FIM Europe was present at the 13th ACEM annual conference in Brussels. The event, titled “Sustainable motorcycling in Europe” was organised by the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers and attracted more than 250 attendees from all over Europe, representing businesses, representatives from the European Commission, the European Parliament, Member States, NGOs and other organisations.
The conference addressed the role of the motorcycle industry in the sustainability of transport in Europe and the direction that the Commission is clearly indicating. Some of the topics that were discussed included: motorcycling in cities, traffic congestion and local environmental policies, regulation 168/2013 on type-approval of L-category vehicles and environmental standards, engine efficiency and electrification of transport, pollutant emissions (HC, NOx, PM), GEAR 2030 and the future of the automotive sector in Europe, and latest market trends.
At the high level panel were present Stefan Pierer, CEO of the Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM and current President of ACEM, Antti Peltomäki (Finnish), Deputy Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate General for internal market and industry (DG GROW), Bernd Lange (German), member of the European Parliament, Claire Depré, European Commission, DG MOVE, Greg Archer, Transport and Environment, Director for clean vehicles, Erwin Segers, ACEM – Technical affairs committee, ACEM Secretary General Antonio Perlot and Silvio Manicardi, FIM Europe Second Deputy President.
The panel openly discussed various items at the presence of FIM Europe Second Deputy President Silvio Manicardi, who represented some issues of motorcycle riders, among which the necessity of the need to consider the rolling stock of 35 million motorcycles when the legislator imposes new rules for circulation following the arrival of autonomous driving.
Stefan Pierer, CEO of the Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM and current President of ACEM opened the conference. “Our industry is committed to sustainability, which we understand as a complex process related to environmental performance of vehicles, road safety and economic viability of our operations”, stated Mr Pierer. “Since 1999, our sector moved from the Euro 0 to the Euro 4 standard. Carbon monoxide emissions were reduced by 91%. Nitrogen oxide and carbon emissions considered together went down by 92%. Even more, this reduction in limit values took place at the same time that new and more stringent testing procedures were introduced in European legislation.
“In the coming months, we will start working on the implementation of the future Euro 5 environmental standard. However, manufacturing vehicles requires complex planning and we urgently need clarity from the European Commission regarding the technical content and implementation timeline of Euro 5”.
During the ACEM conference several European and international brands showed some of their latest models and prototypes. The members of the Resolve Consortium presented two electric prototypes of tilting four-wheelers belonging to the L2e and the L6e category. The project was funded by the EU with 6.8 Mio euros from the European Horizon 2020 programme. The consortium is composed of 14 companies that are led by Italian manufacturer Piaggio. Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM also participates in the project.
“As far as electric mobility is concerned, FIM as a sporting entity has already started to promote various activities including the presence in races during MotoGP from 2019”, stated Silvio Manicardi. “In particular, at European level, already several activities exist and others have been announced to allow the increasingly widespread use of electric motorcycles also in competitions.
“FIM Europe and its member organisation furthermore believe that a proper education in using the actual PTW will also help in reducing pollution and noise in traffic.
“We were particularly pleased to have represented the position of riders and of FIM Europe in such an important context”.
