ACEM Conference Report - Stephan Schaller calls on EU to provide a "clear and predictable regulatory framework"Themed 'Let's Innovate', in this first part of our reports on last week's ACEM motorcycle industry conference in Brussels, we report on BMW Motorrad’s and ACEM’s serving President Stephan Schaller's positioning of the motorcycle industry as "the solution to the mobility needs of millions of people across Europe"
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| Stephan Schaller pointed to three key criteria that successful regulations should meet and described the current situation as creating "considerable uncertainty and costs for our industry and making production planning very challenging" |
This year's 11th annual ACEM (Association des Constructeurs Européens de Motocycles) motorcycle industry conference (Brussels, September 24th 2015) was staged just two weeks after the European Commission adopted the European Parliament's report on the implementation of the 2011 White Paper on Transport.
As reported in MotoWEEK last week, that report set the seal on twenty years of lobby activity that have, finally and successfully, confirmed motorcycles (indeed all PTWs, three- wheelers and light vehicles) as having a valuable role to play in future-facing transport planning and drawn a line under an era in which PTWs have often appeared to be regarded as a part of the problem rather than a part of the solution where traffic congestion, road safety and environmental impacts have been concerned.
The Parliament's report calls for the specific design and arising benefits of L-category vehicles to be "adequately taken into account and reflected in EU transport legislation and guidelines".
This year's two-part ACEM conference saw the most dramatic proof yet that the needs of our industry to have motorcycle use "stimulated and facilitated" (as the report states) is now an equal partner at the top-table of road use with all the invited speakers from the EU referencing the valuable asset that Europe's 36m PTWs represent in the context of commission transport policy objectives.
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| Left to right - Antonio Perlot, ACEM General Secretary; Jacob Bangsgaard, Director General of FIA, Europe; Karen Vancluysen, Executive Director of POLIS (European Cities and Regions Networking for Innovative Transport Solutions); Geoff Meade (Meade-Davis Communications - moderator); Barbara Bonvissuto, Deputy Head of Unit, DG Grow, European Commission; Wim Van de Camp, MEP, member of the EU Parliament's Transport Committee and Committee on Internal Trade (IMCO); Cristina Marolda, Policy Officer, DG Move, European Commission |
The event attracted more than 130 attendees representing businesses, EU policy-makers, national administrations and stakeholders.
The discussions addressed a wide range of topics, including the mainstreaming of motorcycling into relevant EU policies, as well as its inclusion in national, regional and local transport plans and the importance of balanced and supportive European legislation for the sector.
In his keynote speech, Stephan Schaller, President of BMW Motorrad and the current serving President of ACEM, said that despite the collapse in PTW registrations by some 55 percent in the years between 2007 and 2014 (compared to a 25 percent decline in the passenger car market) there are now, at last, reasons to be optimistic about the prospects for the sector.
"Although it is still too early to speak about a recovery, the latest statistics indicate that registrations in some European markets have stabilised. Registrations between 2013 and 2014 have recovered by at least 2 percent, and the market figures for the first half of this year show that trend continuing".
For the future he called on policy makers to now give our industry a "clear and predictable framework, a framework that supports the competitiveness of our sector, a framework that creates a positive environment for the use of our vehicles. Of course we recognise that all markets need standards and regulations in order to function properly. All vehicles must comply with the same requirements. However, some aspects of the type approval regulations, which will be applied to our industry from 2016, are still open.
"Whilst we do recognise the efforts put in by the European Commission, I must nevertheless state that more efforts are needed."
"The current situation creates considerable uncertainty and costs for our industry; it also makes production planning very challenging. In our opinion the type approval regulation must comply with three simple principles. First it must be technically feasible; second it must be based on solid economic assessments; third it must not increase prices for consumers beyond levels acceptable in the market".
Schaller went on to address the motorcycle industry's support for EU trade agreement initiatives, such as with the United States and elsewhere, that will allow European motorcycle manufacturers to improve their international competitiveness and create further jobs and wealth here in Europe.
He also applauded the EU for the efforts it is making to stimulate and support innovation and pointed to the motorcycle industry's track record of "constantly reinventing itself, constantly developing new products that meet customers’ expectations and needs.
"Innovation is part of our industry's DNA. Innovation is a central part of what we do and of what we will continue to do in the future. However, innovation is also about finding solutions to real problems and finding new ways of thinking. In this sense I strongly believe that we need to look at transport in a different way and in an innovative way.
"For example, the European Mobility bill that has just been finished, and most of the discussions associated with it, focussed mainly on three means of transport - cars, public transport and cycling. The picture was not complete - the L-category of vehicles was missing even though they are part of the solution. L-category vehicles are not just a means of transport, they are the solution to the mobility needs of millions of people across Europe.
"They are cost-efficient, they are agile and easy to park. They are the smart choice to move around a city. They are also part of the solution to traffic congestion and to "small logistics" in the urban context. I believe it is important to keep the facts in mind in order to have a fruitful debate about transport policies at European, national and local level.
"A step in this direction was taken with the 2011 White Paper of Transport. We are confident that the upcoming White Paper on Transport Policy will continue in this direction and will acknowledge further the important contribution that L-category vehicles make and will continue making in the future".
The background to the focus on the importance of urban mobility to European transport policy, and its importance as a primary business opportunity for the motorcycle industry, can be found in one simple series of facts - in 1950 some 750 million people lived in cities worldwide.
By 2014 this number had reached nearly 4 bn, and some 2.5 bn more people are expected to be living in urban areas worldwide by 2050. Some 73 percent of Europe's total population currently resides in urban areas, and this figure is set to reach around 80 percent or more by 2040.
According to ACEM the European Commission's Joint Research Centre estimates that traffic congestion currently costs the European economy about 1 percent of its GDP every year.
Research has shown that if just 10 percent of car drivers were to swap to a moped or motorcycle, congestion would be reduced by 40 percent - congestion being eliminated completely by a 25 percent swap!
To say nothing of the environmental, economic and time-saving benefits that would amount to a very big pile of new helmet, apparel, luggage, performance parts, accessory and service/workshop item sales!
Further reports on the conference will appear in upcoming editions of MotoWEEK and in the next print/digital edition of International Dealer News, and can also be found at www.acem.eu
