The CONEBI General Assembly took place digitally on 23 November 2021. The General Assembly welcomes a new member of the Board of Directors – João Miranda from ABIMOTA - who takes the place of Paulo Monteiro Rodrigues as one of the CONEBI Vice Presidents. The rest of the Board of Directors is constituted by Erhard Büchel (President), Ton Anbeek (Vice President), Massimo Panzeri (Vice President) and Remco Tekstra (Treasurer).

ABIMOTA and CONEBI express their gratitude to Paulo Monteiro Rodrigues for his work and wish him all the best for his future. Paulo has spent 4 years in the CONEBI Board, representing an invaluable asset for the association, and has actively contributed to the positive developments of CONEBI and the CONEBI work.

“It is with great honor that I assume this position and I hope that my experience as a businessman in the bicycle sector and President of ABIMOTA can contribute to further affirm the excellent work that CONEBI has developed over the years” says João Miranda.

João is a globally known top industrialist, deeply involved in the Portuguese industrialization project: “we look forward to working together in view of the upcoming advocacy challenges in Europe, which undoubtedly have the potential to shape the market in the long-term and confidence for current and future investments in our continent’’ says Erhard Büchel, CONEBI President.

In addition to the appointment of João Miranda, the CONEBI General Assembly discussed the industry and market developments in Europe in the first half of 2021. Erhard Büchel, comments: “The supply chain issues are not over, but we as an industry have reasons to be optimistic; cycling is gaining ground and our advocacy work is paying off both at EU and national levels.”

After the important success reached this year with the exclusion of the EPAC from the scope of the new EU Motor Insurance Directive by the European Institutions, the 2022 work in Brussels will be focused on different dossiers, including the revisions of the EU Machinery, General Product Safety, Batteries and Type Approval legislations. The industry commitment against tampering, launched very recently, has already given first tangible results, with the invitation to present the issue in one of the next EU meetings of the Forum for Exchange of Information on Enforcement, organised under the aegis of the European Commission.

“The role of legislation is crucial and will be among the main factors for the growth of both the market and the industry that we foresee for the years to come’’ states Manuel Marsilio – CONEBI General Manager.