ECED construction machinery dealers think tank

ECED's first 'Machinery Dealers Think Tank' in Lisbon proved a big success Dr. José Gameiro, President of the European Confederation of Equipment Distributors (ECED) and a member of the Board of the Portuguese association ACAP, hosted the Fall General Assembly of the ECED Lisbon, Portugal. Preceding this bi-annual formal gathering (on 22 November), Dr. José Gameiro welcomed 17 independent distributors from Portugal, France, UK, Spain, Austria and Eastern Europe, as well as seven of the most prominent nation
July 4, 2012 Read time: 4 mins

ECED's first 'Machinery Dealers Think Tank' in Lisbon proved a big success

Dr. José Gameiro, President of the 5471 European Confederation of Equipment Distributors (ECED) and a member of the Board of the Portuguese association ACAP, hosted the Fall General Assembly of the ECED Lisbon, Portugal.

Preceding this bi-annual formal gathering (on 22 November), Dr. José Gameiro welcomed 17 independent distributors from Portugal, France, UK, Spain, Austria and Eastern Europe, as well as seven of the most prominent national professional associations, representing some of the largest Member States of the EU.

The tremendous success of this first ever 'Machinery Dealers Think Tank' was well-illustrated by the immediate application of three new members and the envisaged affiliation to ECED of another ten privately held distribution companies (it needs to be recalled that during the 2008 June Extraordinary General Assembly in Brussels, the ECED By-Laws were changed by unanimous voting, which opened the way for individual distribution companies to join as direct members).

During the morning session, ECED members, independent dealers and invited guests discussed the effects of the current economic crisis on their businesses and exchanged points of view concerning the general economic circumstances in which they are currently operating, as well as their concerns for the future.

In this context it was considered highly opportune to draft an open letter to Mr. Günther Verheugen, Vice-President of the 2465 European Commission in charge of 1609 ENTERPRISE and Industry, in which ECED expressed those specific concerns, while raising the overall profile and importance of the machinery distribution sector throughout the 1116 European Union. Being a sector mostly populated by Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), ECED furthermore expressed the need for specific financial support, both through the European Commission and the 1054 European Investment Bank (EIB), as stipulated in the recently adopted Small Business Act, while proposing to act as a coordinator to help the national machinery distribution associations discuss financial aid and recovery plans with their respective governments.

Furthermore, the gathered members and dealers discussed subjects including the problem of theft from construction sites; warranty conditions and service agreements on all machinery sold; statistics collection; training and education, and direct sales by manufacturers.

Taking into account that the so-called EU Car Block Exemption (EC Reg. 1400/2002), which governs distribution agreements in the motor vehicles sector, as well as the Vertical Distribution Block Exemption (EC Reg. 2790/99) are up for renewal in 2010, it was of the utmost importance that the ECED convened on those different EU legislative initiatives to gather information in order to be able to come forward in a clear and unified voice.

And ultimately, Dr. Gameiro reminded the audience of the upcoming 'ECED Distributors' Day', which is scheduled to take place on 20 April 2009 in Paris during the 242 INTERMAT exhibition, and will be of major importance due to the crisis the sector is facing today.

This symposium will combine both the "classic" ECED Spring General Assembly with a focus on EU topics of importance to the sector, with the opportunity for the dealers to engage in commercial meetings with selected service providers that will display some of their newest products. The possibility to set up an 'ECED Forum on Used Equipment' is also being contemplated to coincide with INTERMAT. More information on these exciting initiatives will follow in the next months.

During the afternoon session in Lisbon, the ECED Fall General Assembly took place, and was consequently opened to ECED members only.

This second session featured a general update on the organisation and its plans and prospects for the future. Accordingly, the plans to foster a growing cooperation with CECE (manufacturers) and ERA (rental) on issues such as statistics, machinery theft, education, warranties and market surveillance were welcomed in order to achieve a better impact and acknowledgement of the efforts undertaken by the sector thus far. ·

Related Content

  • IRF and FIA Seminar energises discussion on safe and sustainable roads
    June 30, 2014
    IRF, together with the FIA, held a high-level seminar in Paris on Road Safety, Sustainable Development and Financing. Contributors to the seminar included, among others, the President and Secretary General of the FIA, the Secretary General of ITF, and the Chairman of iRAP IRF and the Fédération Internationale Automobile (FIA) jointly organised a seminar on Road Safety, Sustainable Development and Financing on Thursday 17 April, one week after the UN adopted its latest resolution on “Improving global road sa
    Read More
  • PPRS event highlights transport investment shortfall
    April 30, 2015
    The PPRS event in Paris highlighted the need for additional investment in road transportation – David Arminas writes. Consider the global road network. An improved road from one rural African town to another can reduce the journey time from a one-day walk to a one-hour drive. This could save lives through access to a hospital; allow small businesses to work faster by getting in supplies more quickly; allow children to attend a better equipped school. Roads affect society by allowing healthier and bett
    Read More
  • Current technologies could eliminate 90 per cent of traffic accidents
    April 27, 2012
    Nearly every traffic accident caused by driver error – up to 90 per cent of all crashes – could be eliminated if existing intelligent transportation technologies were implemented in vehicles and on roads, say experts at IEEE, the world's largest technical professional association. These include electronics and computing technologies such as in-vehicle machine vision and sensors to detect drowsy drivers, lane departure warning systems, and vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications for s
    Read More
  • First INTERMAT Middle East 'a major step forward'
    March 1, 2012
    The first INTERMAT Middle East, the international exhibition for machinery, materials and equipment for construction and infrastructure, has been held in Abu Dhabi.
    Read More

Highlighted Content