Jean-Paul Philippot was elected President of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) during the general assembly held in Budapest, July 2008.
Graduated in Commercial Engineering from the Solvay Business School of the Free University of Brussels, Jean-Paul Philippot is also RTBF’S Administrator General since February 2002.
Debuting in the broadcast sector – after his long experience in the healthcare administration, particularly the public hospital system in Brussels – Jean-Paul Philippot helped RTBF to recover from an identity and financial crisis, protecting the company from serious loss. Based on the Magellan Plan, in few years he restructured this public enterprise, restoring its financial balance from high 13 million € deficit at the time.
He also redressed RTBF’s audiences, stimulating competition and consequently deviating the focus from general TV. He also restructured RTBF’s administration, passing from a decentralized to an articulated management over program packages. Finally Jean-Paul Philippot implemented an investment plan, which made it possible for RTBF to successfully move into digital age.
Back to public Radio and TV management on February 1st, Jean-Paul Philippot is committed to helping Radio & TV prevail despite its ever-changing environment. Conscious that the company’s overall mission is the production of radio and TV programs, he promotes new media, the production of original contents thus confirming its preponderant role for the French speaking community.
As head of such solid company, counting over 2200 employees and a budget of 260 million Euros, Jean-Paul Philippot was elected president of the European Broadcasting Union in the summer of 2008. He assumed his functions on January 1st 2009 stating he has “always preferred the complexity of changes in the public sector to the comfort of settled situations.”
