THE VEHICLES and Equipment Industry (VEI) Committee met in Brussels on 26-27 March for a special meeting focused on the EU institutions, transport policies and research programmes. The group visited the European Parliament and met with representatives from DG Transport and Energy and DG Research who presented respectively the European Urban Transport Policy and the Urban Transport Research programmes.
     The Committee meeting focused on the economic crisis and its impact on the transport industry, fuel consumption and global warming and highlighted the need for bus manufacturers to better promote their products to compete with the car industry. Lars-Goran Rosengren, Volvo, presented EUCAR and the automotive research activities with a focus on buses and urban mobility.
     Members re-elected Rolf Hedberg, Scania, as Chairman for a new mandate and welcomed Julen Barrutia, CAF and Brian Maybin, WrightBus within the group.
     The minutes and other documents are available in MOBI+ at www.uitp.org/mobi
CONTACT: Arno Kerkhof