A group of thirteen members of staff from Swedish motorcyclists’ organization SMC travelled to Brussels for a ‘field trip’, to take a look inside the European ‘bubble’.

SMC is FEMA’s largest member organization and obviously they employ quite a number of staff that never have any dealings with FEMA or the work that goes on in Brussels to protect and promote motorcycling. SMC felt it was important for everybody that works for SMC to understand the European connection.

The SMC group had meetings with Swedish members of the European Parliament and with the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the European Union. From the motorcycling community the group met with ACEM (the motorcycle manufacturers in Europe).Of course we also welcomed the staff from SMC Sweden to the FEMA office in Brussels, where both Dolf Willigers and Wim Taal gave an in-depth presentation about the work that FEMA does in Brussels and on the ways we try to communicate with riders from all over Europe. A lot of interesting questions were asked and the meeting turned into a pleasant exchange of thoughts and ideas. It was great to see so many of our colleagues take an interest in the important European motorcycle issues.

Text & photographs by Wim Taal