want the pictures in which he/she is identifiable to be used for these promotional purposes, he/she must notify EPCA in writing by sending an email to communications@epca.eu no later than 5 days after the end of the event. Otherwise, he/she agrees to the use of his/her image, free of charge and without limitation of time or means.
Image material will be processed by EPCA in compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 and in compliance with our Privacy Policy which is available on our website at the following address: epca.eu/privacy-policy
8. Processing of personal data and cookies
8.1. Personal data
Personal data is information that identifies and relates to a delegate. In the case of EPCA events, it includes but is not limited to: last name, first name, business mailing address, office telephone, mobile telephone number, business email address, job title, VAT number and legal documentation required under EU VAT codes, picture and voice, as well as other personal information the delegate may disclose as part of the event.
Delegates can obtain from EPCA (data protection officer available at dataprotection@epca.eu) the written communication of their data, as well as, where applicable under the GDPR, portability of the data, rectification, restriction of processing, deletion of those which are inaccurate, incomplete or irrelevant. For further information or to lodge a complaint delegates may also contact the supervisory authority of the country of your habitual residence.
8.2. Privacy policy
The personal data and information that the Delegates provide to EPCA, are processed by EPCA in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27April 2016. The personal data is used in compliance with our Privacy Policy which is available on our website at the following address: epca.eu/privacy-policy
In addition to the provisions of that Privacy Policy the personal data of the Delegate will be processed by EPCA for meeting management purposes only and more specifically:
a) To provide access (and to monitor such access) to the EPCA Annual Meeting and to allow a participation to the EPCA Annual Meeting (this is needed for the performance of the agreement between EPCA and the Delegate regarding the participation to the EPCA Annual Meeting - article 6.1.b) GDPR) ; In particular, the name of the Delegate and the company represented will be displayed on the badge or screen, or at least made available to other attendants, and recorded, if the Delegates attends a session of the Annual Meeting or another event. In case of questions asked during the Q&A sessions of the business sessions, EPCA can also identify the individual delegate. When the delegate participates in-person to sessions that are recorded and broadcasted online, it is possible that the Delegates image and/or voice will appear incidentally.
b) To ensure that the Delegates abide to the rules of the present Terms & Conditions (which is a legitimate interest of EPCA - article 6.1.f) GDPR);
c) To make the contact details of the Delegate available to the other Delegates (EPCA has a legitimate interest that Delegates know who is participating to the EPCA Annual Meeting - article 6.1. f) GDPR). However, EPCA delegates who do not wish their name and/or contact details to appear on the attendance list available in the member companies' area of the EPCA website, the event online platform and associated app for registered Delegates should tick the appropriate box during the registration process. Not ticking the relevant box upon registration or the absence of written instructions not to be included will result in publication of the Delegate's details in the abovementioned list.
d) To transfer the contact details of the participants to health authorities of the location of the Annual Meeting, in order for these authorities to trace and contact EPCA delegates in case of sanitary related matters (the transmission of the data is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which EPCA is subject- article 6.1.c) GDPR)
8.3. Third party data processing
EPCA can transmit the personal data of the delegate to third parties when this is needed or useful for the processing described above.
This is the case for the data needed for the booking of rooms: the personal data of the delegate needed for such booking will be transferred to the hotel selected by the delegate. Once transferred, the hotel will be the controller of these data: it is for the delegate to read the privacy policy of the selected hotel.
The delegate is also informed that the processing of the delegate's personal data by third parties can encompass a transfer of data outside the EEA, and more particularly in countries where the level of protection of personal data is not the same as under the GDPR. Such transfer is however needed for the performance of the agreement between EPCA and the delegate regarding the delegate's participation to the EPCA Annual Meeting. Furthermore, where the data are processed by a subcontractor of EPCA in such countries, EPCA has taken additional measures to ensure the protection of the delegate's personal data when these data are processed outside the EEA, i.e., EPCA has signed Standard Contractual Clauses with the company running the event online and registration platform (iDloom). More information regarding these measures can be obtained from the EPCA office by emailing admin@epca.eu. iDloom also installs cookies and unique identifiers on the delegate equipment, which are necessary to identify the delegate upon joining the streamed business sessions. This is needed for carrying out the transmission of communication over an electronic communications network and is also strictly necessary in order for EPCA to provide access to the EPCA Annual Meeting.
9. Applicable law and competent courts
The present Terms and Conditions as well as all relationships and contracts with EPCA in relation with the Annual Meeting shall be exclusively governed and construed in accordance with Belgian law. All disputes in relation with the present Terms and Conditions and/or with the Annual Meeting shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Brussels (Belgium), without prejudice to EPCA’s right to initiate proceedings before the courts of the Delegate’s registered office in the event that any sums are due by the Delegate to EPCA.