ESTA Ӏ EUROPE


STRoNGER ToGETHER


The need for cooperation across Europe has never been greater says Ton Klijn, Director of ESTA – the European Association of Abnormal Road Transport and Mobile Cranes.


We are working in extremely worrying and dangerous times. The war in Ukraine, the pandemic, Brexit, the energy crisis and climate change all underline the challenging period we are living and working in. But those difficulties emphasise


more than ever the importance of European cooperation and mutual support. When ESTA - the European Association of Abnormal Road Transport and Mobile Cranes - was formed in 1976, the simple starting point was the desire to improve conditions in the industry to the benefit of all, both ESTA's members and the industry's clients.


Ton Klijn, Director of ESTA


Our priorities then were safety, best practice and harmonising international standards, along with the related issues of efficiency and technological developments, especially those that impact our environmental performance. And these remain our priorities today. It is clear that for any of us to change our industry for the better we have to influence not just our colleagues but the industry's clients, our political leaders, and our regulators. However, nobody will listen to any of us as individuals. You have to be part of a representative group - an association - to have any clout. And as an international industry, that means being part of an international organisation. Which is where ESTA comes in. Very roughly, our work divides


into two sorts. We lobby national governments


and the European Commission, responding to proposed new policies and regulations, or lobbying for changes to existing rules.


And we identify critical issues within our industries and consider how to drive improvements - whether through best practice guides, special projects or in cooperation with other


international organisations. One current example is


ESTA's response to a clause in the proposed new European Machinery Regulations that would require all mobile machinery to be designed to prevent contact with overhead power lines or where the risk cannot be avoided, designed to ensure that all hazards “of an electrical nature” are prevented. We will support any practical


measures to improve safety, but such requirements are impossible to deliver and we are making that plain to the European regulatory authorities and supporting the complaints from our colleagues among the crane manufacturers. The current version of the


proposed regulations states: “When the risk of contact or


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