First Speakers Announced

Dorothee Arns is a seasoned public affairs and business executive with a proven track record in successfully leading profit and non-profit organisations.

Since June 2019, she has been Director General of the Brussels-based European Association of Chemical Distributors (Fecc), which represents more than 1,600 members across Europe and from all parts of the chemical value chain, including producers, logistics and service companies.

From 2013 to 2019, she served as Executive Director of Petrochemicals Europe at Cefic, and was also part of Cefic’s leadership team. Before this, she held various senior leadership roles at BASF Ludwigshafen, mainly in marketing, sales and eBusiness for the company’s petrochemical business.

Of German nationality, Dorothee studied in Germany, Ireland and Spain, and holds two master’s degrees: an MBA with a focus on international management and a master’s in Applied Languages & Linguistics.

Quentin de Hults has been Deputy Director General and Chief Operating Officer of Detergents Europe (formerly A.I.S.E.), the voice of the cleaning and hygiene products industry in Europe, since December 2025.

Quentin is a senior public affairs executive and EU association leader with over 20 years of experience on topics related to energy and sustainability in the construction, chemicals and raw materials sectors. He worked for 13 years at BASF, where he held senior advocacy roles, before joining different EU associations.

He first set up and led the Modern Building Alliance for four years, then joined the International Copper Association in 2021, becoming its Director General for Europe in 2024. He holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Louvain School of Engineering in Belgium and has over 12 years of experience in EU government relations.