The Alliance for European Logistics (AEL), hosted the 5th European Logistics Summit in Brussels on Wednesday, 17 October 2012 from 14:00-18:00. The Summit is by now a well-established tradition, bringing together policy-makers, politicians and industry to discuss the state of logistics as a sector in Europe. But this year was special. A High Level Group for Logistics has been launched and we were delighted that Vice President Siim Kallas came to present at the event to talk about the Group's work (speech here). The Summit also saw the announcement of the creation of a Logistics Platform in the European Parliament by MEP Brian Simpson, Chair of the European Parliament's Transport Committee. CEO of Deutsche Post DHL Dr. Frank Appel presented the AEL's recommendations for unlocking the potential of the Single Market for Logistics to Vice President Kallas at the event. These recommendations can be found here.

In addition to these important speeches, two panels addressed Business, Logistics and Commerce in a Global Economic Context and How Urbanisation and Demographics are Changing the Logistics Game.

The Summit featured speeches and announcements from:

• Siim Kallas - Vice President of the European Commission
  
• Brian Simpson - MEP, Chair of the European Parliament's Transport Committee

Panelists for the conference's sessions will include:

• Frank Appel - CEO, Deutsche Post DHL and Member of the High Level Group on Logistics
  
• Pascal Cretot - Logistics and Performance, Michelin
• Susanne Czech, Secretary General of the European Multi-channel and Online Trade Association (EMOTA)
• Till Dengel - Vice President for Transport and Logistics, SAP
  
• Santiago Garcia-Milà Lloveras - Deputy Director General, Port of Barcelona
• Matthias Groote - MEP, Chair of the European Parliament's Environment, Health and Food Safety Committee
  
• Professor Alan McKinnon - Head of the Logistics Department, Kühne Logistics University and Member of the High Level Group on Logistics
• Ian Wainwright, Road Freight Programme Manager, Transport for London, responsible for coordinating road freight during the 2012 London Olympics

The event was moderated by Melinda Crane - Deutsche Welle TV