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About the Organisers

Organisers

ETRA - The European Twowheel Retailers' Association www.etra-eu.com

ETRA has 3 key objectives: the development of a platform for the transfer of know-how among 2Wheel retailers, lobbying and promotion.

Mobility, environment, public health and sustainability are 4 key issues for the European institutions in setting out the EU policies. ETRA believes that, in this framework, a broad approach is needed to address the challenges, which European cities face: climate change, emissions, air and noise pollution, the quality of life of the citizens, congestion, road safety … Technological progress alone does not offer adequate solutions to these problems.

ETRA advocates an approach that significantly reduces the levels of all private motorised transport in urban areas, via a range of practical and feasible measures, and that increases the proportion of journeys made by 2Wheels as well as on foot and by public transport. The potential for change to sustainable travel in urban areas is huge. This focus on a shift to sustainable transport will not only address policy objectives related to transport but also in areas such as climate change; public health and obesity; social inclusion and community cohesion; and energy security. The fact that 2Wheels can make a crucial contribution to mobility, the environment, public health and sustainability in the European Union is the pillar of ETRA’s activities.

ETRA is the European professional association for independent bicycle, moped and motorcycle retailers. ETRA’s objective is to group these retailers in Europe and to defend and further their interests. The organisation represents some 5,000 companies, which employ approximately 11,500 people in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland and the United Kingdom. Furthermore, ETRA has a large number of associated members. These are international companies/organisations active in the 2Wheel field who believe in ETRA’s work and who have therefore chosen to support that work through their membership.

Forum Europe www.forum-europe.com

At Forum Europe, we've been staging leading European political events for over 20 years. Our in-depth knowledge of the Brussels and EU market makes us the number one choice for companies and organisations staging political and policy events in Europe and beyond.

With offices in the heart of Europe, at La Bibliotheque Solvay in Brussels, our multilingual and dynamic team delivers excellent networking opportunities and high quality content, feeding directly into the policy formulation process. Our operations are divided into two distinct but complementary services:

- Conference Production
- Event Management

We work with a range of clients with varying interests, from large multinational corporations to NGOs and charities – and everything in between. We know that the success of every event depends on forming a strong, close working relationship with our partner or client.

In Association with

ACEM, the Motorcycle Industry in Europe www.acem.eu

ACEM is the association representing the Motorcycle Industry in Europe. With 13 Powered Two-Wheelers (PTWs) manufacturers producing more than 30 brands, and 15 national associations out of 13 countries, ACEM members employ over 150.000 people in the EU. Powered Two-Wheelers, which include a wide range of vehicles from mopeds, scooters and motorcycles to tricycles and quadricycles, are ideal for journeys in cities being best suited to answer the increasing demand for individual mobility of a growing urban population. Affordable, fuel efficient and small PTWs widen the transport offer and provide a sustainable and enjoyable solution for our daily mobility needs.

In the EU around 35 million citizens use Powered Two-Wheelers on a regular basis, primarily for practical needs: over 60% of journeys are for commuting, utility and to make up for incomplete public transport.

Compared to other road surface transport modes (automobiles, freight transport) PTWs contribute to only 2% of overall emissions. ACEM’s commitment towards the environment and the innovation capacity of its members ensure that emissions from PTWs undergo continuous reductions, which are regulated at European level.

The aggregated turnover of the PTW sector (manufacturing, plus upstream and downstream activities) amounted to Euro 34 billion in 2008. Manufacturers alone account for 7 billion Euros. The members of ACEM are responsible for 90% of the production and up to 95% of the European powered two-wheeler (PTW) market.

The European PTW sector represents an added value for the European economy of more than 1.5 billion Euros per year. ACEM members are responsible for 90% of the European production which touched the 2.5 million units landmark at the end of 2007. The economic crisis beginning in 2008 deeply affected the European Motorcycle sector causing an unprecedented recession that accounted for a market contraction of 40% in 2011 compared to 2007.

To learn more about PTW and sustainable urban mobility download our brochure: http://www.acem.eu/publiq/Smart_Wheels_def.pdf

Partners

UEAPME (The European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) www.ueapme.com

UEAPME is the employer’s organisation representing the interests of European crafts, trades and SMEs at EU level. UEAPME is a recognised European Social Partner and acts on behalf of crafts and SMEs in the European Social Dialogue and in discussions with the EU institutions. It is a non-profit seeking and non-partisan organisation.

As the European SME umbrella organisation, UEAPME incorporates 80 member organisations consisting of national cross-sectorial SME federations, European branch federations and other associate members, which support the SME family.

Across the whole of Europe, UEAPME represents over 12 million enterprises with nearly 55 million employees.

The Greens/EFA in the European Parliament www.greens-efa.eu

The Greens/European Free Alliance is a political group in the European Parliament made up of Green MEPs and MEPs from parties representing stateless nations and disadvantaged minorities.

The group was established in July 1999, when these two progressive European political families agreed to join forces in the European Parliament.

Greens/EFA is currently the fourth largest political group in the European Parliament, with 58 MEPs from 15 countries. Ensuring gender balance is a priority for the group: there are 31 female and 27 male MEPs, while the group also has male and female co-presidents.

The Greens/EFA project is to :

• build a society respectful of fundamental human rights and environmental justice: the rights to self-determination, to shelter, to good health, to education, to culture, and to a high quality of life;
• increase freedom within the world of work, not only by tackling unemployment but also by widening people's choices, releasing human creative potential;
• deepen democracy by decentralisation and direct participation of people in decision-making that concerns them, and by enhancing openness of government in Council and Commission, and making the Commission fullv answerable to Parliament;
• build a European Union of free peoples based on the principle of subsidiarity who believe in solidarity with each other and all the peoples of the world;
• re-orientate the European Union, which currently over-emphasises its economic conception at the expense of social, cultural and ecological values.

The Greens/European Free Alliance is working for :

• economic and social reforms to make development sustainable for both human beings and the natural world;
• a democratic process linking trade, security, economic and social issues to environmental, cultural and democratic rights;
• high ecological, social and democratic standards to ensure the quality of life;
• solidarity, guaranteed human and citizen's rights for everybody, including people who have come from non-EU countries;
• a foreign policy designed to resolve problems by peaceful means rather than by military force;
• improved structures for democratic participation in political decision-making, involving NGOs, Trade Unions, citizens and civic authorities at all levels, with measures to ensure equal participation of women;
• guaranteed equal rights and opportunities, as well as cultural and linguistic diversity;
• a policy of employment and redistribution of work with special attention to gender issues, in order to end the existing unbalanced division of labour and share the workload more fairly between women and men, ensuring that women are fully able to take part in the formal labour market as well as in political life;
• the involvement of the relevant elected authorities that have constitutional powers in the decisions of the Council of Ministers relating to matters that fall within their competence.

The two constituent parts of the Group agree to determine a yearly common programme for political action in relation to the Parliament's work programme. 

European Mobility Week www.mobilityweek.eu

European Mobility Week is an annual campaign on sustainable urban mobility, organised with the political and financial support of the Directorates-General for the Environment and Transport of the European Commission. The aim of the campaign, which runs from 16 to 22 September every year, is to encourage European local authorities to introduce and promote sustainable transport measures and to invite their citizens to try out alternatives to car use.

The Week culminates in the ‘In Town Without My Bicycles in Chemnitz, GermanyCar!’ event, which has been running since 2000, and sees participating towns and cities set aside one or several areas solely for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport for the entire day.

Since its introduction in 2002, the impact of European Mobility Week has steadily grown, both across Europe and around the world. In 2010,  a  record  number  of  2,268  cities,  re-presenting  approximately  227  million  - citizens,  officially  registered  for  the  campaign. A  total  of  7,506  permanent  measures  have been  implemented,  mainly  focusing  on  infrastructure  for cycling  and  walking,  traffic  calming,  improving transport  accessibility  and  raising  awareness about sustainable travel behaviour.

The campaign represents an opportunity for participating cities and towns to demonstrate the importance of sustainable urban mobility and is also a unique chance for local authorities to test their transport policies and present them to the citizens. In recent years, the campaign has spread beyond Europe to countries such as Japan, Taiwan, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador.

In its 2009 Action Plan on Urban Mobility, the European Commission described European Mobility Week as a campaign that, "Plays an important role in the creation of a new culture for urban mobility".

Bike Europe www.bike-eu.com

Bike Europe is the leading journal for everyone involved in bike business. With news, market reports, EU laws and regulation, show (p)reviews and much more.