The association of electrical engineering companies has a long tradition in our country. Czech entrepreneurs began to join the Association of Czech Electro-Technicians at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century while the Czechoslovak Electro-technical Union was established in 1926. The activity of the union was suppressed in 1948 with the onset of the communist regime. After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, companies from the electronic industry and those in the business of electrical engineering joined together to form the electrical engineering section of The Confederation of Industry. Several years later, in January 1992, the economically and legally independent body – The Czech and Moravian Electrical and Electronic Association (EIA) was formed.

EIA is a free union of entrepreneurs and employers and associates the most significant domestic producers and suppliers of the electrical and electronic industries as well as of information technology. Its members include both domestic branches of large international corporations and also medium and small enterprises in the ownership of domestic capital. The proportion of members in the Czech and Moravian Electrical and Electronic Association within all electrical production in the Czech Republic has been approximately 70 % for a long period of time. EIA is an important member of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, which is an umbrella organization for approximately 30 member organizations, associations and unions operating in various sectors of Czech industry. EIA members may take advantage of services offered by this confederation.

The Czech and Moravian Electrical and Electronic Association is an important partner of the trade union KOVO. The collective agreement is voluntary for each ElA member and the social contract between employers and employees.

Our association coordinates steps of domestic enterprises to ensure joint interests. To put it simply, the ElA is an industrial and business lobby group striving to support business, to help skilled manufacturers succeed and to improve the competitiveness of Czech firms, the association often stands in opposition to government intervention. ElA representatives formulate objectives and define instruments of institutional insurance. ElA does not favour any specific political party and exerts consistent effort in keeping a non-political position. At the same time, it neither expects nor seeks any special priority for the electrical and electronics industry. Most ElA member organizations have the advantage of a highly qualified work force together with environmentally friendly production.

ElA has developed connections with partner organisations in most industrial countries and maintains contacts with foreign unions of entrepreneurs and their chambers. Our association collaborates with them to assist in establishing direct contacts between domestic and foreign businessmen and to exchange our experiences. ElA also organizes visits of foreign entrepreneurs to selected plants in the Czech Republic. ElA coordinates participation of its members in missions of Czech representatives abroad, establishes contacts with commercial counsellors and seeks cooperation for Czech enterprises in foreign countries.

ElA is a member of the international organization INTERELEKTRO based in Moscow. It coordinates cooperation in the electrical engineering industries within 27 national organizations around the world. At the same time ElA cooperates with Associations in the European Union.

ElA is continuously extending its representation. Thanks to the advantageous geographical position of the Czech Republic and the long tradition of international mechanical engineering industry fairs in Brno, ElA co-organises the biannual event called “AUTOMATION”, “DIGITAL FACTORY” and other seminars/conferences and events in central Europe area.

Another part of association´s work is consultancy o environmental legislation which affects the electrotechnical industrial production. ElA established a subsidiary company RETELA for ensuring the issues in the scope of the European Direction 2002/96/EC (Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment) and for purpose of the pursuit of the collective system RETELA, which manufactures of waste electrical and electronic equipment.

ElA coordinates the project “Through education to higher adaptability and competitiveness” supported within the European social fund, OP Human Resources and Employment.

During a relatively short period, ElA has demonstrated that the activity of the association has been successfully reformed in the category of industry with most dramatic changes in the Czech Republic. The membership of domestic companies in ElA has become important for their economic stability and for reliable relationships with their business partners.