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EMS NewsBerlin, 18–22 July 2016. It was agreed that preparationsare proceeding well, and that an interesting meeting is inprospect.The committee received preliminary bids to host the8th ECM in 2020 from the University of Sevilla (Spain)and University of Primorska (Slovenia). Deeming bothto be serious candidates, the committee agreed to inviteboth parties to prepare full, detailed bids. Representativesof both bids will be invited to the next ExecutiveCommittee meeting and a final decision will be taken bythe EMS Council in 2016.Several other future events were discussed. The committeeagreed that the EMS Boole lecture will be deliveredby Stanley Burris from the University of Waterlooin Cork, Ireland, in August 2015.In order to simplify Calls for Proposals, the committeeagreed that henceforth the submission deadline forevents in year n + 1 should be 30th September in year n.Society MeetingsThe Executive Committee discussed the program for themeeting of the Presidents of the Member Societies inInnsbruck, Austria (28–29 March 2015; see page 8 of thisNewsletter), and agreed to schedule a discussion on thepractice of political lobbying for mathematics.The committee also discussed preparations for theone-day anniversary event in celebration of the 25th Anniversaryof the EMS, at the Institut Henri Poincaré inParis, on 22nd October 2015.Standing CommitteesThe committee voted to appoint Roberto Natalini asChair of the Committee for Raising Public Awareness ofMathematics and Patrick Foulon as Vice-Chair of ER-COM (the forum of directors of European ResearchCentres in the mathematical sciences).The Executive Committee considered a report fromthe committee on Applied Mathematics, and noted thatpromising proposals have been received for a new ES-SAM school (European Applied Mathematics SummerSchools in Applied Mathematics) devoted to mathematicswith a modelling component (understood in a widesense).A report was received from the Education Committee.The President additionally reported that he hadattended the previous meeting of that committee andreminded it of a prior request to prepare a broad inventoryof educational methods in mathematics acrossEurope.The Chair of the Electronic Publishing CommitteeJiří Rákosník was present and presented his report, witha focus on the future of the European Digital MathematicsLibrary.Reports were also received from the Committees onDeveloping Countries, Ethics, European Solidarity, Meetings,Publications, and Women in Mathematics. Regardingthe last of these, the Executive Committee agreed tosupport the organisation of a majority female event atthe Mittag-Leffler Institute in the summer of 2016.PublishingThe state of the EMS Publishing House was discussed,and the Executive Committee agreed a list of candidatesfor the House’s Scientific Advisory Board.The Editor-in-Chief of the Newsletter of the EMS,Lucia Di Vizio, then delivered her report.It was agreed to reappoint Mireille Chaleyat-Maurelas Editor of the Society’s E-News and to add the PublicityOfficer to its editorial team. To better synchronise theE-News with the Newsletter, it was decided that henceforththe E-News should be sent out on the same day thatthe Newsletter becomes available online.Relations with Funding Bodies and PoliticalOrganisationsThe President discussed the relations of the EMS to theInitiative for Science in Europe (ISE). Of particular interestis the ISE’s campaign responding to the so-calledJuncker Plan, which proposes cuts to the budget of Horizon2020 (see ‘Reaction to the Juncker Plan’, p. 6, EMSNewsletter, March 2015). A possible change in the legalstatus to the ISE was also discussed; the Executive Committeewill support such a move if it becomes necessary.The President related new appointments and otherrecent developments at the European Research Council(ERC).Relations with Mathematical OrganisationsThe Executive Committee discussed its nominations toseveral Scientific Committees and other learned bodies.It was pleased to invite Sara van de Geer to deliver theEMS-Bernoulli Society joint lecture, to be delivered atthe Nordic Congress of Mathematics in Stockholm, 16–20 March 2016.ConclusionThe next Executive Committee meeting will be 27–29November 2015, at the Steklov Institute in Moscow. ThePresident concluded the current meeting by expressingthe thanks of everyone present to the Czech Institute ofMathematics, and to Jiří Rákosník in particular, for theexcellent hospitality and organisation. The committeethen retired to the roof terrace, where a beautiful viewof the city was enjoyed in the sunshine, accompanied bya glass of slivovice.EMS Newsletter June 2015 7