Brussels, 17th October 2018 – The Board of Directors of the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association met today at ETRMA’s premises in Brussels.

 

The Board welcomed Sumitomo Rubber Group to ETRMA as a new Tyre Corporate Member, through its European affiliate Falken Tyre Europe. Sumitomo Rubber Group inaugurated its Turkish tyre plant at the end of 2015. The Membership of Falken Tyre Europe will become effective as of January 2019.

Advancing sustainable mobility and driving the industry’s growth in Europe, the Board stressed the importance for the political debate to adopt a strong scientific approach, based on facts and solid knowledge. In particular, Mr Annunziato, the President of ETRMA, called attention to the “value of having law-making, guided by robust science and based on evidences, as the only way to achieve the legislators’ targets.”

 

ETRMA found this particularly true with regard to the current debate on tyre and road wear particles (TRWP) in the environment. Targeted by public debate, the European institutions are keen on a short-term solution. The TRWP generation, transport and capture, however, presents a complex issue, which involves several variables and multiple stakeholders. The Board expressed its satisfaction with the interest of many different parties in the ETRMA-initiated cross-industry European TRWP Platform, which aims to form a shared view on current knowledge, while collectively exploring potential mitigation measures.

Another area of particular interest for the Board was the future of mobility in times of digitalisation. Considering the critical role of tyres in future mobility patterns, the Board reiterated the importance of service providers’ ability to access in-vehicle data and communicate with drivers/passengers so as to guarantee the road system safety and provide innovative solutions. ETRMA therefore calls on the European Commission to ensure undistorted access to in-vehicle data and permit the rise of different on-board application platforms.

 

“This is an ambitious industry that has never turned away from its responsibilities. On the contrary. ETRMA wishes to remain a reliable, environmentally responsible and sustainable partner, involved in the future of safe mobility in Europe and globally,” concluded Mrs Cinaralp, the Secretary-General of ETRMA.

 

***ends***

 

For further information, please contact Marta Conti, Communication Manager

 

The industry employs directly more than 360 000 people with a turnover of €73B in 2016, which constitutes about half a point of the EU turnover. ETRMA’s membership include the following tyre manufacturers: APOLLO VREDESTEIN, BRIDGESTONE EUROPE, BRISA, COOPER TIRES, CONTINENTAL, GOODYEAR DUNLOP TIRES EUROPE, HANKOOK, MARANGONI, MICHELIN, NOKIAN TYRES, PIRELLI TYRE, PROMETEON Tyre S.r.l., and TRELLEBORG WHEEL SYSTEMS. Associations in the following countries are also members of ETRMA: Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the UK.