Open Letter To:

• The German Bicycle Industry Association (ZIV)
• The Confederation of the European Bicycle Industry (CONEBI)
• The European Commission

Do not let Europe become the desert of light electric mobility innovations

Over the past decade, Electrically Power Assisted Cycles (EPACs) have achieved remarkable success in Europe. This success has not been the result of alleged “legal equivalence with bicycles,” as recently claimed by ZIV, but rather of the decision by all member states to grant EPACs the same terms of use as conventional bicycles.

ZIV is wrongfully trying to create the impression that this decision resulted from the exclusion of EPACs from Regulation 168/2013, which governs type-approval for L-category vehicles. That is exactly why ZIV fails to mention that other vehicles have also been granted the same traffic rules as conventional bicycles. For example, in Belgium this applies to electric scooters, to 25 km/h and 1 kW L1e-A powered cycles and to a large degree also to Speed Pedelecs. In other words, that decision by the Member States was independent of the technical legislation for EPACs or any other Light Electric Vehicle (LEV).

On 7 April 2025, ZIV published its position paper “E-bikes – Active Mobility as Success Factor”. ZIV’s proposal would impose arbitrary restrictions on EPACs—such as limits on assistance ratios, peak power, and vehicle weight—and would force many EPACs into the L-category type-approval system under Regulation 168/2013.

If implemented, this proposal would:

• Eliminate entire categories of LEVs essential for sustainable logistics, accessibility, and mobility innovation;
• Discriminate against elderly, disabled, and physically weaker users by restricting access to vehicles that meet their mobility needs;
• Obstruct European innovation and competitiveness, protecting incumbents while sidelining new entrants and technologies;
• Undermine the EU’s climate and mobility goals by reducing the modal shift potential of LEVs and stifling their contribution to decarbonisation.

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The deeper structural problem

The present split between Regulation 168/2013 and the Machinery Directive already constitutes an infringement of the principle of technology neutrality enshrined in EU law.

Article 114 TFEU obliges the Union to adopt harmonisation measures that ensure the proper functioning of the internal market, without creating unjustified obstacles or distortions. Article 173 TFEU commits the Union to industrial policies that strengthen the competitiveness of European industry. Together, these provisions enshrine the requirement that EU legislation must not discriminate between technologies that deliver the same function or carry the same risk profile.

Today, vehicles with identical weight and speed — and therefore identical risks — are regulated under entirely different regimes depending on arbitrary technical parameters such as motor power. For example, a 250W EPAC is excluded from type-approval and placed on the market via self-certification under the Machinery Directive, while an otherwise identical 300W vehicle must undergo costly and unsuitable type-approval under Regulation 168/2013. This regulatory split is neither proportionate nor neutral, and it undermines competitiveness and innovation across the LEV sector.

Technology neutrality and the right policy instruments

Technical legislation is purpose-limited: it must ensure product safety and a well-functioning internal market, and it must remain technology neutral. It may not be used to steer user behaviour or to “encourage active travel” by constraining technical parameters (e.g., assistance ratios, peak power, weight) unrelated to intrinsic product safety.

Promoting active mobility is a legitimate public objective, but it should be pursued through appropriate instruments—including fiscal and financial incentives, public procurement, infrastructure investment, and education—not by distorting technical rules for LEVs. Using product legislation to engineer behaviour would violate technology neutrality, reduce accessibility, and unfairly disadvantage many legitimate LEV use-cases (logistics, inclusivity, terrain).

A dedicated LEV Regulation is the right remedy: it would remove the structural breach of technology neutrality and ensure that all Light Electric Vehicles are regulated according to their real safety and use characteristics, not outdated or arbitrary distinctions.

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We, the undersigned, therefore:

Call on CONEBI not to support this proposal and on ZIV to immediately withdraw the ZIV proposal as it represents a narrow industrial agenda that is harmful to Europe’s broader sustainability, competitiveness, and mobility goals.

Call on the European Commission not to follow ZIV’s proposal but instead to build on the recommendations of the Expert Group on Urban Mobility (EGUM) and work with the LEV community on a dedicated LEV Regulation. Such a framework would finally correct the breach of technology neutrality inherent in the current regulatory split and enable a fair, innovation-friendly, and future-proof market for light electric mobility in Europe.

Signatories LEVA-EU Open Letter
Business/Organisation	Name	Job Title	Country	Type
Gran Tourismo Bike GmbH	Martin Edelsbrunner	Assistant Manager	AT	LEVs
Brussels Mobility	Martin Lefrancq	New Mobility Senior Policy Advisor	B	Public authority
Elhe Globe bv/vanmoofista.be	Elisa Longo	MD	B	LEVs
Epac Producer	Benjamin Declercq	Founder	B	LEVs
Fietstaxi BV	Johan De Ruyck	Founder	B	LEV Service
Flywheels nv	Patrick De Cooman	CEO	B	LEVs
Ghent University	Alex Van den Bossche	Em.prof.dr.ir.	B	Academic
IntuEdrive	Simon Forrez	Developper	B	LEVs
IntuEdrive/Ellio Bikes	Jorrit Heidbuchel	CEO & Co-Founder	B	LEVs
IntuEdrive/Ellio Bikes	Tomas Keppens	CTO	B	LEVS
Klimaatpunt	Hendrik Ballegeer	President	B	Other
LEVA-EU	Annick Roetynck	Managing Director	B	Association
LEVA-EU	Bram Rotthier	Technical Director	B	Association
LVL Group SRL – Ampyre	Arnaud Legrand	CEO	B	LEVs
LVL Group SRL – Ampyre	Kenny Latomme	Co-Owner	B	LEVs
SBS	Edward Eccleston	SBS-Expert	B	Association
Thompson nv	Isabel De Smet	General Manager	B	LEVs
Thompson nv	Tim De Smet	CEO	B	LEVs
Uze	David Coertjens	Head of Business	B	LEV Service
Vrije Universiteit Brussel	Peter Van den Bossche	Professor	B	Academic
Greenway	Damian Aregger	Electrical Engineer	CH	LEVs
Kyburz AG	Martin Kyburz	CEO	CH	LEVs
Micro Mobility Systems /Microlino	Oliver Ouboter	COO	CH	LEVs
Revolt Zycling	George Merachtsakis	CEO	CH	LEVs
Series Hybrid Cycle Pioneer	Andreas Fuchs	Physicist, PhD,Master in Medical Physics / Rehabilitation Engineering	CH	Academic
Yakbike	Cédric Flüeli	CEO	CH	LEVs
Gobao Electronic Technology GmbH	Jack Brandsen	Chief Strategy Officer	CN	LEV components
4EVER s.r.o.	Radim Broz	CEO	CZ	LEVs
ekolo.cz s.r.o.	Jakub Ditrich	Managing Director	CZ	LEVs
Katanga s.r.o	Stephane Boving	Manager	CZ	LEVs
Levit s.r.o.	Kateřina Vlčková	Quality Specialist	CZ	LEVs
AES Akku Energie Systeme GmbH	Matthias Behlke	CEO	D	LEV components
Avinox	Ferdinand Wolf	Product Experience Director	D	LEV components
Bikeshop	Jörn Lehmann	Owner	D	LEVs
Cengalo	Thomas Reinhardt	Manager	D	LEVs
DJI	Matteo Natale	Senior Regulatory Compliance Manager	D	LEV components
Dos Caballos GmbH	Marc	CEO	D	LEVs
DW	Boris Geilert	Picture Editor	D	Other
Dynamic Drives Giessen GmbH	Anton Papenfuss	CEO	D	LEV components
Fahrrad Franz GmbH	Florian Schäfer	CEO	D	LEVs
Fahrrad Franz GmbH	Maximilian Jansen	Purchaser	D	LEVs
Fahrrad Kaiser	Mathias Kaiser	Manager	D	LEVs
Fahrrad XXL Feld GmbH	Nicholas Feld	Manager	D	LEVs
Fahrrad XXL Feld GmbH	Peter Feld	Manager	D	LEVs
Fahrrad XXL Franz	Alexander Loos	Purchaser	D	LEVs
Fahrrad XXL Walcher	Markus Walcher	CEO	D	LEVs
Fulmo Kurierunion Gbr	Leon Imeri	Coordinator	D	LEVs + LEV Service
Fulmo Velobility	Tilman Keding	Head of Engineering	D	LEVs + LEV Service
Heinzmann	Alexander Herm	Technical Director Electric Drives	D	LEV components
Heiss GmbH Das Radcenter	Florian Heiss	Manager	D	LEVs
Hypabox c/o Bächer Bergmann GmbH	Sebastian Bächer	CEO	D	LEV components
Kulms Engineering	Stefan Kulms	Product Development Expert	D	Other
Mario’s Bike GmbH	Dennis Wauch	Assistant General Manager	D	LEVs
Metrucks GmbH	Dr. Nicole Menon	CEO	D	LEVs
Metrucks GmbH	Srinath Menon	Founder & CEO	D	LEVs
MotionLab Berlin	Christoph Neye	Founder	D	Other
Motofocker Velocar	Maté Fock	Owner, designer	D	LEVs
Movaria GmbH	Bastian Biener	Project Manager	D	LEV components
Movaria GmbH	Felix Ballendat	CEO	D	LEV components
Movaria GmbH	Georg Müller	Service Engineer	D	LEV components
Movaria GmbH	Julian Serban	Production Technician	D	LEV components
Movaria GmbH	Lenz Karbaumer	Software Engineer	D	LEV components
Movaria GmbH	Max Herbst	IT Manager	D	LEV components
Movaria GmbH	Moritz Seibt	Technical Editor	D	LEV components
Movaria GmbH	Sara Loeblein	Executive Assistant	D	LEV components
Movaria GmbH	Simon Manthe	Engineer	D	LEV components
Muhr und Bender KG – Business Unit Micromobility	Konrad Schlösser	Managing Director	D	LEVs
N.A.	Jens Höffgen	Solar Bicycle Pilot	D	Other
Panicke GbR	Ingrid Panicke	Owner/Development	D	Other
Pedilio Solar Velomobil GmbH	Thomas Viebach	CEO Development	D	LEVs
Private citizen	Alexander Gregor	Music Teacher	D	Other
Rad-Sportshop Odenwaldbike	Tord Steinbock	CEO	D	LEVs
RikCar	Günther Vehns	Elektro- & IT-Meister	D	LEVs
SEG Automotive	Tobias Nowak	Head of Light Electric Mobility – Europe	D	LEV Service
The Urban Idea GmbH	Konrad Otto-Zimmermann	Creative Director & Authorized Representative	D	Other
Velocar.net	Stefan Schmidt	Webmaster, mechanic & user	D	LEVs
Veloxiter	Jörg Klenke	Developper	D	LEVs
Veloxiter	Marc Schlüter	Developper	D	LEVs
XYZ Cargo	Till Wolfer	CEO	D	LEVs
Zemmi GmbH	Helge Neubauer	CEO	D	LEVs
Zweirad Joos	Christoph Alff	Manager	D	LEVs
Viridus Manufacturing A/S	Bjarne Lykkegaard	Quality Manager	DK	LEV components
Vok Bikes	Indrek Petjärv	CEO	EE	LEVs
FEVEMP	Antonio Gómez Muriana	Consultant	ES	Association
Mothium	Sergio Gonzalez	CEO	ES	LEVs
Niche Mobility SL	Marc Barceló	CEO & Founder	ES	LEV components
ADEME	Gabriel Plassat	XD Project	F	Public authority
Ateliers Luciano	Francisco Luciano	Co Gérant	F	LEVs
AVELI – association des acteurs des véhicules légers intermédiaires	Nicolas le douarec	President	F	Association
AVPS	Bernard Cauquil	Advisor	F	LEV Service
BIKLOOW	Olivier Bongard	Owner	F	LEVs
Bluemoooov Europe	Emmanuel Paris	CEO	F	LEVs
Bluemooov Europe	Christine Vieira	Commercial	F	LEVs
Caminade	Brice Epailly	CEO	F	LEVs
Cixi	Alexander Koll	Head of DACH Region	F	LEV components
CIXI	Pierre Francis	CEO	F	LEV components
Concerned citizen	Olivier Guyot	Standardisation specialist	F
Douze Cycles	Thomas Coulbeaut	CEO	F	LEVs
Eco-Triporteur	Guillaume Delanoe	Managing Director	F	LEVs
ERKA Industries SAS	Rémi Kneppert	Président	F	LEVs
E-ROE Mobility	Jean-Philippe Banquet	CEO	F	LEVs
EV4 France	Patrick Tonnelier	Co-fondateur	F	LEVs
France Quadricycle (Ouicycle)	Matthieu Spillmann	PDG	F	LEVs
Helio2	Antoine D’Acremont	Gérant – Directeur	F	LEVs
HPR Solutions	Dominique Girard	CEO & Co-Founder	F	LEVs
HPR Solutions	Thierry Rouxel	Managing Director	F	LEVs
Karbikes	Lucas Vancon	CEO	F	LEVs
Luz’In	Julia Sorlin	Directrice	F	Other
Nokia	Olivier Guyot	Sustainability Standardisation Specialist	F	Other
PRAX	Jean Baptiste Ligouy	Manager	F	LEVs
Sanka Cycle	Benoit Tholence	CEO	F	LEVS
Sanka Cycle	Josselin Salmon	General Manager	F	LEVs
Supercycle	Jean Dard	Designer	F	LEVs
Syklo	Yanni Roua	CEO	F	LEVs
Vélo Solaire Pour Tous (Vhélio)	Marc Laurençon	Bénévole	F	LEVs
VoltR	Maxime Bleskine	CEO	F	LEV components
Fennobikes Oy Ltd	Jari Komulainen	CEO	FI	LEVs
Helkama	Marko Mehtonen	Product Development Engineer	FI	LEVs
Helkama	Petteri Vairio	Director, R&D	FI	LEVs
Norland Dynamics	Maximilian-Peter Werner Von Speyer	Founder	FI	LEVs
Ouca Bikes Oy	Jani Sipilä	COO	FI	LEVs
Ouca Bikes Oy	Tomi Laaksola	COB	FI	LEVs
Ouca Bikes Oy	Tuomas Alapuranen	CEO	FI	LEVs
E-Magine Rides	Bence Gosztonyi	CEO	HU	Other
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia	Laura Po	Associate Professor	I	Academic
HL Mando Corp.	Jaehyung Chun	SPM Team Leader	KR	LEV components
040FietsService	Marcel Verwimp	Director/Owner	NL	LEVs
Alligt	Leo Visscher	Owner/Director	NL	LEV components
Cargo Bike Mobility BV	Frank Oudegeest	CEO	NL	LEVs
De fietsfabriek	Artur Margarida Lopes	Company Owner	NL	LEVs
De fietsfabriek	Myrthe ten Broek	Office Manager	NL	LEVs
Design Office PetersProjects BV	Peter van der Veer	CEO	NL	Other
Dragonfly’s Engineering	Eduart Stigter	Engineer	NL	Other
Fietsenmakers Product Developpers	Johannes Kooijman	Owner	NL	LEVs
Flevobike Technology	Andre Vrielink	Company Owner	NL	LEVs
Fontys Engineering Eindhoven	Auke Visser	Innovator/developper/teacher	NL	Academic
Friesland Lease B.V.	Lars Dekker	Mobiliteitsexpert Fleetsales & Cargo Bikes	NL	LEV Service
Fulpra	Michel van Eijnatten	CGO	NL	LEVs
Huka	Kris Sonneborn	QHSE-Manager	NL	LEVs
Huka	Rob Lotgerink	Managing Director	NL	LEVs
Idbike	Bas d’Herripon	Director	NL	LEV components
Level One	Leon Westenberg	Owner/founder	NL	LEV Service
Navee Tech	Arnold Britstra	Country Manager Benelux	NL	LEVs
Nijland Cycling B.V.	Jeroen Beumer	Commercial Director	NL	LEVs
Nijland Cycling B.V.	Koen Nijland	Director	NL	LEVs
Nijland Cycling B.V.	Luuk Nijland	Director	NL	LEVs
Nijland Cycling B.V.	Willy Nijland	Director	NL	LEVs
Q square	Han Goes	Managing Consultant	NL	LEV Service
RideToday	Jurjen Vellinga	TCO Lead	NL	LEV Service
Rood-Runner Nederland B.V.	Jean-Pierre Vos	Founder & Owner	NL	LEVs
Santos Bikes	Robbert Rutgrink	Director	NL	LEVs
Speed Pedelec Evolution	Jos Aerts	Founder	NL	LEV Service
Springtime	Marcel Schreuder	Managing Partner	NL	Other
Stoer Bikes	Joeri Visser	Founder	NL	LEVs
van Raam mobility	Jan-Willem Boezel	CEO	NL	LEVs
VanMoof	Eliott Wertheimer	CEO	NL	LEVs
Ecobike	Grzegorz Szczygiel	CEO	PL	LEVs
Castros Illuminacoes	William Soares	Investigator	PT	Other
University Politehnica of Bucharest	Prof. Grigore Danciu	Professor	RO	Academic
JMK Innovation	Mikael Kjellman	Velomobile Designer	SE	Other
Luvly	Håkan Lutz	CEO	SE	LEVs
Velove Bikes AB	Dennis Kanter	Chief Product Officer/Co-Founder	SE	LEVs
Fairly Bike Manufacturing Co. Ltd	Percy Chien	Executive Chairman	TW	LEVs
Merida	Sharon Chen	Senior Sales Manager	TW	LEVs
NKL	Yuhung Li	Product Manager	TW	LEV components
Blue Sky IP	Ean Brown	CEO	UK	Other
Cycling Made Easy Ltd	Tony Wade	Director of operations	UK	LEVs
e-Werx	Muddasar Akram	Founder	UK	Other
Iceni Cycles Ltd	Richard Grigsby	Managing Director	UK	LEVs
Light Mobility Association UK	Camilla Iftakhar	Director	UK	Association
Minimal	Jessica Ridler	Engineering Project Manager	UK	LEVs
MotiveXQ	Del DelaRonde	CEO	UK	LEVs
Skarper	Adam Rozenberg	Head of Ops	UK	LEV components
Skarper	Andy Durnan	Head of Mechanical Engineering	UK	LEV components
Skarper	Harry Brown	Customer Support Lead	UK	LEV components
Skarper	Jessica Nguyen	Mechanical Test Engineer	UK	LEV components
Skarper	Jonathan Lemze-Wells	Head of Marketing	UK	LEV components
Skarper	Liban Olaad	Senior QA Engineer	UK	LEV components
Skarper	Manon Camous	Head of Quality	UK	LEV components
Skarper	Mareks Zevalds	Mechanical Engineer	UK	LEV components
Skarper	Michael Douglas	Head of Engineering	UK	LEV components
Skarper	Nur Kost	Chief of Staff	UK	LEV components
Skarper	Oliver Joyce	Design Engineer	UK	LEV components
Skarper	Ran Peled	Head of Design	UK	LEV components
Skarper	Suzanne Brown	Event Manager	UK	LEV components
Skarper	Thomas Mallinson	Designer	UK	LEV components
Skarper	Uri Meirovich	Co-founder & COO	UK	LEV components
Volt Bikes	James Metcalfe	Director	UK	LEVs
Fernhay	Peter Schenkman	COO	USA	LEVs
Super73	Sandra Schmidt	Director of International Operations	USA	LEVs
United Mobility Inc	Rico Meier Ringrose	Director of market & product development – Europe	USA	LEVs
Kliche & Friends	Laura Kliche	Assistant	ZA	LEVs
Kliche & Friends	Linda Kliche	Director	ZA	LEVs
Kliche & Friends	Luisa Kliche	Webdesign	ZA	LEVs
Kliche & Friends	Uwe Kliche	MD	ZA	LEVs
Lumiere Technologies	Ulrich Lorenzen	CTO, CEO	ZA	LEVs