At a busy meeting that took place at Eurobike, the first steps were made to lobby for better European regulations for 2 and 3-wheeled Light Electric Vehicles (LEVs). Some 70 delegates from about 50 companies, representing an absolute majority share of the e-bike/pedelec business in Europe, attended the meeting. Further meetings are scheduled for September and October 2009.
 

 
The objective of the meeting organized by the European Twowheel Retailers’ Association (ETRA), in cooperation with the Light Electric Vehicle Association (LEVA), was to get an answer to the question whether the E-bike industry wants to enter into a dialogue with the European Commission on establishing more appropriate regulations for electric bikes, 2 and 3-wheeled LEVs, than what is currently in place. The participants of the meeting, who represented an absolute majority share of the e-bike/pedelec business in Europe, unanimously answered "yes" to this question.
 
The second question put to the assembled representatives of electric bike manufacturers as well as electric component makers, was whether the participants wanted a change in the current legislation as a result of which today 250 Watt and 25 km/h limitations apply for pedelecs, whereas vehicles exceeding these limits are subject to the moped type-approval procedure. The majority of the meeting voted for a change of legislation.
 
The third question was on who should initiate talks with the European Commission on a change of legislation. The meeting mandated ETRA to start up discussions with the European Commission on creating better regulations for electric bikes, 2 and 3-wheeled LEVs.

Next Meetings
As the European Commission wants to issue a first draft on the review of type-approval for among other things, 2 and 3 wheeled LEVs in December of this year, ETRA has planned the next meeting on Tuesday 29 September in Brussels. Main topic will be how to change and improve the existing legislation. LEVA will organize a parallel meeting for the American and Canadian industry on Friday 25 September at the Interbike Show in Las Vegas, USA while a meeting for the Chinese industry could take place in Beijing, China mid-October. The suggestions and views collected during the upcoming meetings will influence the European industry's input to the EC.

Companies that plan to participate in one of the three scheduled meetings are requested to register in advance with the ETRA-secretariat:
tel. +32 9 233 60 05
e-mail: etra(AT)pandora.be

Any further details on this matter, as well as the minutes of the Eurobike meeting can also be obtained from the secretariat.
 

21 September 2009