The Accountability Council
The Accountability Council (AC) is tasked with evaluating the actions of the Board and providing advice on a number of key areas. The Council is made up of eight members.
In 2017, these were:
- two members appointed by DSM Nederland: Kim Sonnenschein (stepped down on May 1), Henk Bosch (Deputy Chairman), and Ruud van Ool (started June 1).
- two members appointed by the employees: Marc Silvertand and Gerard van der Westen.
- four members appointed from and by the pensioners: Martin Aertsen (Chairman), John van Engelen, Henk Beun (stepped down as from April 1), Harm Noppers (started April 1), and Harry Govers.
From left to right: Henk Bosch (Deputy Chair), John van Engelen, Ruud van Ool, Marc Silvertand, Harry Govers, Martin Aertsen (Chair) and Dirk van den Bos (from April 1, 2018). Harm Noppers (stepped down April 1, 2018) and Gerard van der Westen are not present on the photo.
The Accountability Council evaluates the actions and policy of the Board, with particular attention to a number of key focus areas formulated by the Council. For 2017, these were: investments, communication, the administration agreement, strategy, and succession planning.
In the final analysis of 2017, the Council is positive about:
The financial result achieved in comparison with the benchmark;
The updated website, which is clearly very much improved;
The reassessed and clarified Investment Beliefs;
The constructive consultations between the Board and the Council.
The Council has concerns about:
The insufficient progress (as a result of an internal focus) made by the Board in 2017 on handling the key focus areas and recommendations defined by the Council;
The lack of progress in the implementation of PDN’s strategy; the 2018 update of that strategy also depends on input and guidance by DSM Corporate;
The continuity in Governance/Diversity/Succession; partly due to the lack of sufficient support/facilities from DSM Corporate and Social Partners.