EBI and ICOMIA Continue Partnership to promote the recreational boating industry

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On Thursday 12 September, at Cannes Yachting Festival, a collaboration agreement between the European Boating Industry (EBI) and ICOMIA was renewed. This partnership aims to bring the interests of the leisure marine industry to the attention of the EU institutions and stakeholders with the aim to advocate for the common interests of the leisure marine industry.The European Boating Industry (EBI) represents the European leisure marine industry. It encompasses all sectors relating to boating such as boatbuilding, equipment manufacturing, marinas and service providers. EBI is an established stakeholder at EU level, defending and promoting the interests of its members on key issues ranging from Single Market legislation to blue growth, tourism and trade policy.ICOMIA is an international association, whose full members are global marine industry associations. ICOMIA is a longstanding stakeholder in in the various relevant working groups of the EU Commission and employs technical and environmental specialists who are already engaged in EU related work. Its mission is to act as the voice of the recreational marine industry worldwide to facilitate, influence, inform and research.Udo Kleinitz, Secretary General of ICOMIA, said:“Europe is a large and important market at approximately 30% of our industry, however not governed by the European Institutions rather than a national government. So naturally, there is great relevance for both organisations in understanding and shaping the developments that affect the marine leisure sector. ICOMIA and EBI have overlapping membership in form of its national member associations. Our members wish us to cooperate rather than duplicate work, so I am very positive about the renewal of the SLA.”Through this agreement, ICOMIA will continue to provide technical and environmental support and ensure cohesive representation of and communication with EBI and ICOMIA members. ICOMIA will assist EBI with advice and expertise in any statistical work or studies that it wishes to commission, including the provision of the annual ICOMIA Statistics Book. EBI will continue acting as the voice of the recreational boating industry in Europe, providing input to policy discussions impacting the sector.ICOMIA is looking forward to working together with the new Secretary General of EBI, Philip Easthill.Philip Easthill, Secretary General of EBI, said:“We are delighted to have renewed our partnership with ICOMIA, which shows the strong alignment between our two organisations and we look forward to the cooperation. At a crucial time in discussions on issues ranging from environmental policy to trade and industry policy in the EU, we look forward to working with our colleagues at an international level to unite on key issues for our sector and provide input to policy-makers and stakeholders.” For more info on ICOMIA visit www.icomia.orgFor more info on EBI visit www.europeanboatingindustry.eu18 September 2019

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