March 2017
After the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between the EFESME and the ELA, several meetings have been held.
Those were in order to further organise and structure the cooperation between the two associations.
The specific purpose of a closer cooperation between the European Federation of Elevator Small and Medium Enterprises (EFESME) and the European Lift Association (ELA) is to increase mutual understanding on specific issues which have now been identified as being related to, among others:
- Codes and Standards
- Safety, Education and Training of workers and users of lifts
- Accessibility
In these areas, it is felt that an understanding can be reached which safeguards and represents the interests of the lift industry as a whole. In this spirit, the opening of ELA Committees and Working parties to EFESME participants is gradually being achieved. This is particularly interesting in the area of the lift industry’s work on codes and standards, where small and medium enterprises welcome first hand and up-to-date information on the on-going activities in CEN and ISO.
A good example of the growing cooperation is that ELA, EFESME and NB-L are jointly addressing the difficulty encountered by the industry as a whole for applying harmonized standards in the framework of the Lifts Directive when placing a lift on the market.
A common solution was elaborated whereby the Lift Industry proposes to deliver the lift according to the contractual conditions signed in the customer order and asks the EU Commission to include this proposal in the Guide of Application of the Lifts Directive update.
The initial agreement of cooperation between EFESME and ELA was based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit. With the cooperation now growing in strength, another principle comes to the forefront, namely mutual trust.
It is the express will of both organisations to let mutual trust prevail in their present and future cooperation. Both parties again confirm that they retain the right to express divergent opinions in a fair and professional manner.
Finally, both EFESME and ELA stress the fact that other interested parties are welcome to participate in this inter-association cooperation, provided the above principles of equality, mutual benefit and trust are adhered to.
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