Change in leadership at ESSA: Myriam Bevillon takes over from Harald Lüling

Frankfurt/M. – 26 March 2026. Change at the top of ESSA: Myriam Bevillon of Gunnebo Safe Storage AB is new chairperson of the European Security Systems Association (ESSA). She is taking over the reins from Harald Lüling, who has significantly shaped the leading international association of the physical security industry for 20 years. The CEO of Burg Wächter will remain a member of the ESSA Board. His successor, Myriam Bevillon, aims to continue the market‑ and needs‑oriented course while bringing in her own style. Here is a conversation with her about priorities, challenges, obstacles, goals, and visions.

My main area of focuses includes finding out about trade barriers, and how to overcome them is one. Another is "one stop testing" with mutual test result recognition from approved testing laboratories. I also want to make sure that our standards are still in line with what happens on the market. For instance, we need to speed up the transition of the safe lock standard EN 1300. It is important to include and define borders of operating locks with smartphones.   

Where do you currently see the greatest challenges for physical security?  

There are a few challenges. As mentioned speeding up the normative part so that it catches up with technology and has been on the table for a while, another one is the recent boom in AI and its unknown consequences, and the last one is the sustainability challenge, where the global physical security business is well behind. 

What are the most difficult barriers in the international market?  

Previously, different standards were the main challenge, but new government trade barriers have made things more complicated.   

In your opinion, which security issues relevant to ESSA will become more important?  Cyber-attacks, also powered by AI! Not new, but still prevalent, also fire risks related to storage of Lithium-Ion batteries, as more and more batteries are used. 

I think this needs to be thought through, and reviewed, and I see this as one task for the ESSA board, also to discuss with members. Our industry is well-recognized for its strong emphasis on security and confidentiality, ensuring we consistently uphold the highest standards. While this approach remains a core strength, we also need to complement it with accelerated responsiveness to meet evolving needs and demands, as markets are expecting a greater agility to adopt new technologies and ways of working.

We collectively need to be more active for the benefit of all. For the future, it will be crucial to position the security industry in a way that enables it to address emerging risks and security challenges. We can work together as an industry for instance in standardization on the security requirements while of course always respecting the European and antitrust laws.