The European Motorcycle Training Quality Label received the Road Safety Charter Award in the category ‘voluntary commitments’ during an event organized by the European Commission in Brussels.
The European award acknowledges inspirational and innovative initiatives that contribute towards improving road safety and saving lives on Europe’s roads. The award was presented by the European Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, to the Secretary General of the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM), Antonio Perlot, who received it on behalf of the three members running the European Motorcycle Training Quality Label: ACEM, the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) and the German Road Safety Council (DVR).
The European Motorcycle Training Quality Label is a voluntary certification scheme for post-licence motorcycle training programmes open to all training bodies. Its main objective is to help motorcyclists to recognize the best post-licence training options in Europe. The scheme was launched in 2016 and has certified 29 motorcycle training programmes in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, with more programmes currently under assessment. In 2018 the Swedish FEMA member SMC has been certified and received the motorcycle manufacturers’ quality label ‘European Motorcycle Training Quality Label‘.
The Road Safety Award is one of the flagship initiatives of the European Road Safety Charter, the most important Europe-wide civil society platform on road safety. The Charter was initiated in 2004 by the European Commission to encourage key stakeholders to take specific and measurable road safety action within their area of responsibilities.
Commenting on the European Motorcycle Training Quality Label, the European Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc said: “We are grateful that the European Motorcycling Training Quality Label has been set up, responding to our call for voluntary commitments. Europe has some high-quality training schemes on offer, and the European Motorcycle Training Quality Label will help motorcyclists to identify the very best of them”.
Antonio Perlot, Secretary General of the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM), said: “I am delighted to receive this award on behalf of the consortium running this programme. The Label is not only part of the motorcycle industry’s forward-looking safety strategy but also an excellent example of how cooperation between industry players, NGOs, motorcycle trainers and users’ organisations can deliver positive results in motorcycle safety”.
Christian Kellner, German Road Safety Council (DVR) CEO: “We are grateful to the European Commission for this award that honours the work of all the people involved in the European Motorcycle Training Quality Label. This recognition motivates us to continue working every day to make Europe’s roads safer”.
Jesper Christensen, FIM Director for Public Affairs and general secretary of the Swedish motorcyclists’ association SMC: “Receiving this award from the European Commission is an honourable recognition of the joint road safety commitment made by FIM, ACEM and DVR. It shows that high quality post-licence training does play an important role in preserving motorcyclists’ safety and should be encouraged. This award is also one more reason for our organisation to continue supporting high quality training for all motorcyclists”.
