The EMS was formally established on 14 September 1999 in Norrköping, Sweden, during the European Conference on Applications of Meteorology.

At this - somewhat different - opening session we use the opportunity to look back at what the EMS has achieved, what role it plays today within the European meteorological community and where its future lies.
We have invited personalities who have been involved in the development of the EMS and its flagship, the Annual Meeting, over the last quarter of a century, and also young scientists whose perspective on the organisation will be crucial to define the roadmap for the future.

All panellists will be given two questions in the preparation and invited for an initial 2-minute statement. The panel will be chaired and moderated by Liz Bentley, the President of the EMS.

For a short summary on the EMS history see https://www.emetsoc.org/about-ems/history/.
A detailed account of the developments leading to the foundation of the EMS is given in two papers by René Morin and the late Jon Wieringa in the RMetS Journal Weather, 2018:
https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wea.3078
and https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wea.3089